In the conceptual unit, we dabbled in the more abstract and expressive art forms, using poetry, photography, and experimental filmmaking to convey ideas and emotions rather than plot and characters.

I personally am very narrative-driven in my projects, so this unit encouraged me to seek out a different approach and challenged me to forget my standard process to bring meaning that I otherwise may not have been able to.

English/Digital Media

Photo Haiku

The photo haiku project was one of the first, and most enjoyable, projects we did, involving writing a haiku poem from a prompt, taking a photo to match the haiku, using Photoshop to appropriately arrange the photo and poem, and finally animating the whole thing in Premiere Pro. I especially enjoyed doing the sound design on the video, which I used to connect to the typewriter mentioned in the haiku.

Free Verse Poem

This project was very similar to the photo haiku project. Like for the photo haiku, work for the free verse poem started in English, with the study of the makeup of poetry and the analysis of others’ work to lead into the writing of our poem. Once finished, the poem was recorded, fit to a photo, and Photoshopped with the text. I even used similar photographs as both poems were written to convey similar feelings.

INTENTION STATEMENT

Fluffball on the Windowsill I wrote to describe the appearance and feeling of my own bedroom. I tried to capture (and exaggerate) the cluttered and dusty, yet cozy feeling of the room, and included imagery conveying a mixture of the ideas. 

I started with a cat, which is usually the first thing I go to in my room. I have three cats, but in this poem I focused on Dime, the gray and fuzzy cat, because of his close resemblance to a dust bunny, connecting him to the prevalent motif of dust in the poem. I then moved below to the dresser, about which is noted its broken drawers and carelessly placed clothes. This begins the cluttered imagery that will be continued throughout, and also effectively communicates the lack of care taken in simple organization, an idea also present in the overflowing school bag. I used sound to help the flow of the poem here with the ‘g’ sound in “gray fluff gazes” and the repetition of “hanging” open or out.

The next paragraph I brought in the coziness by describing a cushioned chair and cats’ paws, and by illustrating the cats’ bed as a nest, with the computer’s heat excess compared to “warm breath.” I also used alliteration in “pointy paws.”

I then pulled the tone back to the cluttered and dusty by discussing the contents of the shelves. One row of cubicles contains a LEGO city, whose busyness works well as a metaphor for chaotic and messy living. Another recurring theme in this poem is loneliness and forgotten things, reflected with the burnt-out bulbs of Christmas lights that were never taken down. I finish the stanza with descriptions of the top shelf, a cliché of forgotten trinkets. As for sound, I repeated the ‘b’ sound in “brick-built citizens bustling.”

For the shortest stanza, I made a small note of a bulletin board lying on the floor with faded contents. The line “full of faded photos sits on the floor” reads like a tongue-twister, encouraging it to be read quickly. This gives it the feeling of an afterthought, something merely glanced at before moving on. 

To finish it all off, I described the bed, the primary source of comfort for most. However, I also mixed in the note of it taking up most of the space, adding to the idea of a small, cluttered space. The last few lines end off the poem by bringing back the feeling of coziness, but also give the poem a sense of circularity and closure by making mention of the cats, specifically describing them as purring fluffballs, to remind the reader of the beginning lines and the title.

This poem started as simple surface-level descriptions of the various points of interest around my room. Throughout the writing process, I needed to insert more emotion and focus into the poem, so I chose the themes and deepened the descriptions with imagery until I was satisfied. To conclude, this poem was written with the intention of painting a lived-in atmosphere, providing a blend between soft and comforting with dusty and messy imagery. 

Blending with Photoshop

Film

During this unit in film, we learned the basics of camera operation, shot types and composition, editing, and color. We got familiar with the technical side of filmmaking, and spent time getting acquainted behind the camera. I was able to sharpen my skills and expand my knowledge in ways that will allow me to make more fidelitous films.

Scavenger Hunt

Kylie, Lucie, and I learned the basics of cameraworking and editing to create a short compilation of clips gathered in a scavenger hunt, where we were challenged to shoot as many different types of shots and content as we could.

Doubles Exercise

As part of the introduction to editing, I learned about mattes and keyframing to duplicate myself in the same frame.

Experimental Film

For our final project of this unit, we were to create an experimental film to convey emotion and feeling rather than story. As I am very plot-based in my filmmaking, this represented a significant challenge to me. My first draft involved too much character and dialogue, and had a proper story, but after some feedback from my peers, I dropped the concept and let go more with my ideas.

I loosened up the writing process to just a simple, relaxing journey. The film still follows a kind of story, as the prompt I was to use dictated so, but it is more free-flowing rather than rigidly structured as a narrative would be. Indeed, most of the film was created just by letting my cat, Penny, loose to explore on her own and followed her with the camera. She rarely goes outside, (Hence the name, Indoor Cat) so she gave me the wandering and exploring feeling that I wanted.

In the end, I am very glad I got the experience of making an experimental film, as it gave me a much-needed break away from storytelling and narrative, forcing me to change my mindset and think outside the box. I feel I will be able to use the lessons I took away from this project to better my filmmaking as a whole.