Introduction

In all of my classes, especially with the Visual Narrative Project, I’ve discovered a newfound love for expressing myself visually. The film narrative project, in particular, was a journey that demanded a lot of my time and dedication. But the end result filled me with immense pride. Throughout this process, I gained invaluable insights into the significance of small details in conveying emotions or messages to the audience through film. Moreover, I developed a deep appreciation for music production. I learned firsthand about the intricate process of creating harmonies, crafting seamless beats, and blending various sounds together cohesively. This experience has opened my eyes to the complexity and beauty of both visual and auditory expression, enriching my understanding of the creative process as a whole.

Story

In this English Narrative assignment, students were prompted to write a story using tools we had studied for the previous month. My inspiration for my story was writing about a tough character and an animal that was able to soften his shell. I love the topic of the unique connection between humans and animals, and the power it has to transcend language and other barriers. I have 2 cats myself, and I used them as inspiration for my cat character. The setting of Urban NYC was also something I really wanted to write about because living in a city is something that I want to do sometime in my life, and NYC is one of my favorite cities. It just has a personality type to it that I feel makes itself present throughout the story. To produce the audio version of mhy story, I had to record myself reading my essay, and then add sound effects in the appropriate timing that would positively add to the feeling of the story.

An Unexpected New Sidekick

As per routine, the alarm clock blared its morning anthem, and Officer Michael Rodriguez jolted awake, his hand fumbling in the darkness to silence the piercing noise. With a sigh, he sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His mind was already racing with thoughts of the day ahead. After a quick shower and a strong cup of coffee, he left his apartment and headed towards the subway station. The city was just beginning to wake up, the soft glow of dawn casting long shadows over the bustling city. His ears were filled with a ritual soundtrack, the sound of distant honking of taxis and excited chatter filled the air. As he sat on the subway, he pinned on his NYPD badge, feeling its familiar weight against his chest. He listened to the rhythmic clack of the tracks accompanied by the occasional interruption on the loudspeaker, he couldn’t help but reminisce about his younger enthusiastic self, filled with a childhood dream and burning determination to one day wear the uniform. As the train pulled into the station, he briskly walked towards the police station.

After greeting his usual coworkers, he checked the office to see what his task would be today. The front of his task file read “House Check: Ms. Linda Apple”. Her name made his stomach growl as he realized he’d forgotten breakfast this morning. He grabbed an emergency granola bar from the stash in his desk drawer and quickly skimmed through the rest of the document. Ms. Apple was an elderly woman living alone, known for her independence. She had been put on the police department’s watch list for regular house checks after having her second heart attack. He grabbed all his things and headed out, hopping in his car. With the address in hand, he started the car and soon found himself at an old set of apartment buildings. The part of town was quiet, the most action that happened was the subtle music coming from the mailman’s headphones or the sparse bark of a dog. With symmetrical buildings that he couldn’t tell apart from each other if it wasn’t for the rusted address placards.

As he approached the front door, he felt something off. The door was slightly ajar, and an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. He continued with caution, reminding himself that the only cause of his worry was his tendency to overthink things. In the corner of his eye, a small black cat darted across the room, under the couch. He called out, “Ms. Apple? It’s Officer Rodriguez from the NYPD”, only to be greeted with silence. He continued to scan the house, and there he saw her, lying motionless on the worn carpet in the living room. It felt as though all the air had left his lungs like a deflated party balloon. Officer Rodriguez’s heart pounded as he took in the scene, and eventually, his instincts snapped back into place. He quickly radioed for assistance from the rest of the department.

It was as though he could feel the weight of the situation shoved onto his shoulders as he sat on the velvety couch, attempting to collect his thoughts. The silence hung in the air and only made it worse as he was left alone with only his thoughts. Just then, the small black cat cautiously appeared out from its hiding spot, its wide eyes clung to the officer as if sensing the gravity of the situation. He felt a twinge of guilt in his stomach, realizing that the small feline was also alone in this uncertain situation.

With a gentle approach, he reached a hand out to the timid cat, attempting to provide some reassurance. To his surprise, the cat responded with a more outgoing approach as she began to purr and rub against Officer Rodriguez’s leg. Quickly after, backup arrived. Two officers entered the small room, ready to assist. After a quick briefing of the situation, Rodriguez couldn’t seem to leave the cat. Sitting on the couch, he hesitated as he glanced down at the affectionate feline that was now curled up beside him. The cat’s presence brought him a momentary distraction from the reality of the situation, offering a small comfort. One of the backup officers noticed Rodriguez’s connection with the cat and raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you’ve made a friend, Rodriguez.” With a faint smile, Rodriguez nodded, realizing that the cat could use some care and attention too. As he let the other officers continue securing the scene, Rodriguez decided to call animal control to handle the cat.

“Dispatch, this is Rodriguez. We’ve got a stray cat here at the scene. Can we get animal control on the line to pick her up?” he requested over the radio.

There was a brief pause before the dispatcher responded, “Sorry, Rodriguez, but animal control is stretched thin right now. They won’t be able to come for a few hours.”

He sighed. He couldn’t leave the cat unattended for hours, especially considering the uncertainty of the situation. Glancing at the small creature now purring contentedly beside him, he decided to take it home himself.

“Alright, dispatch. I’ll take care of it. Send me the contact details for animal control, and I’ll figure something out.”

As Rodriguez ended the call, he realized that he was now responsible for not only Mrs. Apple’s case but also for his unexpected new companion. After gently placing the small black cat in a makeshift carrier he found in the trunk of his patrol car, Officer Rodriguez thought about his next move. Deciding that he would have to take it home, he made a detour on his way back to his apartment to stop by a nearby pet supply store. He realized how excited he felt like a little kid getting his first pet. With a bag of essentials in hand, he managed to carry everything up the flight of stairs to his small apartment. He set up a corner in his living room, complete with a cushioned bed and a small dish of water. As Rodriguez settled into his routine, he couldn’t help but glance over to his small new friend. Even though he bought a bed for her, all she wanted to do was sit on his lap. This brought him an immense joy that he realized he hadn’t felt since he was a little boy.

Throughout the following days, he juggled the complexities of Ms. Apple’s case and the newfound responsibility of caring for her, he discovered a sense of joy and companionship he hadn’t realized he was missing. The routine house check brought him an unexpected friend. As he sat on his couch with the kitten in his lap, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude for the turn of events. In the quiet moments of their shared company, Officer Rodriguez found a pacifying refuge that made the challenges of his daily life a little more bearable.

Behind the scenes of my album art production and audio production using Adobe Illustrator and Pro Tools.

Illustrations

My inspiration for this project was one of my favorite albums of all time, Love Deluxe by Sade. Since she doesn’t make merch, I wanted to make my own and use different colors and my style of design. At the beginning of this project, I wanted to make a sweatshirt with the New York Yankees logo on it with a unique pattern and style, but I felt like it wasn’t coming together how I wanted it to. I decided to redo the idea instead of just leaving it and not being satisfied with it. If I could change anything, I think I accidentally printed the design onto the hoodie off-center. I think next time I would make sure to be more careful about the placement of my design. I am most proud of my ability to take something I love and make it more unique and personalized. I think that I learned a lot about Illustrator Effects and Artistic brushstrokes that I want to continue to use in the future. I learned a lot about the difficulties of designing clothing, especially after having to scratch my whole idea and start from scratch. It takes a lot of creativity to accomplish and execute your vision in the specific way that you had imagined it.

The project assignment for the Exquisite Corpse was that we had a group of 3, and we each had to create a design in our assigned section, and we would put them together to create a goofy image. This assignment was excellent practice for using Illustrator, as we were all just learning how to use it.

This was the final combination of our creations. (By Lucy P, Mia D, and Jessie E)

Music Production

During the Parody Project, we were assigned to choose a song that we already liked and rewrite the lyrics into something of our own. Me and Mia wanted to use a Nicki Minaj song because her lyrics are really fun and we had just attended a Nicki Minaj concert together. We wanted to write it about Fortnite because we had recently been playing a lot of Fortnite together. The music production process was more difficult than it appeared to be. We had to write lyrics, find an instrumental version of the song, and actually preform the lyrics and record them with good quality.

Parody Lyrics:

It’s Mimch and JuicyLucy13

Queens of the server, looking for the King

Uh, you got the right one, hmm

L-let these, let these nnnpc’s know, yeah

Murda on the beat so it’s not nice

[Verse 1: 6ix9ine]

Big Pot got that wet wet, got that drip drip,

Got that pickaxe, hit that

We the duo, ha, XOXO

Hitting headshots like a pro, pro

I don’t even know like, “How I did that?”

I don’t even know like, “How I hit that?”

All I know is that I just can’t stop that

Getting high ground, so they won’t fight back

Turn around and shoot em’ from the back, back, back

Knocked em down then I wrote this rap, rap, rap

[Chorus: 6ix9ine]

Yo this my

 freaking twin,

And guess who got that win

[Verse 2: Nicki Minaj]

We-We tryna get our bounty, do it proudly, better crown me

Word to A$AP, keep me Rocky, I’m from Tilted, call me papi

Say he’ll beat me, staying bossy, copped me fenty like Rhianni

Keep my skin in Versace, keep me winning like i’m saucy

E-Emote all up in his face, doin it with grace

Shotgun game just caught a kill, you wish you had this skill

Twin is with me, squad for days, get loot quickly, use for plays

I just sit back and when she done, I be like, “Yo, am I rebooted?”

[Chorus: 6ix9ine]

Yo this my freaking twin

And guess who got that win

[Verse 3: Nicki Manaj]

Ayo, Draco got that kick-back

When it kick-back , you can’t get yo shit back

In fact this that bitch that

“I hate small talk, I don’t fuck with chit-chat”

AC just stopped workin’

So they hit me, told me bring my wrist back

Come through rockin’ fashions

That got all these bitches like, “Yo, what’s that?”

(Like, “Yo, what’s that?”)

Film

In our film class, we were challenged to produce a visual narrative without dialogue. It was such a fun and incredible thing to be able to work with a partner and really collaborate out ideas together. It was an overall extremely long process going from idea pitches to synopsis, to storyboarding, to choosing actors and locations, and finally to filming and editing.

The process began with the synopsis. We pitched ideas for our Narrative to the class as individuals, and then picked groups based on the story we liked best. Then we wrote a 1 page synopsis with 3 different separation for each “Act”. Here is the first synposis!

Synopsis

Act 1: The opening scene will start off with a dream sequence (the audience is unaware that it is a dream). This will be breaking Griffiths’s pattern, but it gives the story a more interesting hook and plants the “red door” seed.  The dream shot will be shot in an FPS that makes it feel dreamy and floaty, which will give the audience a sense of disorientation  It pictures a POV shot from our main Character that depicts her opening a gate to a house with a red door, but as she is about to open the door, the dream cuts to a scene of her gasping and waking up in her bed. This is when the audience is aware that it is a dream. The girl gets out of bed in an annoyed manner, seeming to just brush off the dream and try and shake away her startled awakening. The idea that this girl is staying in a foster home starts to get introduced. This may be through things such as a pamphlet or book that says “dealing with being adopted”, or any other item that would imply that she is in foster care. She continues on with her day, living life in a very mundane manner. The next shot will be of her eating cereal/breakfast at a dining room table in her foster house. Her adoptive/foster parents are briefly introduced, but there are no shots that show their faces as their characters are not essential/important to the story. While she is eating breakfast, the shot will be a medium shot of the table which shows her foster mom going through the mail. She picks up a letter addressed to our main character that is sent from “orphanage”. It cuts to a close shot of our character’s reaction to the letter, showing her annoyed at the letter and quickly shoving it in her bag. This implies that she does not want to connect with her past and her parents. This letter seems to have tampered with her mood, showing her as a little bit sadder, yet she continues to go through her day. This letter is the event that transitions the story to Act 2. Act 2: A feeling of regret and nagging feeling about the letter follows her throughout the day, yet she still has a lack of interest in finding out anything about her past. The original dream sequence occurs again, showing the red door which reinforces to the audience that this red door has some significance, yet again the dream cuts off before it shows what is behind that door. The film shows her waking up another day, again with the same reaction to the dream. The dream will be relatively slow-paced and eerie, followed by a jolt and quicker pace when she abruptly wakes up from her dream. The next couple of shots show her day, briefly showing her at school and at home, again in a very mundane fashion. The next shot will be her character taking her dog out on a walk to the park. It will start with a very wide shot of her at the park, slowly dollying in closer to her face. We can see the emotions on her face shift when she sees a mother with a child playing in the background. This reminds her of her birth mom, missing that real motherly connection that she lacks with her foster parents. This is when the pacing of the story begins to speed up, as the character decides that she wants to try and find her mom. As her character has grown interest in her history, she looks down and realizes that the letter from the orphanage is still in her bag. In a nervous manner, she opens the letter carefully. She gasps and throws away the letter in fright. The shot will be from the front of her face, which limits the audiences view so that they cannot see what was on the picture. The scene ends with a slow camera shot that eventually shows what was on the picture. The picture is a family photo of her when she was a baby with her mom, standing in front of the same red door from her recurring dreams. This time, a house number is visible which gives her an even bigger motivation to go visit her bith family. She starts to embark on a journey to find the house. This action transitions from act 2 to act 3, as the pacing of the story and the shots continue to speed up. Act 3: She goes to bed on the last night, again with the repeating dream scene. She then leaves her house early in the morning, almost seeming like she is sneaking out. Making sure that her shoes dont make noise on the floorboards. We see the character using clues from the photo to try and find this house. There will be super wide shots that show the character searching and walking through neighborhoods with the shots of the background houses changing which helps tell the audience that she has been searching for some time. A possibility to show more character development and resilience is by showing small obstacles that the character has to overcome in order to reach this destination. (including these will depend on the length of the story and if it seems like the audience needs to connect with the character on an even deeper level). Finally, the last scene will be of the character finally walking past the red door. This will have a lot of suspense, showing her anxiety and nerves with extreme close ups that are almost uncomfortable to the audience. This will cause them to feel the same as what our character is feeling. The final shot will be of her walking up the steps and knocking on the door. We see a low profile shot of the torso of the woman opening the door and our main character steps in the house.

Storyboarding

The next step in our process was to create almost 125 storyboards. Each was hand drawn, displaying every new shot or angle we planned to shoot. This took almost 10 hours of work, as we would create storyboards, and then get feedback and were required to revise the storyboards based on Mr. Taylor’s feedback until it got the “green light”.

INSERT YOUTUBE VID HERE

Here are some behind-the-scenes from the film !

Griffiths Pattern ⬇