NARRATIVE II
WEBSITE BY EMILY PORAT
WEB

As always, in Web, we created a website to display our work from the Narrative, Surrealism, and Blink units. We began the process by drawing a paper prototype (below on the right) of how we envisioned our website to look. I checked out other websites to get inspiration, and decided to go with a vertical design with a large photo as the first section. The next big task in Web this unit was to make an animation of our narratives. We had more freedom than students did in previous years, though we were taught classic animation skills via AfterEffects. We also created an Animatic before diving into the actual animation. We learned that Animatics helps us structure an animation and figure out how long scenes should be. I chose a slightly different aproach for my animation, focusing more on text and dialogue rather than movement and visuals.

This was the first time I really used AfterEffects for an extended project, so it was challenging to get the hang of it at first. We were also given a lot less direction on the website. By now, we are familiar with how to create and begin a new website. This unit, we also learned about the steps of making a website outside of Freestyle.

DESIGN
In the Narrative unit for Design we had two main projects. The first project we did was the book jacket. We were instructued to design a book cover, back cover, and inside flaps that would be appropriate for our short story that we wrote. Web students had to illustrate an image for the front cover, will film students used a photograph. I used a wave illustration as my graphic on the front and back cover. I found a drawing of a wave and image traced it in Illustrator, tweaking it a bit to fit my needs. I filled in different colors in Photoshop, and also created a background for the back cover of a starry night sky. The wave relates to the story because most of the story takes place by the ocean. It also represents the volatile state of Joel and Jamie’s relationship, and the fact that it may come crashing down at any moment. This project was a fun challenge for me. I enjoyed using InDesign in a different way than I was used to and incorporating my own illustrations along with my typography and layout knowledge.

For my Surrealist photograph, I used multiple photoshop techniques and layers. My original concept was to have a person holding sky in their hands, but as I worked, the idea morphed into a photo within a photo within a photo of a person holding the sky in a pot. I used HDR photography for the focal point image of the sky, and I kept everything else black and white so the focal point was accentuated further. The hardest part of this photograph was making sure that the sky fit perfectly inside the pot. To perfect this, I used a clipping mask along with the spot healing tool. I also had to make sure that the photos flowed perfectly together and that the viewer can’t tell when one photo ends and another begins. I had to play around with the size of the photos inside each other to make sure nothing got cut off strangely and there were no stark contrasts in color.

The meaning behind the photo is that trying to capture something impossible is an endless cycle. The sky is an integral part of nature that has no true beginning or end, so in one sense it is uncapturable, but in another sense, it is constantly all around us. Reaching for the stars equates to working towards an awe-inspiring goal, so this piece begs the questions: what does reaching for the sky entail?

ENGLISH
The English section of the Narrative Unit was essentially the backbone of everything we did. We began with a concept for a dialogue-based story, and developed it further into a story from three different perspectives. The goal of this project was to experiment with dialogue-drive stories, improve our creative writing skills, and to be able to build strong characters. I definitely grew as a writer during this unit as I was pushed to use dialogue rather than description to support the action of my story.

I can’t feel my toes, but this is the first time in months that I have sincerely laughed out loud. It’s January, and I am currently treading water in the San Francisco Bay, staring up at my boyfriend of three years, Joel, waiting for him to follow suit and plunge into the icy emerald waters lapping against my shoulders.

Jump back twenty minutes. We’re having dinner at Girogini’s, a sleepy Italian place next to the bay. Fake candles flicker in frosted cylinders, and the clatter and chatter of the semi-busy restaurant melds with the ambient music.

“Let’s do something,” I said, twirling a wad of spaghetti around my fork. “What do you mean? We are doing something. We’re doing something right now,” said Joel, staring at his lasagna.

“I know. I just mean, like. Can’t we ever mix it up? This is the third time we’ve been here this month.” I rolled my eyes and sighed, trying to get some sort of reaction.

“We decided on this restaurant because it’s always good. You always know what you’re getting.” Joel said evenly.

“Exactly.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He finally looked up, staring straight into my eyes, the way he always does. Always expecting something, always ready to tear down anything that he hadn’t already thought of.

I sighed. “Do I really have to say it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Every syllable was measured.

I let the heavy cloth napkin flutter to my lap. “We’re stuck.” I looked down. “We do the same boring things over and over.” Glanced up. “Nothing’s exciting anymore.” Down again.

He finally took a deep breath and put down his fork. “I suppose I could see how you think that. But, Jamie, you have to understand that this is what happens with time. You know as well as I do that it’s been three years, and settling down into a routine is inevitable.”

“But I don’t want a routine. I don’t want to be that boring old couple already. I’m twenty-seven for God’s sake. What happened to going to random bars and concerts and wandering around the city at 2 AM? Don’t you remember that time we ended up at that great little coffee shop on Valencia street and-”

He cut me off. “You know what? Those times are over. I don’t want to wander around in the dark and stumble into shitty cafes. We’re not reckless teenagers anymore. We’re adults, Jamie. Why don’t you start acting like one.”

He picked up his fork again as if the conversation was over. My insides were burning like there were a thousand tiny embers in my chest rocketing up towards my throat. I took a sharp breath in and stared out the window, trying to collect my thoughts into a succinct sentence. That’s when I got the idea.

I stood up, clicked open my wallet, and dropped two twenty dollar bills on the table. I smoothed down my hair and strode out of the restaurant and towards the docks.

“What the- where are you going?” Joel called after me.

“Why don’t you find out.” I said evenly, staring straight ahead and keeping up my pace. I reached the end of the nearest dock and stared into the swirling water twenty feet below.

Wind swept my hair away from my face as I clutched the cold metal railing. “What the hell is this?” Joel stood a few feet behind me.

“Jump in with me,” I said as I faced him, a hopeful half-smile spreading across my face.

“Are you crazy? It’s freezing. It must be 50 degrees out.”

“Yeah, it is crazy.” I grinned. For a split second, I saw a glimmer of the person Joel used to be flash across his glassy brown eyes. He opened his mouth. And then it was gone. His brow furrowed, and then his expression softened.

“Come on, Jamie. Let’s just go home. We can watch Netflix and forget about this night.” I turned around to face the water and I felt his hand on the small of my back. He held me there for a second, and I leaned into him. But I caught myself. I remembered how he spit those harsh words at me no more than five minutes ago. The fragments of ‘Grow up, Jamie,’ sat in my gut, stabbing into me with every breath. I turned around into him.

“Either you’re all in, or you’re all out,” I said in one measured breath. And I jumped.

I am currently treading water in the San Francisco Bay, staring up at Joel, waiting for him to follow suit and plunge into the icy emerald waters lapping against my shoulders. “What’s it gonna be?” I yell up to him. He just shook his head, like he was disappointed in me.

“You’ll never learn, will you,” he said, and slowly walked down the dock. I watched him button up his coat and stick his hands into his pockets.

I smiled to myself and wrapped my arms around my body as I realized that I had floated to an area where it was shallow enough to stand. On my tippy-toes in the San Francisco Bay in January, I realized that it’s not really even that cold down here.

You know how when you have a big zit, and you’re walking around, all you can feel is the painful pressure of that giant, pulsing blemish? No one else can tell that you’re in agony. Hell, only a few people even notice the zit. But you know. You know, and you can’t breathe peaceful until you finally get home and pop that sucker. Kill it in its tracks, and hope to God that it doesn’t come back in the morning.

That’s what I feel like tonight, except the zit I have is an engagement ring, perfectly poised in a neat velvet box, screaming at me from my left pocket. I’m not trying to say that this ring is a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited. But my nerves are raging. This ring can’t be more that a few ounces, but it’s been weighing me down for the last hour over dinner. My back is slicked with a thin layer of sweat, and I can’t focus on Jamie’s face.

We’ve been together three years, and I know I should be better at the whole listening thing, but my mind is raging. Everything is loud and pounding in my ears, and all I can feel is the lump in my pocket. Jamie sounds like the teacher in Charlie Brown, her voice all mushed together syllables I don’t understand. I’m thinking about how after we leave this restuarant I’m going to walk her over to a nearby pier. I’m imagining this perfect scene in my head, with the sunset illuminating the wispy curls around her face. But then I’m jerked out of the daydream.

“Let’s do something,” Jamie whines, stabbing at her spaghetti. “What do you mean? We are doing something. We’re doing something right now,” I say, surfacing from my daze. “I know. I just mean, like. Can’t we ever mix it up? This is the third time we’ve been here this month.” She looked irritated, and I felt prickles of heat rise to my cheeks. “We decided on this restaurant because it’s always good. You always know what you’re getting,” I said, trying to reason with her. “Exactly.” She drops her fork.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I stare at her, trying to understand what’s behind the frustration. She sighed. “Do I really have to say it?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice barely audible over the rush of the restaurant. She dropped her napkin to her lap. “We’re stuck.” Jamie stared at her lap. “We do the same boring things over and over.” She looked up. “Nothing’s exciting anymore.” Back down.

My fluttering nervousness froze. The little butterfly in my gut was paralyzed. I exhaled defeatedly. “I suppose I could see how you think that. But, Jamie, you have to understand that this is what happens with time. You know as well as I do that it’s been three years, and settling down into a routine is inevitable.” “But I don’t want a routine. I don’t want to be that boring old couple already. I’m twenty-seven for God’s sake. What happened to going to random bars and concerts and wandering around the city at 2 AM? Don’t you remember that time we ended up at that great little coffee shop on Valencia street and-” I couldn’t take it anymore. What was supposed to be a perfect night was turning into a mess. “You know what? Those times are over. I don’t want to wander around in the dark and stumble into shitty cafes. We’re not reckless teenagers anymore. We’re adults, Jamie. Why don’t you start acting like one.” I picked up my fork clenched my teeth.

Jamie suddenly stood up, dropped some money on the table, and stomped towards the door. “What the - where are you going?” I called after her, halfway out of my seat. “Why don’t you find out,” she snarled from behind her shoulder. I chased after her out of the restaurant and toward the docks, apologizing to a waiter on my way out. When I finally caught up to her, she was standing at the end of the pier, facing the water. The sun had set and all was dark. Her auburn hair was dancing in the wind, and she had her arms wrapped around herself. “What the hell is this?” I stood with my hands on my hips. “Jump in with me,” she said as she turned around to face me, suddenly grinning. “Are you crazy? It’s freezing. It must be 50 degrees out.” I brushed my hand against the outline of the velvet box. “Yeah, it is crazy.” She looked at me with a streak of frazzled insanity in her eyes. The frustration in my brow softened into concern. “Come on, Jamie. Let’s just go home. We can watch Netflix and forget about this night.” I took three steps toward her and rested my hand on her back. She seemed to settle into my touch, but just for a moment. She suddenly tensed up and whipped around.

“Either you’re all in, or you’re all out,” Jamie said in one measured breath. And she jumped off the pier, just like that. I watched her plummet into the churning waters below. Her red dress billowed around her until she hit the water with a loud smack. I cringed and rubbed the back of my neck. She surfaced and stared up at me. Her limbs flailed wildly and she treader water. “What’s it gonna be?” she yelled. “You’ll never learn, will you,” I called down to her. “Is this really what you want?” But she didn’t hear me. ‘I guess not,’ I thought to myself. I slowly walked down the dock, and removed the little box from my left pocket. I saw her take off her shoes before she had entered the dock, so I found her black boots, and I gingerly placed the box inside one of them. I walked back to the restaurant to finish my meal and apologize again to the owner, but when I entered, our table had already been cleared. A different couple was sitting where we had sat moments ago. A weak smile spread across my face as the little butterfly in my stomach turned to lead.