Introduction
The narrative unit has significantly shaped my freestyle journey, equipping me with essential skills including conducting professional interviews, mastering Adobe Illustrator, and even directing my very own narrative film. This unit proved especially challenging due to the various hurdles I encountered. However, the most valuable lesson I’ve learned in this unit is the importance of grit and determination. I learned how to pick myself up and continue moving forward even when things got hard.
Story
Throughout this semester in English class, one of our assignments was to craft a flash fiction narrative short story. This unit held significant value for me as it allowed us to unleash our creative skills, concocting stories of our choosing with complete freedom. We delved into the creation of characters, settings, scenarios, and even personality traits, immersing ourselves fully in the world of storytelling. Moreover, we ventured into the realm of audio production using professional tools, enhancing our flash fiction stories with carefully curated sound effects. Undoubtedly, this became the highlight of my experience with flash fiction, as I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with a myriad of sound effects and piecing them together to bring our narratives to life. Additionally, I also created an album cover for my flash fiction recording, after considering a couple of different ideas I landed on creating a record in Adobe Illustrator. I made this record player a beach-themed record player so it could fit in better with the beach-themed short story.
Echoes of Friendship-Flash Fiction Story
The Summer of 2015’—what more could I want? I had it all: a tight-knit group of friends, money to spend, and the attention of girls, which was sort of expected as I was almost a freshman in high school. I had recently broken up with Ellie and I wanted nothing to do with her, my friends Chris and Liam suggested we could go to the boardwalk. Initially I was hesitant but the more people tried to convince me to go the more I found myself drawn to the idea. The problem was I didn’t know if I wanted to go to the boardwalk with Chris. Chris and Liam are both around 6’ Chris is lanky but not skinny, just long with dark brown hair and an awkward face. He has a lumpy nose, and huge ugly glasses that look like a grandma would wear them. Liam on the other hand was slightly more built than Chris and “charming” the girls would put it, he had blonde hair and is more of a go with the flow kind of guy whereas Chris is just blatantly obnoxious. I can’t stand Chris with his funny little outfits he wears all the time and his silly little oversized glasses and mindless remarks he makes about everything I do. Liam and I are best friends or were best friends I should say until Chris came into the picture. I don’t get what Liam likes about Chris; he doesn’t add anything to the friendship. I have my Charismatic Charm and overall untenable popularity while Liam brings his humor and his charms but Chris just doesn’t bring anything to the table. I was worried Chris was going to tarnish my image. After all, I couldn’t afford any association that might make me look less cool than I was. However, Liam convinced me to go anyway and just don’t talk to Chris. I was reluctant but I ended up agreeing to go. As we arrived the boardwalk was lively with vibrant sounds of laughter and the aroma of sand and hot dogs engulfed us. Chris and Liam were more excited about the rides. All I could think about was the calming and relaxing sensation of the beach. The waves crashing smoothly on the sand plays over and over again in my head like it’s on repeat.t was around noon when we arrived with Chris and Liam and the rest of the group. The first thing I immediately see is the ticket booth. The confidence in me swelled as I led my group to the ticket booth. I felt like a king leading his powerful army into combat. As soon as we got into the park Chris was dying to take a turn on the towering drop tower. In the back of my head I thought about all the years in the past and how I chickened out, I knew I couldn’t let that happen this time. I remembered all the teasing and my face turned bright red and I clenched my fist so tight that the vein on my wrist was going to pop out. Chris snickers, reminding Liam and I about what happened last year and how afraid I was, “I’ll show them,” I said in my head. While making my way toward the staggering tower the reality of the situation was slowly kicking in, cementing the reality of the tragic yet heart thumping situation. A sharp cramp began nagging at my stomach, and a trickle of sweat down the nape of my neck. The employee working the ride darted his eyes towards me with the look of disapproval written on his face. Between the growing embarrassment, Chris and Liam erupted in snickers and laughter, the amusement park employee gestured towards the prominently displayed “Must Be 6- Inches to Ride” sign. I stormed away, fists clenched around a crumpled ticket, my anger pulsating louder than the rushing beat of my own heart, drowning out Chris and Liam’s laughter amidst the amusement park’s bustling chaos. As I fled I couldn’t help but feel attacked, how could they do this to me? With each step I took I found myself gradually meandering further from the bustling noise of the amusement park, finding peace at the beach. The soft lapping of the waves and the perfectly timed intervals of each wave crashing down on the smooth wet sand. Amidst my focus on the beach I also noticed a group of elderly men closer to the back of the beach. They were listening to Bill Withers’s “Lean on Me”, something seemed off to me so I crept closer. I realized they were all silent, no one was saying a single word. They seemed content, simply absorbing the music and the sound of the waves, this is exactly what I needed I thought to myself. As I crept closer I examined the mesmerizing plaid and circular patterns on all of their Hawaiian shirts and their stylish Ray-Ban sunglasses. They were all nodding their heads to the music as one of them then turned and looked directly at me sprawled out awkwardly on the ground not more than 10 feet away from them staring right in their direction. My face turns bright red yet again as I get up to turn away he extends out his hand and signals for me to come closer as he plops out a lawn chair and sits it right next to him. I sit there for a moment contemplating what to do. I thought “what’s the harm, it’s a bunch of old dudes on a crowded beach in broad daylight”. I determined it was safe and plop down next to him. “What’s your name?”… no response.de “Hhellooo?” still nothing. The only response I received was a gesture, with a finger placed to his lips, indicating for me to remain silent. Confused and uncertain of my next move I decided to just relax just as I was doing before. Watching the peaceful repetition of waves crashing against the smooth texture of the weight sand in the distance. I slowly started to drift away absorbed by the rhythmic lyrics of the song. The lyrics rang out “I just might have a problem that you’ll understand, we all need somebody to lean on”. That’s it I thought, my friends are always going to be there for me from thick and thin. They are there to support me whenever I need them too. I realized I needed to get back to Chris and Liam as soon as possible, “thanks guys” I exclaimed to the mysterious elderly men as I quickly got up to find my friends. As the sun dipped below the horizon, I reunited with Chris and Liam, Sharing a laugh about the day’s events. With a newfound sense of connection and camaraderie, we walked along the boardwalk, creating memories that overshadowed the earlier misadventures. As we strolled along the boardwalk I realized that amidst the chaos and mishaps of the day, true friendships endure lots of hardships, yet enduring friendships persist despite the challenges that are faced.
Behind the Scenes Pro Tools Screen Shot of all my work:
Illustrations
Throughout this semester in digital media, we have had numerous different projects, one of our assignments was to create an “exquisite corpse,” a collaborative drawing approach pioneered by surrealist artists to craft eccentric and intuitive artworks. This involved combining drawings contributed by three different students to form a singular, cohesive finished product. For my exquisite corpse, I drew inspiration from Star Wars and space, I was going for a Deathstar and space station kind of look.
My part of the exquisite corpse:
In digital media, our focus sharpened on honing our abilities with Adobe Illustrator. Through a series of learning projects, we steadily built our proficiency until we felt comfortably adept with the software. Then, it was time for our ultimate challenge: the final Illustrator project.
The task for this culmination was simple yet open-ended: create something using Illustrator. Considering my family’s interests, I settled on crafting a puzzle. Knowing my mom’s love and joy for puzzle-solving, and considering the shared enjoyment my dad and I find in watching South Park together, I decided on a South Park-themed puzzle. This choice was undeniably inspired by our familial bonds and shared experiences.
Behind the Scenes Illustrator Screen shot of Puzzle:
My FInished Product Puzzle:
Music Production
This semester in digital media, our project involved crafting a parody song. Collaborating with two peers, we pooled our efforts to edit and refine the lyrics. Our parody, titled “Burrito,” was inspired by the infectious delight of Mexican cuisine and its global appeal. Drawing inspiration from Chief Keef’s “Faneto,” we embarked on the process by thoroughly studying the original song and then carefully aligning lyrics to complement its structure. Once we deemed the lyrics satisfactory, we proceeded to Adobe Audition to enhance certain vocal elements and beats, as well as incorporate reverb effects. Additionally this semester we were challenged to create a 5 song mashup using adobe audition. We were able to use any songs necessarily to create a remix of 5 songs together.
5 Song Mashup:
Parody Lyrics:
“Burrito”
[Chorus:]
White rice, carne asada, pinto beans too. Not a lot when i eat too much it makes me need poot. Same with cheese my intolerance is supa dupa crude. I need lettuce, guac, and hot sauce, I love how the spice go boom. Okay cool. Just one protein, pack up some more dawg. And just one tortilla, man I need four dawg. Yes, a drink and chips, bro think I’m really poor. At chipotle got me a big burrito.
[Verse 1:]
Burrito. I was at the store. Spending all this dough. Tortilla with some melted cheese, looks like liquid gold. I was told never eat too much cuz then you can’t eat more. Pulled out a wrap, he thought it was bigger, I got mine and upped the score. It’s okay though. Tacos and tortas I eat it all I can’t complain bro. Eating real exotic, like my salsa with some mango. Who’s tryna take my order, imma find you and its case closed. Pristine white sour cream like malfoy hair ain’t talking draco. Let’s Go. Wait. Nah, let’s keep goin. Double wrap on my burrito, nah let’s keep rolling. I am the burrito president, don’t need voting. If my foods hot Imma still eat it ain’t no heat blowing.
[Verse 2:]
Said im tryna get some eats. Don’t get full don’t know defeat. I’ll take everything on the menu try judging sure im a freak. I can go and eat chipotle seven days out of the week. On El Monte dropping bags they knew my name since I was three. HA HAAAA. This is really really funny. Real good food inside my tummy. I could kill a bowl while running. Make my burrito make it hand wrapped. Talkin down on me, you get hand smacked. Actin like you tapped in with chipotle, man I cannot stand that. Pull up till you see me on the block, I seen you ran back. You a non-chipotle eating opp you gon get hashtagged.
[Verse 3:]
Okay cool. we is feelin cool. I’m Eating Tacos burritos too, making moves. eating all the food. Need a drink i feel like I could empty out a pool. Think you can take my order you must be a very stupid fool. too much Much guac, imma needa stop, Munchkin at the spot. Let me get pork chops salsa verde on top. You don’t like it your a bot. Go get panda you’re an opp. You at the complex we about to get the drop. I got no time to be waitin. Order online got no patience. I said burrito not a bowl I think you must have me mistaken. Carnitas is not just pork imagine if you gave me bacon.
[Chorus:]
White rice, carne asada, pinto beans too. Not a lot when i eat too much it makes me need poot. Same with cheese my intolerance is supa dupa crude. Not the croods, i eat like a caveman when i see my food. I need lettuce, guac, and hot sauce, I love how the spice go boom. Then im so full left in a food coma slumped inside a tomb. I wake up and get to the toilet, realize im doomed. What to do, just sit down and pray I’m dropping out a moon. Now im done, feel like a million bucks, a hundred gold dabloons.
Behing the Scenes of our Audition session:
Parody Song:
Film
This unit in film, we tackled various projects, including a Narrative film and our chase scene exercise. The Narrative Film was the toughest to complete. Fortunately, we worked in pairs, so we didn’t have to do it alone. I spent many hours filming and editing this project, and it’s the one I’m most proud of this year in Freestyle. We started working on our film in December and It wasn’t fully complete until March, it turned out to also be the longest project we worked on all year. We began by brainstorming ideas for the film on pitch day, where everyone critiques your concepts to help you refine them. Next, we created storyboards, hand-drawing 130 scenes on note cards to get a clear picture of how our shots would look. After all that prep work, we finally started shooting the scenes and then moved on to editing.