Hello and welcome to my page! My name is Josh Gefken, and I am a senior at Freestyle Academy/ Mountain View High School. Over the past two years, I have taken steps to help me continue my passion for the arts. At Freestyle, my classes included English, Digital Media, and Film. All three of my classes challenged me and tugged on my creative strings. I am really grateful for this amazing opportunity that very few get.
When not in school, my main focus is theater. I have been acting since the age of four, which has led me to amazing experiences that I would have missed if I wasn’t following my creative side. Within the last few years, I have started spreading my branches and began dabbling in the more tech sides of the art. Since then, I have Set-Designed, Staged-Managed, and Directed. I recently directed the musical Little Shop of Horrors at an all teen-run theater company called Upstage Theater. Next year I am excited to continue studying theater as I earn a BFA in Acting at Southern Oregon University.
When creating, my main inspiration is nature and the outside world. In almost all my Freestyle projects, I try to incorporate some kind of natural elements. Thank you so much for taking the time to review my work. Both of these projects mean a lot to me, as I have put all of my time and effort into making them!
“Yosemite: A Home Away From Home” Documentary
For my first project, I chose my Junior Documentary. Yosemite has always been a huge part of my family. From spending summers riding the rapids to backpacking in its peaks, it’s a special place where long-life memories were formed. In my documentary, my family recounts their experiences in the park and their hopes for the future of Yosemite. I am insanely proud of what I created, and I can’t wait to share it with future generations of my family. Below is my documentary, followed by photos I took while shooting on location in Yosemite!
I am really happy with how the documentary turned out. My junior year as a whole was very unexpected, so it was nice to spend my spring break in a place that I love so much. The process as a whole was pretty demanding. We had to perfect our interview questions, confirm interviewees, find shooting locations, and finally editing. For me, this project was the summit of the mountain for my 11-grade year. It was the most rewarding, and it taught me many new skills that I used in my Senior Narrative and Zenith projects.
Personal Reflection
I picked my reflection from the beginning of my senior year for the second project. It was a challenge to be valuable and open about my different struggles. Overall I’m really happy with what I produced and the skills that I gained when expressing myself. Below is my final personal Reflection and Script.
Reflections Script
How am I gonna write this? What do I say? What do I do? Colors spinning around make my eyes hurt. My dreams are pretty crazy. Sometimes it’s like I’m not dreaming at all. It’s like I’m there in the world that I just created in my head. Wow, my ceiling looks like stars in a faraway gal…I can feel the wind in my hair as I stand up in my car…Shoot, I probably should get back to work. I have no idea what to write about. Uggggg. My mouse makes a funny sound when I click it. Click click, click click click. Maybe I should get some food. What do I eat, though? I don’t know… Maybe I’ll see my friends this weekend. That would be fun. Just living carefree would be fun. I have always wanted to do that. How am I supposed to write this? I have nothing to say. Actually, I do have a lot to say, but sometimes it’s difficult for me to say those things. Sometimes I get so nervous that I miss out on opportunities that could change my life. And it’s all because of my brain. My thoughts bouncing back and forth. Overthinking every little detail. And in my experience, you just got to stop listening to your brain and follow your heart. Because when you do..your life changes…forever. your brain will still be there ticking like a clock. But you won’t care.. You will be out there having the time of your life. Seeing new sights, experiencing wonders like in your dreams. And who would have thought that you might have missed out on all of it due to your silly brain controlling it all?
Reflection of Growth
Both of these projects challenged me but let me grow and learn new skills that helped me when creating similar projects. I hope that viewers can see all my inspiration based on our natural world. Everything I did in Freestyle was extremely rewarding, and they opened doors to new paths that I would have missed without them. I have grown so much and learned valuable skills like creating with Adobe Applications and photography. I am excited to use these new skills in the future as I follow my passions in the creative world.