Reflections

The reflections unit carried us through the first semester of Senior year. Throughout the unit we explored inward and reflected on our own lives and artistic inspiration-largely in preparation for the Common Application Essay Questions. Throughout this process, we uncovered our different value sets and the things that make us each unique.

For me the most impact part of this unit was getting to revisit my past work and be able to use the project assignments in class to create new pieces out of the photos, videos and experiences I already had- as we are in the reflections unit.

To start this process, in English we developed a set of core values and essential objects that make us who we are. In developing and analysisinp why we picked what we did- we could then use the insight learned about ourselves in the essay production for the Common App Essay, arguably one of the most significant essays we will write.

Core Values

Below is the list of core values that I created in English that are relevant to me. From this- I took the list into Adobe After Effects and used the list to animate a short video as an exploration into what After Effects can do. Although this was a tedious process of recording, animating and producing, the finalized video is something that I feel I’m proud of and I defiantly learned the ins-and-out of the software.

Mandala Project

In this unit in Digital Media, we were tasked to create a mandala that was either a reflection of yourself or a representation. As inspiration, I looked back at some of the past cities I’ve traveled to- Grenada, Paris, London, Amsterdam and chose to highlight the architectural details that represent each cultures city.

• The triangle is meant to be the Glass Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.
• Arch details from the Alhambra, in Spain are featured.
• As are Victorian details that represent London.

For my colored mandala, I created it along the theme of one of my favorite movies, MidSommer. The mandala features details from the movie and follows a Scandinavian color pallet- where the movie is set.

College Personal Essay

Our focus in English for this unit was creating an essay that answers the question- “Who Am I?” This essay would be submitted as the main essay for most of our college applications so the significance that rested on this assignment was stressed but ultimately pushed us all to create inspiring works.

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To answer this… I reflected on my experiences and the unique things that make me- me.

Motion Graphics

Another focus of this unit in Digital Media was video production through Adobe After Effects. Although we have experience with Premier Pro from Junior year- After Effects offers an entirely new set of capabilities and has since become a valuable resource for projects and my default for video production.

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The cumulation of the month or so that we worked on these videos was the rotoscoping practice video. This video features various transition effects that we learned, reveal lines and text rotoscoping- the most technical effect we learned in the unit.

For my project, unlike what many others did, I choose to use my own imagery and music- which meant a lot larger of a workload having to edit and mix music tracks to work for this video sequence. I used concert video shot at Outside Lands Music Festival 2023 of Lana Del Rey (we got barricade for the show.) Since I had the footage, I decided that this would be a fun use of it.

The biggest learning curve for me was wrapping my head around the linear-sequence editing model that After Effects uses and having to think of everything in KeyFrames. All-in-all, I think the skills that I learned in After Effects this unit will benefit me throughout my career and its defiantly something I will fall back on when needing to create video content.

Elective Projects

Public Service Announcement

For this project, we had to choose an issue that was significant to us and then use it to create a slogan and image in the form of a Public Service Announcement to promote the issue. For me, I contemplated the extent of road infrastructure and wasted public space that could be used as public gathering spaces instead. The PSA below is how I represented this idea.

Aboriginal Art

This project was a multifaceted study of cultural art, style interpretation and digital art creation all in one. We were tasked to study the spiritual imagery of the Aboriginal people and create a cohesive composition that represents our ourselves.

I included-

• The Capricorn Constellation
• A Spirit Animal
• A Wave
• The Sails of the Sydney Opera House