Conceptual

Introduction

For the Conceptual Project, we were challenged to answer the question:

How can I use unconventional forms to express myself?
This project challenged us to go out of our comfort zones by expressing ourselves through making music, videos, films, and experimental photography. We were taught to use many sorts of advanced technological devices such as our DSLR Cameras, our Tascam audio recorders, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition, and WordPress so that we could fully express ourselves.

This unit made me express my perceptions of the world in more of an abstract way. In English, the art reflection piece allowed me to express my first thoughts upon seeing a particular piece of art regardless of the artist’s intentions. Then in Digital Media, I was able to learn to use Adobe Premiere Pro to create a video for my art reflection. We also created a parody song, which pushed me out of my comfort zone because we had make our own version of a published song and then sing it, which was something that I also had never done before. Overall, this unit allowed me to express myself in abstract ways that I have never tried before.

Art Reflection!!!

This project started off with a field trip to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts (SFMOMA). We were instructed to find a work of art that was appealing to us–whether it was a sculpture, painting, audio track, video, etc.–and jot down our perceptions and initial thoughts of that artwork. Then in English class, we wrote a short 60 word reflection of that artwork on how it inspires the feeling of awe, or in other words, how it changes the way we see the world. After that, in Digital Media, we were taught how to use Adobe Premiere Pro to make an Art Reflection video based on the reflection we wrote in English class. When using Premiere Pro, we were taught how to create visual and audio effects, such as key framing, the Ken Burns effect, transitions, and adjusting audio volumes. Ultimately, this allowed us to express our thoughts of a piece of art through video making.

Art Reflection Video on the artwork 26-I-70 by Whanki Kim
Image of Behind the Scenes of making the Art Reflection Video: This is the Adobe Premiere Pro interface. Here we can see the video editing features that I used such as the timeline, the keyframing menu, adding texts, and adding my voiceover track.
Behind the Scenes of making the Art Reflection Video: This is the Premiere Pro interface. Here we can see the video editing features that I used such as the timeline, the keyframing menu, adding texts, and adding my voiceover track.

Takeaways: What I valued about this Art Reflection Project was that I was able to express my perceptions of an artwork through video making. In English I was able to learn how to express my feelings of awe of a work of art in a short paragraph. Then in Digital Media, I was able to learn the basics of using Adobe Premiere Pro, such as importing footage, using different fonts, creating text effects, key framing, so that I could use these techniques in future projects so I could be unstoppable.

Music Production!!!

Parody Song Introduction

For the Parody Song Project, we were challenged to come up with a topic and use it to write our own version of a published song. So far, this was the project that had me take my biggest step out of my comfort zone. Making, singing, and recording a parody song was not easy, as I was not used to singing. However, after Mr. Flo gave us a motivational “speech” on how song parodies are better off if we sound bad, I was ready to record. I also had a hard time picking a song because I usually listen to classical music…..and you can’t really make a parody of that. But, after finishing this project, I did feel accomplished and think it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be, even if it seems silly and cringe.

My process involved creating a list of published songs with vocals that I was familiar with. After narrowing down my list, I settled with the song Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. This was because….for some reason….playing this song is considered a Rick Roll, so I thought it would be funny if I made my own version of it. Then, I created a Google doc, brainstorming a topic, and then writing two verses of lyrics. After finalizing my lyrics, I went into the recording studio to record and sing my parody. This step took me so many tries, because I had to set up the microphone properly, and I stuttered many times because I was unconfident and had to start over. But when I finally got a good shot at my recording (that was probably when no one was near the recording room), I went into Adobe Audition to adjust the audio to make sure there was no background noises. And at long last, after working through all these steps, I was finally ready to get my parody song on the website and show my audience what I have made.

Artist Statement
This is my parody called “The Jerry-Roll.” I made this based on Rick Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up.” I was inspired to make a parody of this song because of the famous Rick Roll meme, so I knew it would be funny if I were to make my own version of it. My parody focuses on the unrealistic expectations during school fire drills, where we’re expected to line up and exit the building slowly despite the urgency of a fire.

Working on this parody pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to focus on exploring, rather than being perfect, especially for singing because I am not familiar with doing it. I was proud that I was able to be creative with my lyrics to make it sound funny, relatable, but appropriate at the same time. Additionally, creating this parody song helped me become more familiar with the audio tools in Adobe Audition, such as normalizing, adding reverbs, and changing pitches, which I can use in future audio projects.

My Parody Lyrics

The building is on fire
I know what to do and so do you
We have to leave our stuff right here
And we line up in a single file line

Then we slowly walk through the fire
And calmly exit the building

Never gonna bring my stuff
Never gonna escape on my own
Never gonna leave anyone and run

Never gonna not line up
Never gonna not stay calm
Never gonna call 911 for help

We’ve now exited—— the building
We’re now going to wait, on the only flammable surface
And now we’re going to, go take attendance
We know the drill , and we’re gonna do it

And we’re going to hope no one’s missing
Or otherwise that is too bad

Never gonna bring my stuff
Never gonna escape on my own
Never gonna leave anyone and run

Never gonna not line up
Never gonna not stay calm
Never gonna call 911 for help

My Parody(cringe warning)

Behind the Scenes

This is an image of the Adobe Audition user interface where I used to edit my vocals. This consists of a timeline of audio tracks and a rack of audio effects to use.
This is the audio editing software called Adobe Audition that I used to edit my vocals. I added some audio effects such as normalizing my track(making my singing louder), making the instrumental track quieter, adding some sound effects, and then adding fade ins and outs.
This is me in the recording room. Here, I am wearing headphones, singing my parody into my microphone, and using the laptop in front of me to edit my track.
Behind the Scenes of recording the Parody. This is the recording room where we recorded our singing by using the microphone to record, and the laptop to save our track.

Takeaways

So let’s be honest, at first I was really nervous to sing my parody, but then after this experience, I learned that your voice does not have to sound perfect. It is better if your voice is far off in order for it to sound like a parody, just like how Mr. Flo phrases it as how you have to “suck” more. After this finishing this project, even though it will sound silly to most people, I was happy I was able to make my own version of a popular song that was funny but also school appropriate at the same time.

Design!!!

Design Introduction

So what do we do in Design? Well….we design stuff. More specifically, we work on learning the composition of visual pieces, by using the color wheel, rule of thirds, lines, form, texture, shape—you name it. Similar to Digital Media, we use professional applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Camera Raw. Our goal in Design class is to learn how to make visually appealing pieces to spread a message.

So far, for the Conceptual unit for Design class, we worked on learning the basics of design that I talked about above. Along with that, we did a lot of experimental and abstract photography, most notably our black and white name photo, and our conceptual self portrait photo. Through these projects, we learned how to use composition to create emotion in a metaphorical way to spread a message.

I really enjoy being a Design student because I can learn the professional aspects of creating something that can attract a group of people. In the real world, when you work for a business, they will probably be looking for someone who could help create a logo or a poster for their business. And the best part is, design applies to literally everything! That couch you’re sitting on right now, was designed by someone! That computer or phone you’re using to look at my website, was also designed by someone! Although it is true that artificial intelligence is taking over the design aspect of the world, design created by humans are still better off as it has more originality and effective intentions.

Alpha Name Photography

For the Name Photography project, we were challenged to find anything that looked like the letters of our name without arranging anything or having the object literally be a letter. After we found those objects, we took a photo of each of those objects, then chose the best photo, and arranged it in Photoshop. The outcome was a nice black and white row of photos that spelled out our name.

This is my Alpha Name Photo. These photos from left to right, shows a side of a couch, a window, a side of a chair, a faucet, and a table support. Together, these photos spell out the name Jerry!
This is my Alpha Name Photo. These photos from left to right, shows a side of a couch, a window, a side of a chair, a faucet, and a table support. Together, these photos spell out the name Jerry!
Behind the Scenes of arranging my name photo. Here is the user interface of Adobe Photoshop. In using Photoshop, I made use of many features, such as cropping, resizing, using layers, adjusting brightness, and recoloring in order to make this piece come together.
Behind the Scenes of arranging my name photo. Here is the user interface of Adobe Photoshop. In using Photoshop, I made use of many features, such as cropping, resizing, using layers, adjusting brightness, and recoloring in order to make this piece come together.

Conceptual Photo

In the Conceptual Project for Design class, we were challenged to take a metaphorical(abstract) photo based on the statement given to us by our Design teacher. The statement students got in general was about “I am experiencing a feeling of something through an experience.” Then, we had to find two objects that indirectly represent our statement, which had us think outside of the box, because it had to be far from literal. This project took a lot of brainstorming, and a lot of photo shooting, because we had to arrange our objects in all sorts of positions, put them in all sorts of backgrounds, and shoot in many different angles. Finally, after that, we narrowed down our list of photos until we were left with the best one.

This is the image of my conceptual photo. This consists of a loosely arranged light blue buttoned up shirt, a loosely placed black tie, and a crumpled up math test.
My Conceptual Photo based on the statement given by my design teacher: “I am Experiencing the Feeling of Anger when Asking Someone to Dance.”

Artist Statement – “I am Exploring the Feeling of Anger when Asking Someone to Dance”

My photograph is an arrangement of formal attire, confetti particles, and a failed math quiz. The formal attire, consisting of a light blue button up shirt and tie, represents the outfit I wore to events such as performances, school dances, presentations, or any celebration in general. I included the confetti to complement the attire because it was used in almost every celebration I went to, such as school rallies and birthday parties. As for anger, I used a crumpled up quiz paper because there was a time when I crumpled my quiz paper in frustration when I didn’t get my desired score. When arranging these objects, I placed them loosely and messily because it represents anger, which leads to a lack of tidiness. Then for the background, I placed all of these objects on my bed, where I usually lay out my attire before wearing them. Finally, I took the photo with an LED light attached to my camera to emphasize the objects and the shadows and a slightly tilted angle to portray the feeling of tension and conflict. These elements all together portray the feeling of anger when asking someone out to dance.
The image editing process involved making adjustment layers in Adobe Photoshop to modify the brightness and contrast. The main changes I made was to slightly lower the brightness to fit the mood of anger and to crop out any unnecessary elements and negative space. Making these edits gave my conceptual photo its full ability to portray its conceptual meaning.

This is the user interface of Adobe Photoshop where I edited my conceptual photo. My photo is in the center of the interface, and the editing tools are on the left.
Behind the Scenes of my Conceptual Project. Here in Photoshop, I am editing my image by adjusting the brightness and cropping out unnecessary elements.