Introduction
The Visual Narrative Project asked Juniors, “How well can you visually tell a structured story?” Students practiced communicating character and story arcs through descriptive writing, digital art, storyboards, films, and animations. In addition, through learning a variety of professional equipment and applications such as Wacom Digital Drawing Pads, lighting equipment downshooters, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Animate, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Avid Pro Tools, Propellerhead Reason, HTML/CSS, DragonFrame, and Google Apps.
In all of my classes, I valued how the Visual Narrative Projects helped me to improve my storytelling skills in different forms. In English, the Flash Fiction project pushed me to expand my abilities to produce a creative, descriptive, and detailed piece of writing, while in Digital Media, the audio production project allowed me to experiment with different music and sound effects, to convey a specific feeling/atmosphere of the story I wrote in English. Finally, I valued how the Narrative Creature and Narrative Portrait projects in Design allowed me to gain more knowledge and skill in the Adobe Illustrator program as well as make my Narrative Story come to life visually.
Story
The assignment in English was to write a Flash Fiction story with any topic. The inspiration for my story, “The Letter,” was a combination of my own life and experiences as a high schooler and as someone with siblings. My Flash Fiction is about Elaine Lee, a senior in high school, who recently got a letter of acceptance for her dream internship. However, the same day she got the letter of acceptance for her internship, her younger sister Chloe got in a bike accident and now needs to use crutches to get around. With their parents busy with their jobs, it’s now Elaine’s responsibility to take care of Chloe and get her to the places she needs to be. My story takes place on the first day of Elaine’s internship, where she’s determined to get there on time and make a good first impression. At the same time, she also needs to make sure Chloe gets to school on time which results in growing anxiousness and panic.
In Digital Media, our project was to produce an audio version of our Flash Fiction from English. To do this, I used the recording booths in the Digital Media classroom to record, and the software ProTools to edit the audio, which included adding music as well as sound effects. Through this process, I valued how I was able to learn how to express through not just writing, but also in audio production.
“The Letter”
Reflection:
I grew artistically and technically with this project through expanding my skills when working with ProTools and audio production. I learned how to produce an audio piece that utilized music, sound effects, and my own voice, and how to balance between those three aspects.
A struggle I encountered was not being able to find the specific sound effects I needed (out of the ones that were provided in the Assets folder). To overcome this, I was able to find and download the sound effects I needed by searching on the internet.
I would alter or add more sound effects to help the listener fully immerse themselves in the audio production, and also to make the overall piece flow better.
I am most proud of being able to balance the music, SFXs and the voice recordings to create one cohesive final production.
I will use these ideas in the future when creating music or audio productions.
This project changed the way I see others’ audio productions by giving me insight into all of the work and creativity that goes into creating something like this.
Illustrations
In Digital Media, part of the Visual Narrative Project was to learn about and experiment with Adobe Illustrator. As part of this process, we were assigned with the Exquisite Corpse Illustration project. Groups of 3 or 4 students independently drew a portion an image without knowing what the other group members were drawing. For my group specifically, I was assigned the first portion of the illustration, and decided to draw the first part of a whale. A collaborative productions among Juniors, this was one of the first creative assignments after learning new skills with Adobe Illustrator.
Additionally, to further improve our illustration skills, we had the opportunity to choose to produce something from a menu of projects such as stickers, wearable art, embroidery patches, personal illustrations, laser engraved art, and candle shades. I chose to illustrate a design for a tote bag, which fell under the wearable art category. I decided to choose wearable art, specifically for a tote bag, because I wanted to make something practical, and tote bags are something I use often in my everyday life. I chose the Sumikko Gurashi character design because I thought they would make a nice layout if they were to go on a tote bag. I’m also someone who likes cute characters/objects/etc. and Sumikko Gurashi characters are one of my favorites. The process to produce this was to first sketch out the design I was thinking about for the tote bag, then draw it using Adobe Illustrator, and finally, print and iron the design onto the tote bag.
The purpose of this project was to use the program Adobe Illustrator to create a design for 3D production in the Digital Media class. I decided to produce a piece of wearable art, specifically for a tote bag. The process for this production included brainstorming designs, using Adobe Illustrator to make the actual design, and then print the final product. My inspiration for this was a tote bag I own with the Snoopy and Woodstock character design. I thought it would be cute to create my own tote bag with a character layout as well, and decided on using Sumikko Gurashi characters as a reference.
This project was different from the projects in my other classes at Freestyle as I was given more freedom than usual, specifically in choosing what physical object to produce and what design I wanted to create. This project helped me gain more experience with using Adobe Illustrator, allowing me to grow technically. Additionally, because I had more freedom with this project, I was able to create my own design and layout for the tote bag, allowing me to grow artistically.
I will use the ideas and skills I gained from this project in other areas of my education and life by applying my creativity and exploring design in future school projects or personal hobbies. By going through the process of brainstorming ideas, creating the final design in Adobe Illustrator, and printing the final product for my tote bag, I’ve grown to appreciate others who put time, effort, and creativity into their art. I now better understand the challenges involved in turning an idea into a finished piece, and I admire the patience, skill, and attention to detail that artists bring to their work.
Music
In Digital Media, we were introduced to MIDI music composition in Pro Tools. We were challenged to produce a short musical piece or a set of short interstitials music pieces using virtual instruments such as the Mini Grand, DB-33, Vacuum, Boom, and Xpand.
My process in producing my Experimental Music in Pro Tools was to first decide if I was going to produce a short musical piece or a set of short interstitials. I decided to produce a short musical piece inspired by Wicked Orchestra piece, the “Ozdust Duet.” This process was difficult as I produced this by ear, rather than looking at a sheet of music with the actual notes. I first started with the piano instrument, then added the guitar, violin, flute, and chimes. Overall, I thought this experience was very meaningful and I gained a lot of skill in working with Pro Tools virtual instruments.
My inspiration for this piece came from the musical/movie Wicked. The purpose of this project was to experiment with different virtual instruments in ProTools, and when I first heard the original Ozdust Duet track, I noticed the many instruments that were used for the song. I thought it would be a fun and meaningful challenge to recreate it using ProTools.
I’m most proud of how I was able to accurately recreate the original piece by ear, rather than relying on sheet music. It was a difficult challenge, but overcoming it helped me grow as a producer.
Through the experience of learning how to use Virtual Instruments for music production, I’ve come to value ProTools not only as a useful software but also as an essential tool for creative freedom in producing music.
Design
In Design, we were challenged to use our English narrative story to develop a creature based on our main character’s personality traits, and then select at least 5 different animals associated with those traits. After selecting the animals I wanted to incorporate into my creature, I used Adobe Illustrator to morph the parts of each animal together into a new creature that served as a representation of my original character. Additionally, after completing the creature, I designed an environment using the concept of linear perspective.
After completing the Narrative Creature project, we were then challenged to bring our Narrative character to life, by participating in a photo shoot. To do this, I used a model, props, lights, a tripod, and a specific backdrop and clothing. Reflecting on this project, I was able to learn new techniques for shooting photographs using 3-point lighting as well as learn editing techniques and lighting filters in Adobe Photoshop.
This portrait is of Elaine Lee, a senior in high school, who recently got a letter of acceptance for her dream internship. However, the same day she got the letter of acceptance for her internship, her younger sister, Chloe, got in a bike accident and now needs to use crutches to get around. With their parents busy with their jobs, it’s now Elaine’s responsibility to take care of Chloe and get her to the places she needs to be. My story takes place on the first day of Elaine’s internship, where she’s determined to get there on time and make a good first impression. At the same time, she also needs to make sure Chloe gets to school on time which results in growing anxiousness and panic. This photo captures Elaine in the act of packing her bag, feeling rushed and worried.
I created this image using a camera, tripod, colored lights, and a model. I experimented with both warm and cool colored lights, ultimately deciding that warmer tones, such as orange, would help create the atmosphere I was aiming for. Additionally, the lights created a slight shadow on my model’s face, which added to the dramatic effect. After choosing the final image, I edited it in photoshop. I added a slight photo filter to make the lighting less harsh, contrast to add more dimension to the image, and increased the brightness and exposure, as the original image was darker than I wanted. A challenge I encountered was positioning the lights in a way that would complement the photo while still achieving the dramatic effect. If I were to change something, I would adjust the angle to capture more of the surroundings in the background, rather than keeping it an up-close shot, but overall I am happy with the outcome.