Narrative 1
In English we created a completely unique flash fiction about
a unique character and were meant to make a story about our own
protagonist. I created a basic plot map to mark out my protagonists
movements as well as how he was going to interact with the
surrounds i create
Using this story, digital media further enhanced this part of the unit by
having us create an audio production of our story. This added drama
and intrigue to otherwise normal stories and we were even able to add
music and sound effects to deepen the experience for the listener and
create a more immersive story
He woke up with a start. Jerome was often a restless sleeper, but the relentless crashing of sea foam on the hull would shake the deepest sleeper back to reality. Rolling over on his cot full of springs, he rubbed his eyes and brushed the dark, scraggly locks out of his face. Sitting up on his bed, he swung wildly at his bedside table trying to find the glasses he had placed there the night before. Snatching them up, he pushed the round golden frames up onto the bridge of his nose, the world slowly coming into focus. Planting his wobbly legs on the wooden floor of his sleeping quarters, Jerome stumbled out of his room as the waves continued to collide with the sides of the vessel. He shuffled up the stairs as the beat of the waves persisted, his steps syncing with the rhythm of the water.
He plodded up the rotting stair planks and nudged the hatch open. Climbing up onto the damp floorboards, the study was illuminated by the sickening dim white light coming from the study’s desk. As he closed the hatch and turned towards the study’s desk Jerome’s stomach twisted into a knot. He looked around the room at the small room, guilt pouring into him from every direction. He could hear the water rushing and pounding from below. It knew what he had done.
The boy that he raised, the man he had trained and taught to be, rolling on the floor. Jerome walked to where he had one been and felt the place he had been, half expecting it to be still warm. He sat once where they had, holding him, as life drained from his eyes.
One.
Jerome pulled his brother backwards leaning the two of them against the wall, the hand on his brother’s stomach becoming drenched by a thick liquid. The floor was still stained with his guilt. It was still stained. He held him tight, tears falling from his face and raining onto the splintered floor. He felt the ragged edges of the floor boards. This is a place he would never forget. Jerome was thrown off balance, scrambling to stay on his feet. Crashing onto the deck a massive wave blew the ship towards the rocks. The jagged edges of the rocks smashed into the hull so hard that Jerome felt the reverb in the metal frame of the boat. He could hear the rushing water starting to flood the ship.
Two.
He rushed down the ladder towards the smell of salty water as he felt beds of sweat forming on his forehead. Water had doused all the lighting in the room leaving Jerome and his memoires in the inky dark. Ragged breathing was the only thing that split the silence as the two sat in an almost tangible darkness. He cushioned his brother just like when they were kids, comforting him from the darkness of their sleeping quarters.
Three.
Jerome stumbled to the room where the hull had been punctured, sloshing through the water. It was already at his knees. He pushed through the rushing water that splashed onto his face, drenching his hair. His tears flowed down his cheek and seeped into Jerome’s locks, the stuttering and choked apologies left in a squeezed and broken voice. The screeching of water rushing through the metal frame filled Jerome’s ears as he frantically tried to patch up the rupture.
Four.
Feeling his brother’s pulsating heartbeat growing softer and quieter, looking up from this hell and closing his eyes. Jerome felt his lids cover his dreary eyes even as water covered his chest in a salty brine. He felt his hot breath hit the insides of his glasses. Hot liquid pumping through his veins filling his muscles and shooting through his neck, piercing his brain and filling his mind with pain. He couldn’t do it. He could almost taste the salt as it rose to his neck. He was floating now, lifted up by the rupture that hadn’t been fixed. And now he was being consumed by it. He hadn’t wanted this; he knew that he could have helped. He could have supported him, he could have done things differently. But he couldn’t do anything now. He felt the last trembling pulsating beat flutter out of his brother’s chest. He needed him. He was consumed by his own doing. He needed him. Water began to fill his lungs. He barely noticed. Pain shot through his body bouncing from the pain in his head to the guilt in his stomach. Jerome opened his eyes in the flooded murk that was once his ship. He couldn’t have long.
Five.
The waves rammed the ship again, crashing the ships into jagged rocks. Jerome felt his shirt split and a chunk of what was once the part of his home rammed into his back. No. He turned to a beautiful streak of red floating in the water. This isn’t what he wanted. He remembered. He closed his eyes. The boat faded from his brain. He was back upstairs with his brother, but it was different. They weren’t on the floor. They were together. They were sitting at either side of the study desk, eating their catch. They were laughing. He remembered. He saw the light still in his eyes. Jerome needed him. He would see him again. But not now. It wasn’t time. He was knocked back to reality. Another chunk of the ship had slammed into his skull. He could feel himself slipping. No. He had to do this. Once again blood raced through his veins. But it didn’t go to his brain. It went to his arms and legs instead of his stomach. He opened his eyes. He saw the glimmering light of the study illuminating the top of the stairs through the murky depths of the hull. Now. He cut through the water and swam to the top of the stairs in one furious stroke. Jerome shot out of the water, collapsing onto the floor of the study. He reeled over coughing the salt out of his lungs. He breathed his first breath of air and felt the blood return to his cheeks. He rolled onto the spot he had once sat with his brother. He slouched up against the wall, sitting on the drenched floor, water starting to seep in from the floorboards. He sat there for a moment trying to catch his breath. The water was at his ankles. He did not have time. He knew he had to leave. He sloshed through the water and pulled the emergency raft down from on top of a bookshelf. The water was still rising, nearly covering his waist. He looked around for what he knew was the last time at his home. It was merely a shadow of his best memories. It was broken and sunken, books and pillows floating in the salty brine. A hole blown through the side left water to rush in and bring the boat to rest at the bottom of the sea. Jerome turned and started to climb the ladder to the deck. Jerome hoisted himself out of the half flooded study onto the deck. He put the crinkled emergency raft on the ground and pulled the inflatable tab. The raft inflated with a soft hiss. Jerome hauled the raft to the water and dropped it into the water, jumping in straight after. He pushed off of the sinking hull and the raft glided across the water. Jerome looked back at the wreck of his ship, and he saw that the boat was already more than three fourths sunk, only a small portion of the deck still exposed, as well as the bow. He didn’t know what to feel. He had seen this exact scene so many times in his nightmares, he had expected himself to be upset or angry. But a much more confusing feeling washed over him. As he watched the water engulf the last of the deck, he felt free. The guilt of the ship was gone. He watched as the bow finally dipped under the water. He could move on.
Five seconds is a short story that explores the topic of guilt and acceptance. The setting of the ship provides an appropriate space for these topics to be displayed because guilt is a very trapping feeling, similar to the small vessel that Jerome is stuck on. Throughout the story Jerome switches from the present to the past, reliving the past trauma of his brother being killed on the vessel. While Jerome is inside the vessel, he is constantly bombarded with the trauma inducing memories of him reliving holding his brother as he died, and Jerome blames himself for his brother’s death. In the middle of the flash friction, a wave blows the boat into jagged rock, punching a hole in the bottom of the boat. This causes lots of stress for Jerome and he tries in vain to repair the boat. He eventually figures that it cannot be fixed and therefore leaves his boat. This struggle of trying to fix his boat symbolizes the stages of grief that Jerome is going through with his brother. At first he tries frantically to push out the water and keep himself dry and afloat, symbolizing denial, then realizing that he wouldn’t be able to keep the boat from sinking Jerome starts to let himself go as he lets the hull fill with water. He closes his eyes and he lets the guilt consume him as the water engulfs him. He even goes as far as to fill his lungs with water. Jerome displaying this kind of detachment shows the depression that grief brings.
While Jerome is under the water, his memories that he is relying on shift from those of the grief of his brother. The memories shift to when they were happy, eating together and laughing. Jerome realizes that his brother wouldn’t have wanted him to give up. He uses the strength of these memories to launch himself out of the state of depression. Symbolized by the water in the hull, and ended up escaping on a raft. He abandons his ship and the grief for his brother that was left on it. This shows the last phase of grief, acceptance. As Jerome watches the boat sink into the water he realizes that he was free of the burden of being constantly reminded of his grief, and he could let go of the guilt.
I liked this project pretty well because I like to draw and I pride myself in my art.
I decided to make a t-shirt because clothes are something that I am passionate
about and this was a great way to express my creativity through my art and it
would feel good to have something physical as the outcome of a freestyle project,
as much of it is digital work. I am very happy with the way that it turned about
because I can enjoy my digital art in the real world.
For the Music portion of this Unit we were tasked with creating a parody song from a pre existing song of our choosing.
I chose to do a song called Bad Day by Justus Bennett because it was one of my favorites at the time and I am really glad at how it turned out
Below is part of the process of producing the song in the program Pro tools that we learned in our digital media class.
Some Inspiration for the new lyrics was finals coming up and getting through all of my schoolwork without going insane
For the narrative animation project I created two walk cycles, one digitally and one
I physically created a puppet and made a stop motion animations out of pictures
that were taken frame by frame in front of a green screen. Then I was able to compile
both of these animations into one composition on the software after effects and added
some background and foreground
This is the main character of our group animation project that I
originally workshopped and drew up. I am very proud of how he turned out and
we used this illustration lots throughout the animation. I also liked how our final
animation had everyone’s art style incorporated and it was a composition of all of
our styles, not just one