Narrative 1

Introduction

During the narrative unit at Freestyle Academy, we dive into storytelling, creating art that speaks to the audience and allows them to become immersed in our creation, whether it be a film, or a drawing. This unit was a large step up from our conceptual unit, in which we experimented, and got to know Freestyle. During this period, we rather expanded our knowledge, and built onto our portfolios.

In film, we learned how to structure stories; the three-act structure, story loop, and visual cues in storytelling. We also enhanced our knowledge on editing and pacing, familiarizing ourselves with rules like Griffiths Pattern, 180 degree rule, lighting and compositional techniques, building suspense, and so much more. Lastly, we created a short narrative film, where we started with a concept, pitching our idea to the class, then moved on to storyboarding and planning, executing with film dailies, and then wrapping up with applying our editing techniques and sound design knowledge into one cohesive piece.

In Digital Media, we learned tools like Adobe Illustrator, allowing us to more fully create symbols and images to go along with other projects. We utilized Pro Tools to create our own pieces of music, and an audio rendition of or short stories that we created in English. We also expanded our skill set in many areas of software that we were already familiar with, such as Premire Pro, learning how to create transcripts, and generate translated captions for our audiences. In english, we learned the nuances of creating a character, learning methods to give them character flaws and strengths.

Through all of these classes, we learned more approaches to telling a story and building out a portfolio, as well as becoming familiar with many new softwares that will aid us in the future.

Film Work

In film, we focused on visual storytelling, and creating a compelling narratives. We learned several techniques to apply this with, including a suspense scene, Griffith’s pattern scene, and a chase scene, before putting together an entire narrative film.

Griffith’s Pattern Scene

Griffith’s pattern is a pattern found throughout film, that introduces us to the characters and setting, helping to move the story forward linearly. Using Griffith’s pattern, you start with a establishing shot of the surrounding area, then move into a long shot, showing us the setting, and the character. Then, we move in, cutting to a place where we eventually become more familiarized with our subject, and get to see their face and their emotions. For our Griffith’s pattern scene, we started by showing the exterior of the building, then worked our way into the building, eventually getting to close-up shots.

Suspense Scene

In our suspense scene, we built on the foundations established in the Griffiths pattern scene, however, we added on the layer of building suspense and using music choices and cuts, beginning to cut more rapidly as the scene went on, to build suspense and anxiety for our main character. For this project we used a variety of cuts and angles to build the suspense, and added moments where the student was almost caught as a way of creating a slow burn.

Chase Scene

Taking all of these ideas in hand, we then split up to create a chase scene, taking all of the elements from previous practices. In my chase scene, I found actors, then implemented the ideas from the suspense scene, starting out with a walk, and slow cuts, then building as I went on. I also implemented Griffith’s pattern, starting with wide shots, and eventually moving to close-ups. Using all this, I was able to make a chase scene that leaves the viewers on edge, with no clear ending, adding on to the suspense.

Narrative Film

After these projects, we moved into a full narrative film, with an entire story structure that included our ideas. This was a step up, as we had to convey a story without dialogue, that followed a story structure. The first step was coming up with an idea. Our original synopsis was focused on more scenes in a shop, which we eventually had to scrap.

After creating the synopsis, we moved further into pre-production, creating storyboards, highlighting shot selections, and framing. In the storyboards, we wrote hundreds, eventually cutting some as we had to, and leading a finished plan. Lastly, in pre-production, we had to scout cars, locations, and actors, finding places that would allow us to get the shots we needed without, having little traffic, but a wide enough road. After settling on a location, and finding actors and cars that would fit the roles we needed, we moved onto production.

For production, we filmed in evenings over the course of several weeks. After we finished the production side, we moved into post-production, focusing on editing and sound design. Our main issue was in production as we didn’t get all of the shots we needed to tell a cohesive story. Next time, we would focus on starting shooting days earlier so that it wouldn’t conflict with other projects. After completing the film, we edited a trailer, ending up with these final results.

During the narrative unit in film, I was able to learn a lot more about creative ways of storytelling, and telling a story without dialogue. While I have done film work in the past, one of the areas I have always struggled in was in making a convincing story that follows story structure, and is a proper narrative. While I improved my pre-production skills a lot with this film, learning to plan more effectively, and storyboard, as well as improving my abilities to tell stories, unfortunately, during this project, I was unable to execute these ideas effectively, and while many of the shots looked nice, we ran out of time to get the shots needed to make the story and plot cohesive.

I think in the future, I will be sure to make sure the actors I pick are more available, and find a way to compromise over creative differences better, to be able to create bigger projects with better story structure.

Music – Digital Media

One of the new subjects we began to explore at Freestyle during the Narrative unit, was in music production and creation. Over the course of this unit, we learned Pro Tools, and Audition, as well as some of the seps behind recording a music piece in a studio. This was over two large projects, a music recording project, and an experimental music creation project.

Music Recording Project

For this project, we formed groups and picked a song to record our own version of in the studio. For our song, we decided on “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” by Journey. We had two group-mates (Darius and Isaac) play instruments, and Shane and I sang the part. This was a fun project in which we got to explore how music recording is done in a studio format, and got to tune in our Pro Tools abilities.

Experimental Music Production

Our second large music project was for the creation of our very own musical piece, using MIDI instruments in Pro Tools. For this project, the new mechanics that we learned in Pro Tools were centered around MIDI instruments, and this was our opportunity to use these instruments to create a piece of experimental music. Using a MIDI keyboard, I played each part, adding layers of different instruments to create a cohesive piece.

Music Creation Conclusion

I think the process of creating music was a great experience, with the skills I learned being easily applicable to other projects such as my films. During these projects, I was able to learn a lot about Pro Tools, MIDI Instruments, and working in a studio environment. For me music creation is not something entirely new, when I was younger, I used to play several instruments, and use tools like Finale to compose music. However, this was a new form of music creation, and the tools that I learned (being industry standard) have made this a valuable piece of Freestyle, and may be something that I might pursue further after high school.

Short Story – English and Digital Media

One of the things we worked on in the Narrative unit for English and Digital Media, was a flash fiction piece. The goal of this was to learn story structure, and become more familiarized with the process of creating and telling stories. One of the key aspects that we started by learning, was the three act structure, and character development. Throughout this unit, we created a short story (under 1000 words) that told a story of a character and their decisions. Then, during Digital Media, we took this story and with our newfound Pro Tools knowledge, created a “Podcast” version of our story being read out loud.

Shane ran deeper into the tangled web of trees and bushes. His fist was wrapped tightly around the stone, making sure he could feel its weight in his palm at all times. Soon, the mess of leaves and vines left him bewildered and lost. The speed of the light fading seemed surreal; the jungle grew in noise, as nocturnal insects and animals came out from their slumber. Shane gripped his smooth green jade periapt more tightly.  It was a last remnant of the past, and the only key to his future.

Shane could now begin to see a silvery light in the distance beckoning for him to come closer. He tentatively walked forward, his teeth chattering as a chill rose in the air with the darkness. 

The clearing opened before him so abruptly that he didn’t have time to prepare for it. In front of him stood a vast stone fortress resting on the edge of a cliff that descended on his right. On his left, he noticed a small river constantly feeding a moat around the fortress, with the two ends plunging off the cliff. The waterfall was faint, lacking the tremendous roar of typical waterfalls.

Shane looked back at the daunting castle. It looked ghostly, as only the silvery moonlight lit it up, and that light was reflected in the waterfall’s mist, making it appear as though the fortress was resting in a silver cloud. Its design was not that of a wonderful palace or castle but of a looming fate. He walked towards the drawbridge. It was down. It felt like the stone was pulling him closer.

A loud screech came from behind him. He whirled around seeing nothing. Hastening his pace, he set off for the drawbridge, pausing a few feet from its rotting wood. He stepped on the drawbridge, pressed down firmly, then took one more, putting his entire weight on it. It groaned but held firm. He hurried across it, almost slipping but catching himself before it was too late. After a breath, Shane continued toward the portcullis. The drawbridge suddenly made a louder moan behind him. He whirled around, seeing nothing. Now that his head was clearing, he realized something odd. All the forest noises had ceased. It was now just complete and utter silence. Not even the hiss of the moat could be heard. It was as if there was no life in this new world. Strangely, although he had been panting moments before, he could no longer even hear his own heartbeat.

Shane made his way further, taking in the scenery surrounding him. Strange objects dotted this entry hall, he couldn’t quite make them out though in this darkness. He proceeded past the entry room, through two huge open double doors into the courtyard. The moonlight gave him chills, and the very stone around him made him shudder. Just looking at it, brought it back to his brother’s tombstone. The plague had taken him from Shane, had taken all of them, while the immortal elders stood and watched their people wither away. He turned back once more to look at the drawbridge, but it hadn’t moved. The courtyard was filled with nothing but weeds and grass. The wooden stables and the stone path were now completely overgrown. Shane was now shaking with cold; the jade began to feel like it was radiating frost, and Shane briefly wondered if this was how it felt when time froze. 

The next set of double doors leading to the keep was half open. He cautiously proceeded, before pushing both all the way open. Together, they let out a loud creak, finally breaking the prolonged silence, as stale air rushed to greet him. This room was a long hall with several great pillars. Scattered throughout the room were icy white stones, each in weird angles and formats. An opening in the ceiling casted a beam of moonlight that illuminated a massive throne standing on the far end of the hall. In the very center on a velvety cushion sat a massive glowing white skull. Shane dropped his jade amulet in shock. A loud clang echoed as it hit the floor. He snatched it back up, then looked back at the skull. It didn’t look like a human skull, but rather of some monstrous being. It held a long grin, with huge fangs in the front, and many smaller teeth in the back. He cautiously walked forward, as the doors clanged shut behind him. 

“So,” the skull spoke. “You chose immortality.” The jade had now become so cold that it felt like fire. Shane realized with a start that it was the stone that had done all of this: the jungle’s darkness, the silence, the castle resting in silver mist. He was at last getting what he had always longed for: the immortality the leader of his people were always granted. 

“Yes, I did.” Shane responded slowly. He opened his palm gazing into the jade thoughtfully. 

The skull chuckled a little, the sound echoing throughout the hall. The cold already present sharpened into an icy-tingling effect. It was as if he was encased in ice entirely. The bitter cold swept through him, until he could feel nothing.

“Immortality granted,” the skull said hollowly. The jade whooshed out of his hand, hovering in front of the skull. 

“Foolish, foolish,” the skull said, almost smirking. A strange noise came out from the skull, and the jade faded away.

Where did the jade go? Shane thought. 

“Back to your people, Shane.” the skull replied. Shane turned around to leave, when a silvery-white flash caught his eye; his hand. He looked at it, shocked. In the petrifying glow of the moonlight, he realized that his hand was nothing but bone. He turned to the skull, as if to ask a question, but no words came. The skull’s empty sockets looked back, its soulless face stuck in a haunting grin. 

I think I told my story with music and SFX somewhat well. The music and some of the effects add, however, I feel that something I could improve upon would be editing the SFX, and adding effects to them, like what I did with the skulls voice, could have helped them feel more blended into my story, rather than something that seemed more forced. I also think, I could have re-done some of my vocal parts, to make sure the audio levels were more consistent, as while I tried to make the parts mostly match, there were many places where my voice was very off, and even changing the db level was not enough.

I am most proud of my manipulation of the skulls voice, and the use of effects to give the skull an un-human voice and help my audience to feel more entered into the suspension of disbelief. I also like how my use of jungle sound effects, and changing the levels of it aided my story, when my character began to notice the sound of the jungle was fading out entirely.

I value learning how to produce an audio only story, as it will help me improve my sound mixing for film projects, and it taught me more on how to use Pro Tools which is industry standard for many audio related projects. I am excited to use these skills to mix my own audio for future projects!

Illustrations – Digital Media

Another one of the new tools that we learned in Digital Media, was digital art creation using Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator is a digital software that connects to tablets to draw things and preserve them digitally. Symbols, or shapes, or drawings can all be made using Illustrator, in fact, all of the images above each title have been made using Illustrator. We used Illustrator for a lot of things this year, from our music song covers, to an Illustrator project where we got to create our own object with our art.

Illustrator Exquisite Corpse

The exquisite corpse, is a drawing where multiple artists draw something, that is combined. The only guidelines for the drawing are two lines on each side, where the start and end of the drawing is. Then after all the artists have drawn something, the art is combined into one piece, creating a artwork. Unfortunately, we were missing one artist, so we didn’t have the chance to combine the art entirely. For my piece of the artwork, I drew a series of mountains, using the pen tool, and shaded them in with a brush.

Illustrator Music Album Cover

One of the things that we used Illustrator for, was in the creation of our story production art, and music production art. After we had completed the story and music production piece, we had to create a mini piece of artwork. Using Illustrator connected to our Wacom boards, I was able to draw several trees for my artwork piece. Then I made layer upon layer to create an atmosphere, and finally ended up with a piece of work that went with my story, an image of how I imagined the scenery found in my story. I think next time I would add more detail in the front of the artwork, as the grass looks strange, and stands out a little without more bushes and assortments of things.

Illustrator Project

Another thing we got to do with our Illustrator tools, was in the creation of an Illustrator Project where we got to choose a product to create. For mine, I chose to make a series of engraved glassware for my siblings and myself. For this projects design, I wanted to do a medieval style coat of arms, with each symbol representing one of us. I have always wanted to make a physical version of a design like this, but have never gotten the chance to create something practical all four of us could enjoy. I think custom glassware that we can use on a day to day basis would be a fun project, that also brings us together as something cool we can bond over.

In my glassware production, I specifically went for a coat of arms, as my siblings and I all love history, fantasy, and playing games together based in medieval times such as D&D. This design incorporates some of our favorite creatures from these games, with each (Dragon, Phoenix, Pegasus, Moose) representing one of us.

Illustrator Conclusion

Using Illustrator for image creation as opposed to Photoshop was a very different experience for me. Photoshop, and editing photos had always been something that I was used to, and drawing or making a digital design, was a unique experience. Using a vector meant that my art could scale much more effectively, as compared with photoshop, and being a raster, the vector allowed me to not have to worry about the amount of pixels I had when zooming in or out. This was very useful, and was very valued, as typically you have to be very intent on the quality of photos, while the vector has infinite potential quality. When comparing Illustrator to analog drawing, I still prefer regular drawing as it is more physical and easier to work with. However, Illustrator meant that I didn’t have to erase, or try to start over, as I could try ideas as they came to me and undo, if I didn’t like the choice I had made.