Introduction
The Visual Narrative Unit was centered around telling a story through many unique mediums, including; a short story, visual illustrations, and films. The object of the unit was to grow as a story teller, and by using more than just words to do so.
In English I very much valued the skills we learned to aid in telling a story. Becoming familiar with the hero’s journey, and how stories rise and fall throughout was paramount in telling good stories. The Narrative Film greatly helped improve my skills with the camera, and telling a story through visuals, rather than words. In Digital Media, the music production and illustrator projects helped me learn to express art in mediums that I have not as much experience with.
Story
In english class, we were prompted to write a short “flash fiction” narrative story. My story was about an up and coming painter, who was becoming popular, but did not allow his real and personalized pieces of art to be shown, just his mainstream popular pieces instead. It is a simple story about overcoming the superficial and materialistic lifestyle in favor of a life of joy and true expression. We started with a simple character map, describing the main character and outlining their daily life. We then moved to a plot map, and then wrote the = story. My story was inspired heavily by the novel “Red”, and overall inspired by abstract art.
Once the story wads finished, in Digital Media we made an audio version. This version had sound effects and different voices, and was overall a much more produced version of the same short story.
My biggest takeaway from the short story was how much I enjoy creating characters and building worlds, but also how hard it is to transform those people and worlds into a story medium.
“An Artist’s Truth”
An Artist’s Truth
He stood in his ratty apartment in midtown San Francisco, eyes fixated on the blank white canvas in front of him. A slight grin spread across his stubbled face when his song came on. Scott was ready to start. He dipped the brush and began painting. The light did not leave his pale blue eyes until long after he threw a tarp over the final product, only a few hours later. After checking the cracked face of his old watch, Scott carefully removed his dozen or so paintings from his studio room and put them in his bedroom. He then brought out his other paintings from the cramped closet they were stashed away in. After setting up his showcase, Scott Meyer changed out of his paint splattered clothes and threw on jeans and a wrinkled blazer. He then sat at his small kitchen counter and waited.
He checked his watch over and over again while he waited, until finally, he heard the knocking. Mr. Kaden Westington had arrived. Scott straightened his hair as he walked to the door. When Scott opened the door, Westington walked right past him into the apartment and straight to the studio room, where he shut the door behind him. Despite knowing exactly the type of man Kaden was, Scott was always surprised at his patronizing attitude. Scott stayed put in the kitchen, as from prior experience he understood it would not help his case to be present while his work was being judged. Scott gripped the edge of the counter until his already pale knuckles were nearly pure white. Less than a minute after he had entered, Kaden exited the studio. Scott stuck his hands in his pockets to hide their shaking.
“They’ll do.” Kaden stated as he placed the contract in front of Scott.
“These are old so make a new five piece collection, exactly as the ones you showed me, nothing more nothing less.” And then Kaden left.
He had put hours into each of those pieces, and recognition was all he wanted, especially from someone as high profile as Kaden. No matter how much Scott disdained Mr. Westignton, he had to give it to him, the man knew what was in demand.
Later that night Scott returned to the studio to begin his new collection. Initially, he felt joy at the prospect of a new job, however, when he stood in front of the blank canvas, his excitement wavered. He had finally gained recognition from a big time curator. Scott knew the work he needed to do and he knew the style Kaden had demanded. He knew it well. He definitely knew he was good at it. Yet when he started to paint, he did not play music. When he had finished his first piece, a tear fell.
“Exactly as the ones you showed me, nothing more nothing less”. The words echoed in his head as he slept that night.
After four days, Scott managed to finish the showcase. And he felt exhausted. Each piece was perfect. The fine details were immaculate and the strong colors breathed life. If Kaden could see them, Scott believed he would maybe even receive praise. However, Scott passed by the studio room everyday for the following week, without ever entering. Everyday, Scott would close his eyes when he passed the room
The night before the gallery was upon him, and finally Scott walked into the studio room. This was the first time he was surrounded by the pieces he had spent hours creating. At first, his gaze was fixated on the floor. When he found the courage to look up, there was no light in his eyes, and no smile on his face. As an artist, all he felt was shame, and as a man, all he felt was guilt. His eyes shifted frantically from painting to painting. His breaths started shortening and he felt his chest constricting. The feelings built up in Scott’s chest. So Scott did the unthinkable. With less than 24 hours until the gallery was to be opened, he cracked open a bucket of paint. He lathered layer upon layer of paint over his work until it was unrecognizable under the base layer. His breathing became more controlled. He put on his music, and began to paint. His emotion and excitement was present with every stroke of the brush. Finally, a light had returned to his eyes, a grin to his face, and a warmth to his chest.
Scott checked his watch, the gallery was being set up in an hour. Despite an absence of sleep, Scott felt no bags under his eyes. In fact, he walked with a bounce. Clothes still messy with paint, Scott entered the gallery, walked to his exhibit, and set up his showcase. His work remained covered for an hour after the gallery had opened. He wanted Kaden present for the introduction of his work. When Scott spotted Kaden from across the room, he made eye contact. Scott held his stare, however, as per usual, his expression was unreadable. Finally, Scott uncovered his paintings.
Kadens’ gaze shifted to the paintings, his charismatic smile quickly changed into a deep grimace. Scott could see the pure disdain in his expression. Unlike Kaden however, Scott could not contain his smile. Everything Kaden stood for, the popularity, the industry, and the basics, were shattered by Scott’s display.
Scott stood by his work as people walked by with little more than a glance in his direction. Few took the opportunity to experience his work. And of those who did, none smiled, none laughed, and none cried. But that did not matter. Scott had crossed his greatest threshold. There was no weight in his chest despite the crowds of people in the room. His hands did not shake.
Illustrations
I created ten simplified album covers, and three landscape images. I made the landscape images early on because they were fun and they allowed me to test around with abstract colors and shapes, however once I created the firts album cover (good kid, m.A.A.d city), my love of music took over and I created the rest of the album art. I ended up doing four Kanyes West albums (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 808s and Heartbreak, Ye, and Kids See Ghosts), two Kendrick Lamar albums (good kid, m.A.A.d city and DAMN.), two The Weeknd albums (House of Balloons and After Hours), and one Frank Ocean album (Blonde).
Initially for this project, I was planning on creating unique and cartoonish landscapes, similar to the three that I included in my final project. I wanted to do this because it was fun, and I enjoyed using more abstract coloring and cool shapes to make these designs and landscapes. However, when I thought about doing albums, I much preferred that idea. I’ve always been in love with music, and I’ve always had a connection to certain artists and albums. I also love albums as a whole, cover art and even vinyl design. I think good album art can really feed into the concept behind an album. Because of this, I decided to take some of my favorite albums of recent, and of all time, and put them into a cartoonish and stylized medium. I traced, and then simplified the albums, giving each one a unique and somewhat cartoonish look. The biggest challenge that I came across was that certain albums just did not work with my design choices. Only Albums with simple designs for a central focus worked well, whereas albums with more complex or busy looks (think Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly”), did not work. The only thing I would change is by adding more albums, and potentially taking more risks with the albums I chose. Overall, I am most proud of the design choices I made, and I really enjoy the style of my stickers, and I think the concept behind them is interesting. Knowing how to use illustrators, I will be able to incorporate these skills going forward. Along with this, I think I have grown an eye for what’s reasonable for a project, and what might be too ambitious. This project only grew my appreciation for album art, and the interesting and unique decisions that go into creating the art for albums.
Music Productions
The Parody Project was done right after we learned how to use pro tools, a music editing and mastering software. We used these skills to draw out an instrumental from a song, and in doing so, eliminating the vocals. This instrumental was then used to be the beat for the parody, where we wrote creative and funny lyrics.
The Process was initially choosing a song, my partner and I ended up doing Famous by Kanye West off of his album “The Life of Pablo”. After this, we came up with a parody concept. Ours was taking the lyrics, putting them through over a dozen languages, and taking each line back out, and singing them in their new chaotic state. We then took out the beat using various methods, such as changing the frequency, and adjusting the bass. We then put our vocals over it, and added the ad-libs.
“Having Made a Name for Oneself”
Chorus 1
Father, how can I know?
It’s difficult to love a girl such as me
I am not accusing you of wanting to be unconfined.
Just wanted to give you knowledge
Verse 1:
(Swayze said rock music) (OH)
All the boys in the south I know very well
I think Taylor and I are still friends
why? The famous girl (stuff)
You made this girl famous
Every girl got something from Kanye West
If you see her on the street, treat Kanye with all she can.
why? It is foolish not to be popular
I do not know my name, so they are mad (tell me man)
You do everything in the store
But it seems Kanye can’t calm down
But we are still famous
Yes, we still have a good reputation
Chorus 2:
I just want you to inform you
I loved you more than your relatives
in front
I don’t really blame you for wanting to be free
(Be awake senor. West!)
I just wanted you to get knowledge (Oh, he woke up!)
Verse 2:
They are floating exercises in Puerto Rico
Benz Marina del Rey is next to you
She went to school to become a real estate agent
I helped her pay for the car last month
When you’re small, we live, big! (great)
We will never die, (great!)
I just got on a plane to skip my personal debt
Enter the sky
The sun is in my eyes, (great!)
When I woke up, I realized how I felt (Amazing)
No matter how hard you try, (it’s amazing!)
we will not die
I just wanted you to inform you
Film
Griffith’s pattern
DW Griffith is one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. One of his greatest contributions is now known as Griffith’s pattern. It is a component of film language that helps give viewers context to a scene, through different types of shots, like establishing, medium, and close up shots. To practice this technique, we were instructed to craft a scene, with large emphasis on the types of shots, and making sure we utilized the pattern of shots.
Suspense Scene
The Suspense Scene was a way for us to practice techniques that aid to suspense. In particular, techniques like privileged position.
Chase Scene
The chase scene is an infamous freestyle film project that is used to practice the 180º rule. It also gave a good medium to practice different editing techniques, and to feel out a style that I enjoyed.
Narrative Synopsis
Before production of a film can start, a story must be drafted, edited, and finalized. Although not the exact script that was used, this synopsis was the outline for our story, and decided the direction the story would go in.
Act 1
(Mid day) A rich teen kid going to the casino, montages of nice cars, nice outfits, walking into the casino throwing his coat at the bouncer. People admire him as he walks. They know who he is immediately as he walks in. Walking up to the poker table we meet the dealer. Snapping for the bartender to get his drink. Throws Tips the bartender a lot. He puts down a stack of money and the dealer/ casino worker immediately gives him chips.
Act 2
Dealer starts dealing cards. It’s poker. Main character is winning a lot. Time lapse of chips and drinks and people moving showing the changing of time. He has a big stack of chips, and he starts losing. Time lapse ends for a moment to show him starting to lose. Loses a couple hands and another time lapse starts of chips going down. Gradual decline. Drinking is more emphasised while he is losing. As he drinks more, he gets more sloppy, hair is messed up, shirt unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up. Time lapse ends, he has like 2 chips.
Act 3
Realizes he has nothing left, and puts in a ring, watch, and finally his car. Dealer calls the boss and the boss accepts the bet. Suspenseful scene where he gets a good hand (blackjack). He has a 20, and he is very happy, he thinks he has won. The dealer has a 21, and he loses everything. Same but different dolly shot of him leaving the casino but now he has nothing, he has no confidence and he is slouched over. Tries to get into the car, realizes it’s locked, and walks home. Final shot him walking home at night.
Narrative trailer
The Narrative film was the focus of film for about 5 months, and is easily the biggest and most ambitious project of Junior Year. A trailer is typically a short preview of the film to come, and is meant to build anticipation. it was a fun side project shortly before the conclusion of the Narrative unit.