Explorations

Introductions

During this unit, we had a lot of creative freedom to make products we are passionate about, and want to learn about. During our explorations, we took risks and created unique projects that helped us learn more about ourselves and different topics. In English, we created lyrical essays. This was a new type of writing for me, and I really enjoyed it because we were allowed to write about whatever we wanted. We researched our topic and collected sources. We then made footnotes, which was something we had never done before. In Digital Media, we used ProTools to record our own music. Our class was instructed to record a song in the recording studio, edit the music, and play at least one instrument in the background. It was exciting to become familiar with the equipment we have available to us. In Film, we had the creative freedom to choose any topic we wanted. I wanted to research and teach Freestyle Academy about poetic documentaries. I was able to work on filming aesthetically pleasing shots.

During the creation of the poetic documentary, I learned many valuable things. I overall really enjoyed the documentary unit when I created the film “Happy Hearts,” so for this shorter assignment I wanted to explore different modes and types of documentaries.

I enjoyed this project because it was sort of relaxing in a way. I decided to film what “A Summer’s Night” feels like to me. I focused on filming sunsets, plants and flowers, and other objects and views that feel like summer. I wanted the view to feel relaxed, comfortable, and excited for this time of year.

I originally went to film redwood trees but was not impressed with how the footage came out. So instead, I decided to go around my neighborhood when the sun was setting and film things that I felt helped create a certain mood and tone.

I learned a lot through my project, and you can see my slideshow linked below. I learned specifically about Joris Iven, and how he laid the foundation for the popularity of poetic documentaries, and documentary filmmaking in general. I enjoyed researching him and the Symphony Movement.

I overall wanted to explore what techniques I should use when filming. I learned how color specifically is very important. This is why I worked on colorgrading my clips to create more of a warm-toned video.

Final Result

I am overall happy with how my project turned out. I liked the color grading I did, the title font, the music I applied, and the overall aesthetic of the shots. I especially liked the moving plants, as I thought this was a more cinematic shot. I think I improved the 21st century’s admiration for the beauty around us.

I had to make sure that my camera was angled correctly and had to be sure that my shots were in focus. I enjoyed further learning how to color grade because this was something I avoided more in the past, but now I feel confident enough to continue to color grade all of my films. The research behind poetic documentaries was also interesting, and this can be seen in my slides linked below.

I also wrote a lyrical essay in English. My mom a few years ago went through chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant to combat her MS. It really saved her life; without this clinical trial, she would have been in a wheelchair within the year, significantly losing her eyesight and intellect capabilities, and more. I am so grateful for treatment such as the one she got. This process though made me really afraid of germs because I was worried about getting my mom sick when her immune system was extremely low. This is my lyrical essay shown below.

Butterfly 

By: Mary Kate Outten

Delicate. 

Fragile. 

Breakable. 

To become a butterfly, one must first start as a caterpillar. A sense of fragility explodes off of such a small creature, as it knows it has a long process of development ahead of it. For the caterpillar to develop, it must stay strong. It must stay safe. It must stay healthy. 

The caterpillar must undergo obstacles and be resilient despite not being very strong. It must avoid sickness. Germs for the caterpillar are like thunderous grey clouds waiting to pour down and intimate such a vulnerable creature. The caterpillar must avoid the storm. The caterpillar must remain resilient, and fight back against drops of contamination. 

Stem cell transplant. 

So afraid of the germs 

around me 

how delicate she was…

It’s like you are having fun talking to everyone in a social setting until you hear something. A sound that instills a sense of fear inside of you; you want to shield yourself from it. You want to flee when you hear something–a cough, a whisper of illness–that sends a flight response within you. Your brain starts thinking rapidly. You feel like an alarm has set off in your brain.

 Don’t get sick. Don’t get her sick. Avoid the storm. 

A caterpillar soon develops into a cocoon, creating a sort of safeguard and sense of protection. Her chemo was a cocoon; it was doing its best to protect her from the disease her body was in a constant battle with. It gave her the ability to fight against the pathogens within her and recover. A soft silk seems to wrap around her delicately; a gentle armor shielding her from the world around her.  

The caterpillar soon becomes something magnificent–a beautiful creature with wings of different hues. As a butterfly flies, it seems to dance in the wind; they represent the fragile beauty of overcoming the storm.

Reflection

I overall really enjoyed the Explorations unit, because it helped further my skills in documentary filmmaking. I also enjoyed learning from others who presented in the class, as everyone’s projects gave me new insights into new and creative ideas. Explorations was a very positive unit because it widened my perspectives and intellect on specific topics.

Music

In Digital Media, I used Pro Tools to record a song. I decided to record All of Me by John Legend with my partner. We played the piano in the studio and first recorded that to be our backing track. We then both took turns singing and then setting up the recordings. After we were all done in the studio, we took time to edit our tracks and overlap them together. I overall really enjoyed the entire process!

My Artist statement is I really enjoyed this music project for several reasons. Our inspiration for the music was to sing a song we liked and knew the words to. My partner Kayla played the background track on the piano, and we sang over it, which I enjoyed. I am proud of singing and using the equipment in the studio because I am pretty new to all of this equipment! I valued getting experience with learning how to create different tracks, set volumes, and more. I am looking forward to using the recording studio for future projects!

Overall I loved the process of creating music, and hope to continue in the future working in the recording studio.