Freestyle’s Zenith Project is the culminating senior assignment, giving us the opportunity to design our own projects with full creative freedom—guided only by a few requirements specific to our elective class. For film, we needed to include pre-production, production, and post-production phases into our project. As a result, no two projects are alike. The word “Zenith” refers to the highest point of power or achievement, which reflects the purpose of this project: to showcase the peak of our skills, creativity, and knowledge developed during our time at Freestyle.
My Zenith project was particularly meaningful to me because I decided to do a memoir/time-capsule film about my friend group that I have had since kindergarten. This friend group has meant the world to me throughout the course of my life since I have basically done everything with them. We have a really special group of friends that acts as a support group and as a family.
This project was a risk for me because I had a hard time envisioning a final product. I had to develop what I wanted to make as I went. Not having a clear goal in mind was stressful and made the process difficult because I never knew what I was working towards. All I knew was the story that I wanted to tell.
Here are some photos that explain my process:
I went through so many old photos.
Hey! Look at this Freestyle Academy trio 🙂
Interviewing my friends. This is Evan stretching while I interviewed him.
Post production! Late night in Premiere Pro.
Making my slides.
Finally finishing my Zenith at 6 am the morning before I present.
Now for the final product… Enjoy!
My Zenith Reflection:
Why/How did you choose the idea for this project? Did you have any inspirations? What did you research to help you prepare for this project? Any artistic influences?
The one thing I knew going into Zenith was that I wanted to make something with my friends. I had a lot of fun making my junior narrative short film with my friends, but didn’t end up involving them in my senior narrative film. I wanted to create a sort of time capsule project for my friends that I have had since kindergarten. My sister Bryn sent me a short film H.A.G.S by Sean Wang and this is when I knew the type of film I wanted to produce. I ended up interviewing eight of my childhood friends and created a five minute short reflecting the group and friendships we have made over the years.
Which 21st C. Skills did you improve upon the most? How so? If you collaborated with anyone, be sure to explain what was valuable about that experience.
I think the two 21st Century Skills that I improved the most from this project were risk taking and creativity. Going into the project and throughout most of the production process, I could not envision what my final product was going to look like. This was a risk because I was trying to produce something that I couldn’t really see in my own mind. In the end, I had to try different things and use various creative techniques to eventually complete my final film.
If you could do the project over, what would you do differently, and why?
One thing that I would do differently is allocate more time to learn some simple animation. In Sean Wang’s short film, he used small animations to bring some of the visuals to life, and I was hoping to do something similar. However, in the end I used things like transparent images and green screens to make my visuals more entertaining.
How do you think your presentation went? What did you learn from your audience’s reaction to your project? *
I was really happy that people were able to feel some of the same emotions that I felt when making it and I feel when watching it. I already felt proud of what I had created because I knew that my friends and their families would enjoy the film, but to see the reaction from people who don’t know my friends, it felt very gratifying.
How well do you feel you accomplished one or more of the project objectives: ignite your own passion; elevate your skills and experiences; create your ultimate / most successful Freestyle project? Connect this answer to what this project means for the road ahead for you: What learning experiences or other outcomes of this project do you think you’ll put to use in the future?
I think if anything this was the most passionate/personal project that I have made at Freestyle. My friends have been so incredibly important in my life since I can remember so I really wanted to produce something that could represent that. As Ms. P said during my Zenith presentation, this project is something that my friends and I will be able to cherish not only now, but also in the future. I think what I will take from this project going forward is pursuing the things that are most meaningful to me and using that to produce stuff that I can be proud of.
What’s one meaningful final thought you would like your reader/listener to remember about the story of your project or its lasting value for you?
You have the family you’re born into and the family you choose.