2 months of creating work for the Junior Narrative was a tough one. I went through many experiences and learned so much I can’t even remember all of them off the top of my head. In English, we started with character development and creating a plot all from nothing. We had to come up with a whole new story that is based on a concept statement or an idea that inspired us. It could’ve been a love story, an adventure, or even an action scene. We started with a Questionnaire which kind of created all the little details of the character. Then we created a plot map to see where the story was going to go. Throughout the project, we also learned many new things in Digital Media and Animation. We discovered new Adobe apps like Illustrator and further advanced our skills in Pro Tools. In animation, we learned how to do frame by frame Animation in photoshop, and got a little into After Effects.
Inspiration
My inspiration for the story was going to be a love story. I created a character that had a lot of issues in his life, but a creative climax changed the way he saw life and pushed him to become the man that he is today. After we created the story, we needed to record ourselves tell the story. In the recording, I used a lot of emotions and sounds to make sure the listener understands the story like how it’s told. We also created an album art that represented the story. We did that in Adobe Illustrator.
Sudden Change
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. Screeching cars all around me, my windshield wipers constantly sweeping across my windshield. My frustration builds as I turn down Avicii’s beat. I thought back to my delicious eggos that I ate while I tried to keep my composure. I was already 5 minutes late to my meeting and I still had about a mile left in this clump of metal scrap on wheels. When I got to the building, things only got worse. I had forgotten my suit coat on the dryer from the previous night. I opened the creaking glass door while everyone discussed new marketing ideas. My boss looked at me from toe head to toe, he displayed an angry expression.
“MATEO!?, why don’t you tell us why you’re 20 minutes late to a meeting that was scheduled 2 WEEKS AGO? And WHY do you look like that- why…WHY ARE YOU WET?” I tried to keep my temper down but he just kept screaming and screaming, it became one of those nightmares that just repeats in a circle through my head. He went on and on but all of a sudden I snapped. I slammed the half-opened door that I awkwardly stood next to for 2 minutes. “Mr.Wheeler….. With all due respect, I am one of the most important staff you got on this level, and with the constant disrespect that I get every day when I come here…It’s… it’s frustrating.” I swallowed a chunk of saliva as I took a look around the room. “NONE of us would even be here right now if it weren’t for my terrific brainstorming!” I raised my voice. “I’ve done so much for this company in the past 2 years without giving you any complaints. And IF YOU just gave me a CHANCE…. just One chance to explain that I was stuck in GODDAMN traffic!” I took another big pause and saw how stunned my coworkers looked. I cracked my knuckles and said “you know what.. I’m done, I’m outta here… See you around Mr.Wheeler.” I opened the door and walked into the elevator. “Mateo wait!…wait.” Said Mr.Wheeler. But before he had another chance to talk the door had already shut between us. So many thoughts went through my mind as I went down the building, the elevator ride seemed like hours and hours. I thought to myself, “What am I doing with my life, I need to do something impulsive …something to get me out of this never-ending loop.” I wanted out. At the time I walked through the main lobby, I thought about how my sister was so happy with her life, even though she doesn’t have the best job or the best people around her. She’s still very happy.
My first step out of the door I saw a glimpse of a beautiful smile, gorgeous blond hair and some red high heels. Something blew up in me. What I didn’t know is that what happens next will change the way I look at life. She jumped into her cab and took off. I dropped my suitcase and immediately chased after that cab. As I got to the end of the street, the Cab had turned right and were at a red light. I knew I couldn’t keep running, I didn’t think and just grabbed a bike off of a stranger’s hands and hopped on it. I rode it for about a block with strangers chasing after me for the bike, but all I could focus on was the yellow cab. The chase went on while my back was being splashed by the water shooting up from the back wheel, I didn’t care. This was something I didn’t do, but I’m a new person now. Or that’s what I thought. After multiple blocks of blank biking, she got off her cap and I threw the bike into a mailbox. She was still a little in front of me though, all I saw was a black coat and those vibrant red shoes. She turned into an alleyway, and I followed along, I sneakily put my back against the alley like I was in a secret spy movie. When I turned, all there was was a red spark, nothing else. It was empty, and dark, with one little rain puddle left. I walked up to the puddle and looked down at it, I saw myself through the reflection.
I think it was the universe trying to tell me something, that this girl, was what I’ve needed this whole time. Suddenly, my eyes were opened up to the next chapter of my life, I knew what I wanted to do. I needed to crawl out of this hole and put myself out there to find true happiness. My life has taught me a lot of lessons, but with that surreal chase, that changed my life. It’s the only reason I am now 2 years married to the love of my life, 2 beautiful children and a wonderful job in the art industry.
Illustrations
In Digital Media, we created a Geometric Light Cover to 3D print out in real life. we also created the Project Choice, which is a design you can create to put on a T – shirt. I got my T-shirt design idea from a TV show I love. How I Met Your Mother.
Artist Statement for Geometric Light Cover
Golden Hour
In January, we were challenged to create a Geometric Light Cover in our Digital Media class. This project was that we designed shapes in a template of a cover and would soon be 3D printed out and pieced together to hang up. I decided to do an idea that reflected a sunset. Which is why it is titled Golden Hour. I thought back to when I would sit on a hill in my car to watch the sunsets with my friends over the summer. The ways the sun flare would sneak through the leaves and the clouds in different ways right before the sun went below the horizon. That’s where my designs on the cover represented. I created little sun flares looking holes and just slits of holes that would make geometric shapes as the light shines through the design.
The message I was trying to convey with this was a thought of memory, and good times. Every time my friends and I would go watch the sunset together we would listen to chill music and have a really fun time. The colors I used were gold and white. The gold representing the bright sun at “golden hour” and the white representing the flares and reflection that I would see come through the leaves of nature and mirrors in my car. Something I valued from this project was the way it came out. The gold and white of the pallet really came out the way I wanted it to. I still haven’t seen the light shining through it, but I’m sure that the shapes would look phenomenal. I also valued this project because it really pushed my creativity in Adobe Illustrator. I wasn’t very confident with the tools in Illustrator but playing around with the project did make me a lot more comfortable. Overall, the project was a success and I’m really glad it came out the way I wanted it to.
T-Shirt Design
Below is the T-shirt design that we created in Adobe Illustrator, my idea was inspired by my favorite TV show, “How I Met Your Mother”.
Artist Statement for T-shirt design
HIMYM
Last week, we were given a new project to design something on Illustrator to put our artwork on a lot of different objects. It went from things like putting a design on a T-shirt, or lasering something onto a piece of leather. There were a lot more options to what we were able to create. I ultimately chose the most common one, the T-shirt design. My main idea of what I wanted was something that related to the TV show How I Met Your Mother, which is my favorite television show ever since I was little. The show had a lot of memorable moments and also a lot of life lessons were taught throughout it including all the comedic bits.
My creation on illustrator was inspired by the main 2 objects of the show that represented the main character’s love life. The blue french horn and the yellow umbrella represented something deep and meaningful in the show. I wanted something big on the left chest of the shirt or the hoodie. So I created half of the yellow umbrella and half of the french horn. With the New York City skyline in the background because the show is set in the city. This project was probably one of my favorites that I’ve done so far. I think I created something that I never thought I would be able to create. The design will always have a deep meaning to me and will forever be something I’m proud of and to be able to look back at.
Animation
In Animation, we got really creative with Photoshop and also introduced After Effects. There were 3 big projects that we created over the course of the couple of months. 1.) Mood Scene Animation, we first created a backdrop set out of foam and cardboard. We cut out and drew on the foam pieces to create structures in the background like our houses. or using leaves we found around the campus for the trees in the background. 2.) We had to create a new character out of scratch, and use clay and strings to build an actual doll. Then we took frame by frame photos in front of a green screen. The character is then displayed and edited into After Effects and have out mood screens in the background. A lot of the challenges that I had to face was trying to learn After Effects in such little time. To be Honest it was probably one of the most challenging apps that we’ve worked on this year.
