Conceptual

Introduction

The conceptual unit focuses on expressing ideas and emotions in unique, unconventional ways. Through music, visual art, film, and web design, I have been encouraged to take creative risks and develop a personal artistic style. At the same time, I have built practical technical skills by learning to use professional tools such as DSLR cameras, audio recorders, and software like Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and WordPress.

During my first quarter at Freestyle, I have been challenged to think beyond literal expression and find new ways to represent abstract ideas through both words and visuals. Additionally, I have learnt how to use the software and how creative I can be. There have been many projects in Digital Media that give us instruction, while also letting us create something that we can be proud of at the end. In English, we have read pieces of literature that have caused us to need to think deeper, which was very different from other English classes I have had.

Art Reflection

For this project, we went on a field trip to the SFMOMA. We were tasked with finding an art piece that gave us awe, and then writing a reflection on it when we got back. In English, we wrote our reflection and then in Digital Media we learned how to produce a video and use our audio recorders. We also learned how to edit the audio and fun things we can put on the screen to make it visually entertaining.

I valued the introduction of how to edit text on an image to help the audience see what parts of the audio were especially important. Furthermore, I valued learning how to edit my voiceover and working the audio recorder. In English, we did a lot of work on reflecting on our experience in the SFMOMA and how the artwork we chose made us feel “awe”. Because of this, I was able to fully appreciate the piece that I chose, and dive deeper into the meaning of it.

Parody Introduction

For this project, we were tasked with creating a funny parody to any song with our own lyrics. My friend and I chose to do a song about a recipe for dino nuggets to the song California Gurls by Katy Perry. We had a lot of fun recording in the booths together and experimenting with the voice changers in post production.

The song California Gurls by Katy Perry inspired us to write a parody about a recipe for making dino nuggets. Which is ironic because there really isn’t a recipe for dino nuggets, you just put the frozen nuggets in the oven. We chose California Gurls because it was a beat that we know very well and it would be easy to change the lyrics.

First, we wrote our lyrics out and then sung them in the recording booth. Then, we edited it all together and decided at the end that we liked the voice changers on some parts of the song. What I valued most about the process of making a parody was being able to learn how to edit together voice clips and how to use the microphones in the recording booths. Most interesting to me in the process of making this parody was hearing what the voice changers did to our singing, it was really funny. In life, I think it’s really important to know recipes and to be able to cook, and so I wrote parody lyrics to convey how to cook dino nuggets, which Ashley and I think are amazing snacks. We thought it was really funny because it’s super easy to make dino nuggets, yet we wrote a whole parody about it. I am most proud of the lyrics in my parody song because I think it makes it really funny and the words all work together. I don’t think there was a point where I didn’t like a lyric or it didn’t fit in with the rest of the song, and I was proud of that.

Parody Lyrics

Greetings Nuggets,

What’s cookin’ good lookin’

I know a place, where you can find some dino nuggets

Warm up the tray, to 3 hundred sixty seven degrees

Pop em’ on a pan, and let them sizzle in the heat

Crispy and brown, sends tingles to my feet

You can buy so much chicken, but nothing comes close to the golden dino

What’s a meal without them? Wait only 10 minutes for the perfect dish

Dino nuggets are so unforgettable, meat inside and breading on top

Ranch or ketchup both will taste delectable, Oh Oh

Dino nuggets are above all options, keep in mind they’re super cheap too

Transcends you into another universe, Oh Oh

Them dino shapes, stegosaurus and t-rexes

Trays full of gold, yeah my freezer’s feelin’ precious

You can buy so much chicken, but nothing comes close to the golden dino

Whats’s a meal without them? Wait only 10 minutes for. theperfect dish

Dino nuggets are so unforgettable, meat inside and breading on top

Ranch or ketchup both will taste delectable, Oh Oh

Dino nuggets are above all options, keep in mind they’re super cheap too

Transcends you into another universe, Oh Oh

Photoshop Blend Mode Editing

For this project, we learnt about blend modes like multiply, screen, and overlay. Now, we can layer photos and use our creativity to edit them in Photoshop. I used photos that I have taken on my digital camera to do this assignment. Something I value about learning how to use blend modes in Photoshop is that now in future projects, I know how to adjust an image, or combine two images together. I see myself using the blend modes to blend one photo on top of the other to make it look cool, kind of like how I did with the boat and the ocean view, even though originally they weren’t together. 

DSLR Practice Photos

With our cameras, we were tasked. to take creative photos with different prompts. For example, we used Av mode to get shallow or deep depths of field, we used Tv mode when taking pictures at night, we did flash practice with portraits in front of various backdrops, and P-mode with ISO changes. While learning all of these different modes, we were able to add effects to our photos or get the desired photo we wanted just with a simple switch on our cameras.

Taking these photos helped me understand the modes on the camera and ways I can use them to edit my photos. I liked taking photos of the lights the most. We turned on a long shutter speed and it made it so that we could see the path of the light and even make shapes or words with it. I also liked changing the white balance because you could make it look like the sky was different colors.

Film

In Film so far, we have learned how to use our cameras and how to do editing in Premiere Pro. It has been really fun to create my own films and work with the people in my class to produce a piece of art that we’re all proud of. I also have enjoyed being able to receive feedback from my peers on how to improve my films. I value being able to create something that I can watch and send to family members to show them. I value being able to experiment with film language and visual art to produce a message.

Experimental Film

Synopsis – Experimental

My concept is bewilderment through learning to love. 

This film demonstrates bewilderment through learning to love by depicting the gravitational pull between the moon and the waves as a form of love or attraction, and it is bewildering because as the attraction gets stronger, so does the strength and height of the waves. A lot of this film will be editing and making parts of nature look unrealistic and uncontrollable. I want to start the film with a couple different shots of the ocean, while it is calm and still. At this point it will also be like towards sunset time, where the moon is not out yet. Maybe I’ll have some close ups of the waves meeting the shore, or some of the shells and wildlife on the sand. Then, I want to have like a wide shot of the ocean, and then there will be a deep, almost drum/knocking sound and the daylight fades, but not slowly, it will be sudden and maybe the sky could have a slight green hue to make it sickly. Next, I want a couple clips of the moon, and it’s very very white and it stands out against the sky. Then I want to edit the waves to be progressively getting bigger, showing the attraction between the moon and the waves. Following that, I want some objects to appear on the beach, a mirror, a piano, maybe a rusted clock. And I want the waves to pass over them, almost like they were going to break because the waves are so strong, but they don’t. For example, you would think that when a strong force hits a mirror, it would shatter, but instead, it’s going to ripple like water or the piano might play songs without being touched and the clock hands go backwards. This shows bewilderment because even though the moon and the waves have such a strong connection, it’s harmful to things around it and it’s causing the waves to be chaotic and uncontrollable. It also shows bewilderment because it creates confusion as to why those objects were at the beach in the first place. Then, I’ll have some clips that flash back and forth from the moon and the ocean, almost like the moon is intimidating the ocean to get bigger. As the clips move back and forth, the sounds will be the same drum/knocking from before. Now I want the moon to be colorgraded to either red or a dark like black, but not too dark where it would get lost in the background. I want the waves to be reaching to the shore, like dark fingers clawing at the sand and they snap back to the ocean violently. They should take abstract shapes like creatures, storms and monsters. At this point, the background noise could be like whispers and murmurs. 

Film Exercises

The goal of the Scavenger Hunt was to explore different shots you can take. We had to follow a document that had a bunch of shots we had to go out and find/do. This way in future films, we know how to add variety or change the mood of the film through our shot types. This exercise was really fun and a good way to start the year with experimenting with our camera. It was also fun to work with new people in the class.

The goal of the Green Screen Video was to show us how to use the green screens and ways we can use them to alter the subject. For example, in my green screen video, I was able to make myself look really small by adding a zoomed in background. This exercise was cool to see how we can edit a background and make it look like we are anywhere.

The DoubleMint Effect Video was to experiment with layering two videos to make it look like there are two of the same person in the same shot. For example, I put myself playing the guitar and the drums in the same shot. I thought this exercise was fun and it was super cool to see how people put double of themselves in one video.