Introduction
“Zenith” refers to the time at which something is most powerful or successful–the Zenith project is the last at Freestyle and a chance for seniors to utilize all the technology, skills, and creativity we’ve honed to produce a project of our choice. The only criteria was that our project needed to demonstrate the development in our digital communication abilities and highlight the process of learning something we’ve always wanted to try. Each student produced a Zenith project in their elective, and we connected it to our work in English and Digital Media.
Before starting my Zenith project, I had a range of ideas. I knew I wanted to produce something I had wanted to make into a film for a long time–I have a list of concepts I want to turn into films at some point in my life, but it was hard to choose one to focus on. After meeting with Mr. Taylor, he pointed out that the practice of Art Directing was a common point in all of my ideas, so I chose to study the role of an Art Director and the process of creating three Proof of Pitches for my Zenith project. The three ideas I pitched were a live-action adaptation of a Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Martial Arts fight sequence, and a art-themed murder mystery.
Process
To begin this unit, we pitched our ideas and created calendars to hold ourselves accountable to deadlines. We had weekly check-ins with Mr. Taylor going off of this calendar, but this project was otherwise independent.
After getting the green light, I started researching the role of an Art Director. I learned that Art Directors are responsible for the general aesthetic of a film, and therefore their responsibilities usually fall under color, editing, set dressing, and post-production stylization. They ‘direct’ object placement and color rather than actors, because they are sending messages through film mode techniques. The importance placed on visual storytelling for Art Directors led me to begin brainstorming with a moodboard-style treatment rather than a document–I took a lot of inspiration from Pinterest. Click on the images below to see my treatments!
After planning all my pitches out, I used the skills I had learned from the Narrative unit to contact my actors and scout locations–the only location I did not film at was the Ryptic Room Escape, however I was able to emulate the same bright colors at my house.
I really enjoyed the production process of these short pitches! Because I had no dialogue in my films, I got to focus heavily on the film mode storytelling and cinematography.
I felt similar about post-production, out of everything I worked on, I felt like my color grading skills improved the most. I spent a lot of my time in my presentation talking about color grading, partially because I put a lot of effort into it but also because it contributes so heavily to the aesthetic of a film. I learned how to use LUTs and Lumetri Color Curves in Premiere Pro. I am so happy with how the color grading of all these pitches turned out. After adding music, my pitches were done!
Completed Project
Along with summarizing my pre-production, production, and post-production process, my Zenith presentation highlights the specific film mode moments I included in my films. For example, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I paid homage to the other characters in the story through the shot pictured below of the main characters (Lysander and Hermia) looking at each other through a crack in the wall. In Act 1, Scene 5 of the play, the supporting characters put on a play themselves, telling the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, two lovers who could only communicate through a crack in the wall. Not only is this significant to the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it also symbolizes the barrier between Lysander and Hermia’s relationship in the story, as they are somewhat similar to Pyramus and Thisbe. See more examples of my film mode symbolism in my presentation and final videos below!
Digital Media
In Digital Media, we picked two 21st Century Skills from a list to develop, and a third to make our own instructional video for. My first choice skill was painting in Adobe Photoshop–I used custom brushes and layers to simulate this painted image of two koi fish. This painting in particular introduced me to using opacity in Photoshop to create realistic light and shadows.
My second choice was to explore 3D text in Adobe Illustrator. I love the application of 3D text to modern graphic design trends, and I wanted to make a modern logo for Digital Media as if it was a company. I chose a color palette of primary and pastel colors for a more youthful and modern feel.
Our third choice had to be connected to our Zenith in our elective classes. I chose to make a poster for one of my pitches to make it more marketable-I have always wanted to try simulating mixed media and I thought it would make an excellent poster for Framed. See the poster and my tutorial video below!
Reflection
I really enjoyed this unit–I got to explore production techniques I’ve been excited to try since coming into Freestyle, but execute them with so much more skill under my belt. I am so grateful to Sienna Tacy, Lemo Sekiguchi, my dad, Charles Jeske, Claire Wong, and Arin Joseph Coleman for their support with these three films. I am also thankful to Mr. Taylor, who helped me realize that I’m very interested in pursuing art director. Not only did I enjoy the process of making these films, but I’m so happy with how they all came out.