Introduction
The Visual Narrative unit asks us the question “How well can you visually tell a structured story?” Throughout this unit we studied character and story arcs through writing, digital art, storyboards, and animations. We learned how to use Adobe Illustrator, Pro Tools, and many other programs in order to achieve these means.
This unit made me reflect more about how visual and audio elements can convey information to supplement a story, creating a more immersive experience. This unit taught me about making cohesive design decisions thoughtfully, whether it be in the writing, the illustration, or the audio.
Story
Our main assignment in English was to first analyze flash fictions (short stories that contain a whole arc within just a few pages) and then write one ourselves using what we’ve learned. The concept of my story was compared to Demon Slayer a lot, but I actually came up with the concept by myself and haven’t seen Demon Slayer yet. In my story, a girl has hit rock-bottom in her life and out of apathy begins to use a coin to make all her decisions. By some miracle up to this point the coin has made the right decision every time, and through the story she loses her dependence on the coin.
I produced the audio version of my story by first recording myself reading it, and then editing the best takes together with Pro Tools. I then added sound effects and music to create an audio landscape, as if I was adding sound effects to a film or animation but without any visuals.
I valued the creative freedom I had in writing and producing the audio the most. I find writing fiction very fun despite having not much experience in it, and I thoroughly enjoyed applying my production skills to score this story.
Spare Change
Illustrations
For this project we were meant to use our newly-learned Adobe Illustrator skills to make whatever we wanted—candle shades, embroidery patches, and so on. I took a less strenuous option and just made a Personal Illustration that is printed 13″x19″ on paper, titled “Overthink”.
Overthink
The morbid imagery in this piece hyperbolizes the frustration I feel with overthinking. Growing up in Silicon Valley, it was an unspoken rule that my logic should be valued over my feelings, and this fallacy has impacted my life negatively in many ways. My thoughts constantly seek for perfection in myself and others, which by nature keeps me dissatisfied and makes me a problem-solver to other people. If I could unlearn this over-analyzation mindset everything it would feel like bliss, and this piece represents that for me. The symbol of the bullet through a brain represents the cessation of my thoughts. I made the blood fade into waves, however, because whenever I watch waves crashing on the shores of beaches I am pulled away from my worries and live in the moment.
Music Production
For this project we were meant to make a creative parody of a song and record ourselves over the backing track. I chose to make my song with my friend Jean-Marc.
To produce the Parody Song, we first picked a song and rewrote the hook and verses. Next, we used phase cancellation in Pro Tools to muffle the vocals out of the song, and we added our own vocals back over the track.
Our new parody song is about tax evasion. There was no real inspiration for these parody lyrics, we just thought that a guy singing about committing tax fraud was funny.
Get Away From You
(A parody of Can’t Get Over You by Joji)
Lyrics
I’ll get away from you
I’ll get away from you
And before I die I’ll pray that
I am never found
That I am never found
But the IRS is bound
To track me here and take me down
Verse
Taxes, I don’t wanna write
If they show up
I think I’m gonna fight
Baby I like, my assets like
But you want me, and I’m out of sight (out of sight)
Tell me more, I got capital gains with your name on it
Tell me more, I’m gonna flee over to the tropics
Don’t know you, why would I give money to you?
I don’t have social credit
I’m all in debt
Chorus
I’ll get away from you
I’ll get away from you
And before I die I’ll pray that
I am never found
That I am never found
But the IRS is bound
To track me here and take me down
Animation
Throughout this Narrative unit we built our 2-D Animation skills with PhotoShop and started creating characters and stories.
Character Bio
For this assignment we were meant to design a character with a backstory and then build a puppet of them.
Puppet Walk Cycle
For this project we were meant to build a puppet from the Character Bio we wrote previously and animate both a 2D walk cycle and stop-motion cycle with the puppet. I think the chance to use many different tools was the highlight of this project for me. I especially enjoyed putting effects over the video at the end in Adobe After Effects.
Lip Sync Animation
For the Lip-Sync Animation I decided to take my own face and draw over it in order to animate. I’m not the happiest with the results animation-wise but at least it is funny. I took the audio out of context and put myself in a padded cell to make it seem like I am insane.
Visual Narrative
For this project, we worked to create a visual narrative animation in groups. I worked with my friends Emma, Aramis, and Zeytin, and we created this fever-dream of a short. We were meant to convey a story through visual means alone, with no character dialogue. Although there are voices present in the audio, most of them are either me mumbling or just background noise.
