The Conceptual Project included many smaller projects from all three classes at Freestyle. Each part of the project started in English class with our poetry. From there we expanded on each poem in Design and Digital Media class. In Design we used one of our poems to take a photo that encompassed the same emotions and meanings. Digital Media class is where we recorded all of the audio and created our pictures for our other poems that we created. It is also where we took all of these projects and put them together on our websites.

We learned many different tools and techniques during the conceptual unit at Freestyle. In English we learned how to create good poetry that has meaning behind it. In Design class we learned many photography techniques and how to use Photoshop to enhance our photography. Finally in Digital Media we learned Pro Tools, Adobe Animate and Dreamweaver. Each class was equally important for creating our Conceptual Project.

For our Expository Essays we had to write about something we were passionate about. For my essay I chose to write about Madden, a game that I have been playing for as long as I can remember. You can learn more about my passion in my essay below.

In English class we were assigned three different poems to write. We had to write a Free Verse Poem, Spoken Word Poem and Ekphrastic Poem. For our Free Verse Poem we were assigned a concept statement to write our poem about. The goal was for someone to be able to understand the message through the poem. An Ekphrastic Poem is one that is written in response to a piece of art. To find out art we went on a trip to the SFMOMA. We spent a day looking at different types and forms of art. For our spoken word poem we had to write a poem that is meant to be performed for an audience.

Through studying poetry I have learned about the different types of poetry and how they can be used to express certain feelings. I also learned how to create an image to represent a poem and how to record a poem and have it play with the photo.

For our Haiku we used the same concept statement as our Free Verse Poem to create a short three line Haiku Poem. Also apart of the assignment, we had to take a photo that represented our Haiku. We expanded our project in Digital Media by creating a short video with music before and after the poem. We used the same photo in the video as we used for our English Assignment.

To create the Haiku we brainstormed ideas from our concept statements that could be put into a poem. As for the Digital Media portion we used Adobe Animate to create our short films that are displayed on our websites.

I am exploring the feeling of uncertainty through the experience of watching a film.

For our Design Conceptual Art assignment we had to take one of our poems and take an image that represented the poem without being too literal. After taking the photo we had to use Photoshop to enhance the photo and help add hidden meaning to the poem. For my project I used my Ekphrastic Poem and took a photo that represented the core meaning of my poem. We learned many techniques for taking the photo and using Photoshop to enhance the photo. During this project I learned many different tools that will help me in future projects at Freestyle.

In my poem I used the second half as inspiration for my photo. “No Noise.” “No Lights.” These lines were important for signifying the end of the scene and the break between scenes. The remote control fading in the background of the photo helps to exemplify these lines. It represents the fading of the scene and the darkness that has encompassed the room. The next lines that I felt really inspired the photo were, “A new scene is starting,” “Sitting and waiting” “Uncertainty fills the room.” These lines are represented by the dice in the photo. The first line is simply the appearance of the dice and the brightness. They are the next scene. “Sitting and waiting” “Uncertainty fills the room” are both related to the stillness of the dice. One does not know what is going to happen yet as when you are about to roll dice, you are not sure of what the result will be.

The placement of the objects was very important in creating a visual representation of the lines. The remote in the background is very dull and faded to show the last scene ending. The darkness surrounding the dice and remote is to show the darkness when the last scene ends. There is a period of waiting in between scenes where nothing is happening. The dice represent the next scene which appears out of darkness to fill the room which is shown by the brightness of the dice. The dice themselves show how when the next scene appears there is a moment of confusion or uncertainty to what will happen as when you roll dice. The biggest struggle with taking the photo was making sure the dice were very clear but at the same time the remote needed to be fading away and unclear.

Although music is not my strong suit I pieced together many loops of music to create a longer piece of Experimental Music. I used several different techniques that I learned in Digital Media class to help make the music sound fluid and have rhythm. I couldn’t have done all of these things without my knowledge of Pro Tools.

Pro Tools was the most important part of creating my Experimental Music. I learned many things in Pro Tools such as piecing together loops and changing parts of the loops to have the music sound more fluid. Learning Pro Tools was not only important for this project but will help me with future projects at Freestyle.