Introduction:

The Junior conceptual unit focused on portraying concepts through non-cliché visual metaphors. These metaphors were nonconventional by design and challenged our creative brainstorming skills. During this type I was also being introduced to adobe suite programs.

I value the unique creative challenges I faced during this unit.

Spoken Word Poem : Just Some More Complaining

I was inspired to create this poem since at the time I was very concerned with my lack of political action.

 

Just Some More Complaining

 

I’m not sure what to tell you.

What do I have to say?

Nothing you haven’t heard before.

Nothing new.

I’d like to change the world and have fun while I do it.

I want to give this world what it deserves.

People need water, food, and roads.

They need rights and people to fight

For them, not about them,

All around them.

People need jobs in a global economy!

They have a shortage of empathy.

And a surplus of stupidity.

The issue is I don’t know enough.

And I could go on

And I’ve done nothing wrong

But,

I haven’t done anything at all.

I’ve been in cities with pride parades and women’s marches.

And I can’t even remember my own crappy excuses.

I’ve always wanted to go, but I haven’t and

And I have homework and collage and art to think about

and how can I fix the world when I can’t even post on my instagram everyday

When I don’t draw everyday

When my dad yells at me for gettings Bs somedays

And somedays I just want to watch youtube and not think

Not work

but none of this should be work.

Work work work what should I do

I’m not always tired cus I can’t do anything when I’m tired

And I wish I could run on empty fumes and straight caffeine

But it just doesn’t effect me

Sometimes I wish less affected me

Sometimes I want to be less jaded

In this world that’s so painfully boring or broken or something

Most of the time I just want something else.

Because I’m never happy with what I have

That’s the real human condition

The cruelest irony

I know the answer but I don’t make me feel better

Whatever you didn’t need to hear this again

Sorry

 

Design: Photography

This photo was based off the phrase: I am exploring the feeling of relief through the experience of the need to share.

 

stuffed animals tangled in wires on a pink carpet

 

I am exploring the feeling of relief  through the experience of sharing.

Stuffed animals represent actively giving something you have to someone else out of the kindness of your heart. A cell phone represents sharing as well, just a different type, emotional sharing. I added wires and cords to add visual interest and leading lines, but also to show connectivity. I took this photo in my bedroom since both stuffed animals and phones are natural homes in bedrooms and my bright pink carpet added to the uneasiness of the photo. I took the photo in front of my window to provide good lighting on an overcast day when the sun gave off cool light. I took the photo from slightly above eye level so the phone could be better seen and so that the background was mostly the pink carpet.

Since stuffed animals are childhood toys they represent children learning to share. We also share our thoughts, feelings, and opinions through our phones. Video and picture sharing is also best represented through a cell phone. Just having an outlet, like a cell phone or social media, where you can express these ideas is a relief. A phone also represents relief from the stress caused by storing thoughts in your own head.

In camera RAW I desaturated the colors of the photo and added a small vignette. I also lowered the clarity slightly to make the stuffed animals look fluffier. In Photoshop I adjusted the saturation of specific parts of the photo, like the stuffed animal bat. I increased the vibrance of the colors slightly and made the vignette more noticeable.

 

For this photo we were supposed to take a picture of a wheel that is not attached to a motor.

 

 

The assignment was to shoot the wheels of a non-motorized object from an unique angle.

I photographed the rusted wheel of a wagon frame in an empty lot. The lot was dusty and filled with weeds and other dry environment plants, but tall green, manicured, hedges bordered the back of the same lot. I thought this double standard was funny and I wanted to capture it, but not over emphasize it. The lighting is natural noon lighting to give a deserted feel to the photo. Both green leaves and dry dirt are visible in the background to increase contrast and give the picture a sense of duality and to stay true to the irony in landscaping. The background is blurred out so the focus is on the wheel. The angle is also straight on so that all the focus is on the wheel.  The middle of the wheel is off center to improve composition and the rim of the wheel is visible so the picture is partly framed.

In Photoshop, I adjusted the brightness slightly to make the photo less dark and edited the colors slightly. I learned that colors looks more vibrant on other monitors compared to the Cintiq. I know that the colors look almost cartoonish now, and I will make sure the colors are balanced by checking the photo on my other monitor in the future. I learned how to blur out selections on Photoshop and I blurred out the background even more using a box blur of 20.

 

Animation: Learning the Basics

 

One of the first animations we make were hand drawn flip books that exemplified a few basic animation principles.

 

 

Every frame was hand drawn in pencil than hand lined in pen and then hand colored in colored pencil. I attempted to demonstrate the principles of squash and stretch, follow through, and anticipation.