Narrative 1

At the beginning of the Narrative 1 unit, we were tasked with answering the question “How well can you visually tell a structured story?” Throughout this unit, we utilized a variety of mediums to answer this question, including Illustrator and ProTools.

Full of storytelling and creative freedom, I really enjoyed this unit overall. I felt like I grew a lot as an artist and storyteller, as I got much more proficient with applications such as Illustrator and Pro Tools.

In English, our overarching goal for the Narrative Project was to construct a short narrative, rich in description and character development. I had a few ideas for what I wanted my story to be about, none of which I really liked too much. Then, I had a slightly unconventional idea for a story where the main character physically ends up better than where they started, but mentally they much worse. I pursued this idea and wrote my story about a circus trapeze artist that sabotages his teammate so he can take the spotlight. Then in Digital Media, we took our completed narrative and produced an audible version furnished with sound effects and music in Pro Tools.

From turning words on paper to a complete audio production, I valued the experience of becoming more comfortable with Pro Tools, which is a very powerful tool. The better you can be at these applications, the more prepared and efficient you can be.

Circus of Regret

Once I reached the platform, following a 50 foot ascent into the air on a ladder, I unscrewed the bottle of grease. Deep down, a small little voice kept trying to tell me that this wasn’t the right thing to do, but I suffocated it with my anger and jealousy. After all these years, my greed had finally gotten the better of me, which boosted me to extreme lengths. I reached out to grab the bar to pull it closer to me. As I meticulously covered the entirety of the swinging bar with the grease, I was careful to not spare any square inch of it. I couldn’t risk this plan failing. As I pointed my flashlight towards the floor. I was confident that even the blue padding, illuminated by my beam of light, wouldn’t be enough to negate the damage done by a fall from this height. The sweat from my palms mixed with the grease from the bottle let for a vile concoction which I still can’t forget to this day. 

As I got back to my apartment, I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I stared deep into my hazel eyes and ran my hand through my short, blonde hair. My freckles sprinkled across my cheeks were barely visible in the dim light. My white tank top let my broad shoulders through, which were still wet with sweat, and reflected the light. Exhausted, I climbed into bed, reflecting on everything. 

By this point, I’d pretty much been with the Barlowe Ring Circus for the entirety of my life—all 18 years of it. As much as I loved the circus life, there was something that irked me. I was one of the best trapeze artists in the country, as I’d dedicated my whole life to it. But when Grayson joined the circus a few years ago, he quickly came to replace me, essentially putting me in his shadow. Almost everything about him was perfect, and he seemed to have everything, all while walking around with a smile plastered on his face. Whether it was genuine or his arrogance budding through, I couldn’t tell. All of that made me sick to the core. Whenever I saw him, I always noticed my fists clenching and a knot forming in my stomach. I couldn’t possibly understand how he came to the position that he was in, especially considering that he didn’t have any family ties to the circus. After all, my last name is Barlowe.I was entitled to this position, right? Wasn’t it my birthright? 

The next day, I pushed through the double glass doors which lead to the trapeze room in the Barlowe training facility. I looked around and was greeted with the tall, open space which was exclusive for people practicing my art. The white walls gave the room a feeling of innocence, which was contrasted by what I had done here just a few hours earlier in the dead of night. Although I had close to full confidence in my plan, I was nervous. Grayson was already there, chatting with one of the trainers. His bag was sitting on one of the wooden benches lining the wall to my left as he was chalking his hands. He was preparing to go up the ladder to get some practice on the bar. Just what I wanted him to do.

As he started his ascent to the platform, I tried my best to act casually and pay no attention to what he was doing. But I couldn’t help and watch him as he climbed his way to his fate. As he climbed the ladder rung by rung, he was like a magnificent beast at the slaughterhouse, strong and unsuspecting. His large hands clasped around each rung as he pulled himself up, as the muscles in his back were jutting through his shirt. With each increase in elevation, his curly brown hair bobbed up and down. When he finally reached the top, he noted where the bar was in relation to the platform then took a few steps back. With a running start, he leaped towards the bar, almost levitating mid air. When he finally connected with it, it was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to hold onto it. First there were both hands, then one hand, then none. My heart started racing out of relief as he started to plummet towards the ground. 

One week later, it was finally time for our New York show, the biggest one of the year. There was always a lot of money and attention surrounding it. Ever since that fateful day a week ago, I just felt off. I wasn’t sleeping well, and couldn’t get the fact that I had most likely ended Grayson’s career permanently off of my mind. With a broken right femur and shoulder, there was very little chance that he would be able to return to his full potential. Half of me was ecstatic, while the other was full of regret. 

The day of the big show finally arrived. I woke up with a headache, which had been the norm for the past week, so I decided to take a walk to try and clear my head. As I stepped out of my trailer, which was positioned behind the massive red and white tent, I was instantly engulfed by the classic circus aroma. Dressed in my normal clothes, I made my way around to the entrance. As I did so, the music got louder and louder, which started to blend with the sound of children screaming as well as classic dinging of carnival games. Just an hour later, it was finally time for my act. And with Grayson not here, it was me who would be performing in his place. Before I stepped out to jump onto the bar, my encroaching headache became even worse, and the sounds of the crowd and music around me were drowned out by the racing pulse in my head. I aimlessly looked around, taking in my surroundings. The crowd’s eyes were plastered on me, expecting something spectacular. The stage lights in their multitude of colors danced around all over. My hands had become weak and clammy, and were now drenched in sweat. I attempted to pull myself together, reminding myself that I was finally back to where I wanted, to where I was supposed to be. Even more, this was New York, a pivotal performance of my career. But despite my best efforts, my entire body still felt weak.

Pro Tools audio session
Adobe Illustrator interface

In Digital Media, we had been learning the ins and outs of Illustrator for the majority of the unit. But finally, we were ready to create our final Illustrator project.

my clothing art

Going into this project, we were given a couple options in what we wanted to create. I knew I wanted to create clothing art because not only is it a unique opportunity, but it’s also cool to be able to show off what you created. My inspiration was just wanting to create something funny and lighthearted, and I thought that a cow being abducted would be able to accomplish that.

shirt with design
ironing machine

Through this project, I was able to learn a bit about Illustrator, in addition to what I had already learned in Design class. I had a hard time settling on a final UFO design, but I ultimately went with one which was much less detailed than some of my other designs. If I were able to go back and change something, I probably wouldn’t make the design in a circle, as I don’t really think it suits the design that well. I think I would have preferred to just cut out the UFO and light beam directly.

Adobe Illustrator interface

A fun group project we did in Digital Media was the Exquisite Corpse. Usually, this project is done where three different people create individual illustrations that have to connect to one another. One person does the top of the body, one does the middle, and the third does the bottom. We did it a little differently, where we weren’t restricted to body parts, and we also had four people instead of three.

my group’s illustration (mine is third from left)

With our newly learned Pro Tools skills, we had to make a parody of our song. My friend and I wrote chose a song and wrote lyrics inspired by Minecraft, since we both used to play the game a lot when we were younger. We then recorded ourselves singing, which was put in Pro Tools with the instrumental original song. After some tweaking, we were finished.

Half a heart
They spawn right after dark, I don’t want no part
My armor, it protects me like a shield
I promise I won’t yield

One hit, bad for me
One crit, bad for me
No health, bad for me
But I won’t die so easily
And my health is all but gone
I should respawn

My armor’s weak, and my sword is too
And I’m also running out of mushroom stew
My armor’s weak, and my sword is too
And I’m also running out of mushroom stew
I’m weak
My armor’s weak, and my sword is too
And I’m also running out of mushroom stew
(And I’m also running out of mushroom stew)

In the Narrative 1 unit, we mainly utilized Illustrator. We worked with linear perspective, which was an important part of what would be our final project for this unit. We were eventually challenged to design a creature composed of different animal parts that resembled our main character from our English narrative. Our creature would then be placed on top of a linear perspective background which related to a scene from our story.

final product

I feel like this project has by far been my favorite so far. I’m really happy with the final result, and I’m proud of all the hard work I put into it. In addition, I grew a lot from this project, specifically in my knowledge of illustrator and linear perspective.

Adobe Illustrator interface

My story, “Circus of Regret”, follows a young and experienced trapeze artist who performs for his family’s circus. However, his main role was recently stolen by somebody who seemingly came out of nowhere, a role which he believed to be his birthright due to his family ties to the circus. Visibly irritated about all of this, he decides to let his emotions get the better of him. This drives him to extreme lengths, where he sabotages Grayson, leading to his injury and inability to perform for the New York show, the largest one of the year. Despite him reclaiming his spot, he is heavily conflicted on the inside. At the end of the story in New York, where my scene takes place, he is just about to perform. He tries his best to pull himself together, but his feelings on the inside start to crush him.

To formulate a creature in Illustrator, we first started by thinking of different animals that represented our main character’s different traits. My character is very protective. Not necessarily of other people, but of himself and what he wanted. To represent this, I chose to use a turtle’s shell. Being a trapeze artist is by no means an easy feat, and requires a large amount of strength. Similarly, zebras have an extremely strong kick. It is so strong that it can severely injure and kill predators including lions, a clear demonstration of their strength. In addition to strength, proficient trapeze artists require agility. To show this trait in my creature, I added dragonfly wings. The flamingo neck and head represent his boldness, as sabotaging his own teammate was a task that only somebody bold would have gone through with. Not only did he have to be bold, but he also had to be sneaky. This is represented on my creature with a shark fin, as when you’re above water, the only part of the shark that you can see as it sneaks up on its prey is its fin. And with that, Flurtark (combination of flamingo, turtle, and shark) was born. Since my story revolved around the circus, it seemed like an obvious choice for the background to be the inside of a circus tent. For the background, I used linear perspective. I was sure to follow all of the rules that it brings along so that nothing would look out of place. Overall, I’m very proud of the final product. But if I had more time, I would’ve added two spotlights instead of just one. I was initially going to do this, but couldn’t get the shadows just right.