Introduction
Throughout the narrative unit, we began with an exploration of prose fiction and graphic novels. We practiced communicating character and story arc through descriptive storytelling, narrative digital art, storyboards, films, and animations. We deepened our technical communication skills by learning to use a variety of equipment and applications such as Wacom Digital Drawing Pads, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Pro Tools, and HTML/CSS.
Story
In English, we were tasked with creating a flash fiction. I chose to create a short story about a ballerina. I was inspired by my experience as a former dancer. Afterwards, I recorded an audio of my short story and produced it in Pro Tools. Throughout this process, I enjoyed exploring my creativity as an author as well as a voice actor.
From Shadows To Spotlight
Amelia roused from her slumber to the delicate chimes of a music box, signaling the commencement of yet another day. Her surroundings, adorned with ballet-themed posters and strewn with a variety of dance attire revealed her singular devotion. Since birth, Amelia had dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. A satin dream of chiffon skirts and bloody toes.She glanced at her agenda, THE AUDITION!!! Just a mere 24 hours away. Well, I’m screwed. Amelia was never the confident type, but now more than ever, Amelia felt like she wasn’t good enough for anything. She got out of bed and reluctantly slipped her tights on, careful not to rip the seams. Bag, check! Pointe shoes, check! Bandaids, check! Soon, she was out the door and on her way to the studio. Upon her arrival, Amelia sat her bag down and unrolled her mat. She was yet again by herself, in the corner, quiet and alone. Amelia could feel eyes following her, the stares of the other dancers. Oblivious to their envy, she was convinced that the whole class hated her. Click, clack, click, clack. Everyone sprung into formation, Madam Lyn had arrived. The girls formed into small groups, pas de bourres, twirls, leaps, splits, and pas de deuxs. Amelia barreled through the movements like an otherworldly alien. After 2 grueling hours, class was finally over. Though the other girls were celebrating their technique and grace, Amelia sulked at her disappointing performance. As if to punish herself, Amelia disregarded her newly formed blisters as she walked away, head hung low. Amelia couldn’t help but notice the disappointed judgment of Madam Lyn, further amplified by the suppressed giggles of the class. She went to sleep that night with two thoughts: I’m going to get better. I’ll prove to everyone that I have what it takes… Ding! Amelia awoke to a notification from her ballet group chat. “Amelia, the dress code for the audition is a red plain leotard!” Amelia was slightly surprised as her teacher was very orthodox and usually required a black leotard with a small chiffon skirt. “Okay, thanks!”, she replied without much thought. She sprung into action, wrapping her golden brown hair into a tight low bun, making sure to douse every centimeter of her hair with extra strength hair spray. I have to be perfect today. Next came her toes, she carefully examined each one, reapplying bandages where need be, and finally wrapping her new blisters. Subsequently came the red leotard, Amelia felt bright and powerful in it, maybe even a bit confident?
Amelia walked into the studio with her head held high, ready for whatever barre combo was thrown at her. Much to her surprise, everyone was wearing a black leotard. Are you serious… The blood drained from Amelia’s tired face. She had been sabotaged by her own classmates. Madam Lyn stormed over and proceeded to spew various french curses at Amelia. Madam Lyn did not like show offs or attention seekers. Unfortunately, in her bright red leotard, Amelia had assumed the role of an attention seeker whether she meant to or not. At this point, Amelia was confronted by 2 choices. Give up and walk away defeated or dance her heart out. There must’ve been something in the air as Amelia suddenly felt a sense of confidence … I deserve this role, I worked hard, I got this. The girls waited anticipatingly for their names to be called. One by one each girl delivered a striking performance. Then came Amelia’s turn. Madam Lyn shook her head in disapproval as Amelia prepared to perform. Amelia was confident this time. She wasn’t sure why she felt so confident, nothing had gone well for her so far. With the grace of a gazelle and the force of a lion Amelia melted away into the routine. There was nothing in Amelia’s mind, no doubts, no worries, no pain. For the first time, Amelia understood what it meant to be a ballerina. To be the dance itself, not the dancer. To be the art, not the broke artist. As her time came to an end, she curtsied and hurriedly ran off the stage for the next girl. She lined up with the other girls who had already auditioned but this time, there were no giggles or smirks. Amelia was met with the silent respect of her classmates. She rolled her shoulders back, took a deep breath, and realized the only thing holding her back was her own self doubt.
Heres some behind the scenes of the audio recording process as well as album cover design process:
Illustrations
In digital media, we learned how to use adobe illustrator. After gaining experience using the application, we created exquisite corpses in groups of 3. After the exquisite project, we were sent off to create a personal illustrator project. I chose to make stickers.
Music Production
In digital media, we were encouraged to make a parody song. My group and I chose to cover the song “Let the Light In” by Lana Del Ray. We spent time writing lyrics, revising them, and matching them to the tempo of the song. We then found a lyrical version of the original song and recorded our singing over it in freestyle’s recording studio. Our lyrics were inspired by the daily experience of a freestyle student :).
Film
In film, we warmed up to our final narrative with smaller exercises such as a griffith scene, suspense scene, and finally chase scene. Afterwards, we began our narrative film pre-production. We wrote a synopsis, then created a storyboard, filmed and edited the actual film, and finally created a trailer. My partner and I created a narrative film about ballet.
Narrative film!
Visual Narrative – Ballet
The scene starts at the main character’s room as she wakes up in the morning. There are pans of the room which reveal her obsession with ballet (posters and ballet clothes/shoes). An alarm goes off and she gets out of bed and gets ready for ballet class. As she walks out the door she looks at a calendar and crosses a day off and shows that in 2 days there is a ballet audition. The next scene is her walking into a ballet studio. She puts her stuff on alone as a group of girls laugh and point at her. The teacher walks in and the main character takes a deep breath then stands up to get in line with the other dancers. They do their warmups and dances. There are close ups of their ballet shoes, legs dancing, and arms swinging around. The next scene is the main character walking out of practice and the bully tripping her. The main character gets up and goes home. She gets home and puts back on her ballet stuff back on to continue practicing. We see close ups of her lacing up her shoes and we see her touch her sore legs. She is working really hard, getting frustrated as she keeps working on a certain dance spin move and failing. The camera keeps showing the clock – 11pm, 1 am. She stops, is clearly tired as she is moving slowly when taking her stuff off and finally goes to sleep. Dream: She is dancing alone in dark stage (shot on a green screen probably) with a spotlight on her. She is dancing at a fast pace looking perfect and free. Act 2. Next scene is her waking up and seeing that the audition is tomorrow. There is a close up of her concerned/anxious face. She checks her phone and sees text notifications from a “ballet group chat”. From a behind the shoulder shot, she clicks the notifications and the screen goes to the messages. We read the texts that say “Amelia, btw we are supposed to wear red leotards for the audition tomorrow!” . She “likes” the message and replies with “ok, thank you for telling me!”. She puts her phone away and packs up her ballet stuff. At dance practice, she is clearly struggling and is tired as the teacher is yelling at her and fixing her dance postures. When walking out at the end of practice, she walks with her head low, the teacher shakes her head in disapproval, and the mean girls make fun of her by laughing and pointing at her again. She goes home and cries in her bed. It is a dark scene with the windows down. She gets up from her bed, the camera moving up with her. She quickly and aggressively tears down the ballet posters due to feelings of frustration and doubt. The camera moves very quickly to cut shots in this scene. After the feelings of rage pass, she takes off her boots and then her ballet shoes. Her feet are bleeding due to her shoes and all of the ballet she’s been doing. It’s a wide shot of her reaching down at them in pain. After a moment passes, she looks back up and the camera shows that what she is looking at is an old picture of her doing ballet with a smile on her face. The camera is now a tight shot of her face with now a slight smile and a single tear going down her face. Determined, she gets back up and the camera widens. She tapes up her feet and starts doing her warmups and dances. The camera shows her dancing and the clock changing. She finally stops and takes out her red uniform and lays it out on the floor with the rest of her ballet stuff. She goes to sleep and wakes up the next morning. She gets up and crosses off on her calendar showing that today is the audition. She gets ready and puts on her red leotard and goes out the door. She walks into the studio and her face drops. The camera dollies outward with our main character, Amelia, her back facing the camera. She is the only one wearing red and everyone at the audition is wearing black. The camera is a close shot of her face which drops in reaction to being the only one wearing red. She sees the girls laughing at her. She sits down and puts her ballet shoes on. People around her get up one at a time for their audition. Finally, the room has cleared and she is the last person to get called. A close up of her back is shown on the camera and we see her taking a deep breath and rolling her shoulders back (standing up straight). She walks on stage and gives the best performance of her life. She doesn’t miss any of the moves and dances perfectly. Her dance ends, she smiles and the screen goes black.
