Zenith

Introduction

The word zenith is defined as “the time at which something is most powerful or successful.” At Freestyle, our Zenith project tasked us with creating the pinnacle of our work; a project that put together everything that we learned at Freestyle. In Film, we were encouraged to complete this project by studying a specific film skill, and going above and beyond with how we chose to demonstrate it. For my project, I chose to create a video art installation. I wanted to put a different video on each screen in the film room, each working together to form an immersive experience for my audience. Even thought I was really excited about this project, it still posed a significant challenge. I essentially needed to create 17 short films, each cooperating to form a cohesive message.

Process

Completed Project

Once I had all 17 videos edited, I needed to prepare for how I was going to present them. I chose to play my main video (a compilation of shots from the 16 other ones) on the big screen, and have the other videos playing from each computer screen in the film room.

Reflection

Why/How did you choose the idea for this project? Did you have any inspirations? What did you research to help you prepare for this project? Any artistic influences?

With this project, not only did I want to demonstrate the pinnacle of my Freestyle work/filmmaking abilities, but I also wanted to reflect on my past four years at high school and what I’ve learned from them as a whole. The main concept of this project was to display snapshots of life, aiming to cultivate, not only a nostalgic feeling, but an urge to go live.

Which 21st C. Skills did you improve upon the most? How so? If you collaborated with anyone, be sure to explain what was valuable about that experience.

Sound design usually isn’t a strength of mine, but I feel that it really carried this project. Messing around with overlaying different audio clips was definitely something I had a lot of fun with.

If you could do the project over, what would you do differently, and why?

There are a few things that I would do differently, not because I didn’t like the outcome but because I feel there’s to much more to experiment with. Next time, I might try working with more or less screens and compare the effects. I’m also really intrigued by the use of mixed media in video art, and it’s definitely something I would like to play around with in the future.

How do you think your presentation went? What did you learn from your audience’s reaction to your project? *

I loved seeing the audience reaction to my presentation; it seemed to have moved many people. My favorite comment that I received was from Mr. Greco – “I wish that I could go back into that world.” It warmed my heart to hear that, as ensuring that my installation was effectively immersive was one of the biggest challenges in completing this project. The audience reaction let me know that my work paid off.

What’s one meaningful final thought you would like your reader/listener to remember about the story of your project or its lasting value for you?

Make things happen. We waste so much of our lives not truly living, so my message is to go and live. Don’t sit around waiting for a call, let it go to voicemail.