Introduction
For the visual narrative project, we were tasked to learn how to descriptively and visually tell an engaging story with developed characters and arcs. Studying everything from full length novels and feature films to short stories, students expanded technical skills using professional and modern equipment and applications such as Wacom Digital Drawing Pads, lighting equipment, downshooters, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Animate, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Avid Pro Tools, Propellerhead Reason, HTML/CSS, DragonFrame, and Google Apps.
I have always an affinity for narrative storytelling. Throughout my entire life, I’ve been writing stories and been fascinating especially with characters. However, I’ve always really struggled to compress my storytelling and characters into the essentials, which is a big part of what I learned throughout the visual narrative unit. With each project from Film, English, and even Digital Media, it was about taking ideas and putting them into limited and smaller spaces to tell. For both Film and English, we were limited by dialogue. In Film, this meant we had to tell our story purely through visuals, and similarly in English, primarily through description. I had to be able to use imagery and symbolism much more heavily in my storytelling. Something that correlated quite heavily to our illustrations as well—needing to be able to summarize what we’re making or some message in a singular piece of art. In terms of audio, I learned the basics of how to mix audio and the power audio can have in a story, whether that be ironic or to enhance emotions. Even just sound effects really help to immerse oneself in the world and story.
Story
Our assignment for the narrative unit in English was to write flash fiction; something particularly challenging to me. As I’ve stated before, I often have trouble compressing my stories into the essentials. Writing flash fiction isn’t just crushing a story down to essentials, but also involves picking a simple story in the first place—feasibly one without dialogue. After a few attempts at some fairly generic ideas like a kid moving to a new city or a simple if comfy, romance, I decided to somewhat combine both the general ideas of those stories. I created a narrative that would take place in a very sensory appealing environment like the city, but kind of have that romance and comfort of the ladder concept:
“Songbirds” is a flash fiction about the inevitability of the end, but the significance of not letting that end compromise your experience as it is. During my meeting with you, we talked about autumn often meaning the end of things, which something I never quite think about with fall, but is always there. I thought about trying to tell a story about that end, but with that same mindset I had in my poem with the stage—and autumn—being beautiful. My goal was for the atmosphere really to stand out and the vision of the town almost to be its own character. I had just watched “Lost in Translation” for the first time, and in that movie, the characters are important, but the setting of Tokyo is also critical for the feel and themes of the movie. Obviously, my story would feel much different than that, being in fall and on a much smaller scale, but I still wanted my setting to feel like the season. A story about death or the end could very easily angsty or depressing, but a big part of my themes was about those endings not defining the beauty that was there, like how autumn is the end of many things, but also one of the most stunning time of the year. New England was important as it is a place during fall that can truly feel like another world. I got inspired by a song called “Autumn Town Leaves” by Iron & Wine where the lyrics describe an old town of stone, leaves, sunsets, and songbirds and thought that those things sounded like New England would fit perfectly as a reflection of the end in multiple places. My main character, Sam, would be struggling with losing someone (later determined to be his mother) and having to try and face not only that inevitability of the end but the lack of guidance with this new town. The other timely or worldly spirit of the town would be intimidating, but also increase his want to escape. I chose the songbird as something for them to follow as it would be a good way to exhibit the many ends throughout the story as well as a reflection of the main character, or who they used to/could be. The climax of saving the bird and watching the sunset is almost like saving himself from drowning in his own… lostness. The bird keeps losing and having less and less sense of direction until it almost drown and Sam has to choose what to do: help the bird or let it go and stay without knowing what lay ahead, avoiding what is happening. He chooses to save it and they come to meet with their partners. I wanted to include this as an ending as it is something songbirds are known for and, I thought, really encapsulated the journey often being more important than the end with love, and being with those loved ones creating happiness even if it’ll end someday. That vacation with his girlfriend might’ve been a temporary thing, but it was still important. They were the “solution” to the lostness.
The next step of the flash fiction would be to record it. For this, I didn’t want to just record a bland reading of it, but add a sort of personality to the entire thing. I always imagined it having a sort of cozy and nostalgic storybook quality, so I tried to read it with that in mind. Maybe it wasn’t a fairytale in the traditional sense, but parts of it almost felt like that a little with its picturesque backdrop and songbird-centered tale. Additionally, I wanted the music to reflect this; not just to fit the emotions and tone but also to generally be more acoustic or traditional, as was the setting. This, along with sound effects, would hopefully make the listener feel immersed within that world I created and be able to really imagine the flash fiction as almost a sort of film—or at least see it in three dimensions. The music and sound effects really planted the listener into that world and are able to visualize exactly what was happening and the intensity—or warmth—associated with it.
“Songbirds
Leaving the train felt like entering a different land, maybe even a different time.
Soft, rolling hills conquered the landscape beyond the bends of the train tracks, mirroring a forest of scattering colors over the edge of the small New England town. The town itself almost looked like it could’ve been taken out of Europe; a sign of its age. Cobblestone lined the streets. It split into a little downtown, but the branching paths made it look like a wondrous maze. Leaves just barely swept the ground before deciding on where they wanted to be. The sky was as clear as you’d ever find it on an autumn day in New England, except for a growing patch of stormcloud on the edge of the horizon.
Yet that was the only thing Sam noticed when arriving. The beautiful day passed him by. It would just turn to rain anyway.
He was there to meet his girlfriend as a… sort of escape. He wished it would’ve been one. He wished he could’ve been appreciating the scenery around him: the array of colors, the charm of the thin streets. Maybe a month or two ago, it could’ve been like that. When they had planned it, it could’ve been like that. But after the recent death of his mother, it was all inevitable rain.
Three hours until he could meet her. The original intent was to use that time to explore all the crevices of the little place. Maybe relax by the stream. Sam tried to think about the old cafe he had heard about. He thought about the beautiful hiking trails he knew were nearby, but the objective-focused version of him felt like it was a little gone.
He knew where he was, but he was lost.
As the wander went on, the sounds of the afternoon grew fewer. The lack of people became apparent. All that was heard was that same trickling creek, a few lonely footsteps, the rustle of autumn town leaves, and… a songbird.
The crisp, clear, and beautifully piercing seemed to make a b-line towards Sam’s ear. In a town where everything was softly stirring through, something seemed to be wanting attention. Sam followed his ear to find a small songbird perched on a low, empty branch. His eyes didn’t widen, but his pupils focused in, fascinated by how such a small thing could make such a big noise.
In an instant, the Songbird took off and Sam followed the allure of that escape. Dipping into one of the many twisted alleys, it settled on a small bird batch, in the back of a side garden. Wind chimes fell into rhythm with the fall of the leaves but disrupted the small bird. As it tried to drink from the water provided for it, more and more leaves blocked its path. It’s beak got stuck in a leaf before taking it out and simply getting stuck in another one. The wind was picking up.
Eventually, the little creature gave up, opting once again to sing. It looked around at the fauna-filled garden before it, hoping that something else would come, but nothing did. It took off once again and Sam continued to chase.
This time, the Songbird stopped on the ground. Sam carefully crept down to get a closer look. The talons took a few steps back but stopped. The two organisms stared at each other before acquiring a mutual understanding. The bird took back those steps it had moved and pecked at the ground.
The storm seemed to be getting closer, but it wasn’t close enough. Hard dirt, more like stone, halted the beak of the bird. A few more pecks, it tried to get through, seeming to grip onto something, but unable to pull it out.
The day did not seem to be going well for the Songbird either. Each journey was a dead end.
Singing started once again as it ascended into a nearby tree. Still nothing. The bird paused for a moment, seeming deep in thought, but quickly moved on. There were only a few hours of daylight left.
The stream was the next location on the mind of the bird. Still thirsty from the failure of the little bath, the stream seemed like an easier idea. More area, more water. But the wind disagreed.
A strong breeze flew in from the other side of town, knocking the bird off its perch and into the water. The small soul flew down the stream. For anything bigger, the escape would’ve been easy, but for something as small as it, escape was not even an option.
Sam panicked. The end might’ve been near. He took off his socks and shoes and dipped his toes into the stream. Crashing on rocks and bruising on stones, he lept down into the gushing water. Wind raged and rain started to pour. Even in the intense moment, Sam couldn’t help thinking about the irony of the rain coming nearly directly after the bird had needed it. Now it seemed to be ruining it all.
Sam scooped up the life-form and leaped back onto the bank, taking off his jacket to warm up the creature. The cold wrapped around him, beating him from all sides. Rain whipped his face. The town looked inviting.
He ran to through the cobblestone streets and finally decided to go to that cafe he had been hearing so much about. The warmth was refreshing inside where the bird seemed to get better. There were only a few people, settled on the red, cushioned couches that lined in inside of the small house-turned-cafe.
Outside, the storm stopped. The sun was beginning to set. Sam brought the Songbird for one more chance and what he needed. Instead of zooming off in flight, the bird sat on the chair next to Sam, and together they watched the ultimate ending: sunset. The day’s close.
One last time the bird let out a call. A song.
Finally, there was a reply.
Sam and the bird leapt at the opportunity. It continued to sing and there continued to be an echo. At least the bird was getting its happy ending. But it was still an ending.
At last, they arrived at a small campfire on the edge of a restaurant. The bird landed on a tree next to a slightly bigger, and more vibrant singer. They bounced up and down, chattering with a sense of pure bliss. If they weren’t birds, Sam might’ve felt envious.
But then he turned to the fire and he remembered why he was here in the first place. Yes, the day had ended. Yes, there was plenty of failures throughout it. Yes, he only had so much time in this beautiful place. But he was there to meet someone who loved him and who he loved.
He was there for the journey.
Illustrations
Though we used Adobe Illustrator multiple times throughout this unit, the main and most focused effort was in our illustrations project. We essentially just had to create a design for some sort of piece of clothing or object. I decided to create one for a sweatshirt.
This project made me realize how little I really knew about Illustrator. I started as originally planning to make an engraving for my wallet. Something either Star Wars or Avatar: the Last Airbender inspired (I even had a ATLA sketch). However, as the deadline approached, I realized I didn’t have time to send in a custom idea (a wallet rather than an item listed) and, so, decided instead to make something for my partner as an anniversary was soon arriving. The Cuttlefish has been a sort of symbol in our relationship for a long time. Not just because it is her favorite animal, but also because it’s something I call her (well CuDDlefish, not CuTTlefish, but close enough). She also loves big hoodies and so I thought that would be the perfect gift. A hoodie but also something personally designed.
The designing part was a little more difficult. I found a cuttlefish image on the web which I used to do a basic outline, but they also have a variety of details it would’ve been hard to make into an appealing design, so instead, I tried to make it more abstract and in a style my partner would like. After the basic colors, I added