Introduction
The explorations project is a chance for us at freestyle to spend time learning a topic related to our elective of our choosing. Since I am in film I had to opportunity to learn a style of documentary that I have been wanting to learn for a long time. We got some time to research our topic and then to make something with the new knowledge. Afterwards we have to present to the rest of freestyle what we have learned. For my specific topic, I wanted to evoke feelings through visual storytelling. I didn’t want to follow a specific narrative, rather use various clips that I was able to find through just existing in the downtown Mountain View area.
Process
The bulk of this project was in the research. Most of the assignment is to present your knowledge to the greater freestyle populous. Through my research I have stumbled upon many great filmmakers that I had no previous knowledge of beforehand. I spent time taking a deep dive on the topic that had my inspired to do this in the first place. However watching the documentaries themselves wasn’t going to be enough, I also had to learn about their history. This part was really interesting because although the genre of poetic documentaries seems like its kind of small and nuanced, many of the first films could be considered poetic documentaries. I also learned through the process of making my own that making poetic documentaries TAKES SO MUCH TIME. Ninety percent of what you are doing is waiting for something interesting to happen around you and to try your best to get it on film. My goal was to encapsulate the feeling of being in the location where I filmed at which means I just had to sit there for lots of time to try and catch something interesting on camera. The entire process of creating what I made I found to be super fun and I definitely learned a lot about the genre and experimental film making.
Reflection
This project was definitely something I’m glad I had the opportunity to do. It gave me the chance to get into a part of film which we weren’t able to explore before. It was interesting to do a ton of research on it before I started because that’s not usually how I roll. Many times I’ll jump into something without a clear plan. And while I did that to some extent here I feel like the research beforehand got me ready for what I should expect to film. I think this project definitely helped with my shot composition and creative editing. And as usual I got to practice some sound design which I always find to be fun.
Music Recording Project
As a part of our explorations unit, we were challenged with using the scary brand new studio to record a piece of music. We had to both record and practice using the setup to record someone else as well. I was the drums on this track as well as a part of the singers. The singing part wasn’t required but fun to do.
Artist Statement:
For this piece we were inspired by the general country genre, when writing the lyrics for this piece we wanted to outline important events that occurred in countries history. From the draft in WW2 to the Santa Barbara oil spills Forest Gump takes you through a journey in this country’s past. This song covers subjects that have changed America as a country, which is why we thought the country genre best suited a song like this. Wear headphones for the best listening experience.
Lyrical Essay Project
The lyrical essay
is unlike any other essay writing project that I have done, it doesn’t follow the same structure, it was infinitely more open ended and creative. A lyrical essay is like an essay that doesn’t follow any of the usual structure. Often the footnotes are used creatively, it makes you think deeper, and they often hide a deeper meaning or metaphor. In class we spent a lot of time learning about different styles and reading countless lyrical essays from numerous different authors. I found that I really enjoyed reading the essays from the author Ross Gay and specifically the essayettes from his publication, The Book of Delights.
