Introduction
The Conceptual unit was focused on the experimental and things that strayed from the norm. Throughout this unit, we expanded our ability to communicate and think abstractly. A question that we sought to answer was, “How can I use unconventional forms to express myself?“ I learned aspects of poetry and experimental film, and I was able to learn all sorts of new equipment and software such as DSLR cameras, Pro Tools, Premiere Pro, and WordPress(which I am currently editing this website on).
As a freestyle student, I value the opportunity for creativity and the access to equipment and software. In Digital Media I was able to work with things I made for English class, and improve and add on to them to a higher degree. It was interesting that assignments from English could mesh so well with assignments from Digital Media. I enjoy being able to work at my own pace in Digital Media, watching pre-recorded lessons on how to use and work out the kinks of different softwares. In regular school, I would never have as much opportunity to be able to create things that I am passionate about so often. I enjoy being given creative control and opportunity to take risks.
Photo Haiku
In the English class, our first unit was poetry. We started off with haikus: short, three line poems with five, seven, and five syllables. For the Photo Haiku assignment, we were given a concept statement to base our poems on, and then took a photo to correspond to it. Text was placed on top of the photo, and it was all edited together with music and moving text with Premiere Pro.
The concept statement that I was assigned was “I am exploring the feeling of enchantment through the experience of making a costume”. My kigo(seasonal clue) related to autumn and Halloween because costumes are generally associated with Halloween. I valued being able to test out Premiere Pro and learn how to use it more than I already did. It was the first project combining Digital Media and English together.
Poetry
This assignment was a free verse poem, which was recorded and then edited with Pro Tools. Sound Effects and music were added to give it an extra oomph. The poem could be about anything, and I chose my Ekphrastic poem.
“Foamy Contemplation” is a free verse ekphrastic poem about introspection concerning the woman in the photograph Graz, which was taken by Japanese artist Seiichi Furuya. For a scrap of context, the woman photographed is the late wife of the artist, who accompanied him on his travels around the world. The speaker in this poem happens to be me. I adapted my curiosity of her situation into words, filling it with wonder. I considered what her thoughts may be in that moment, and all of the factors surrounding the event pictured. Yet, it is still impossible to know the specifics of such a tender occasion that we are not directly involved in. In the first stanza, the technique of alliteration and assonance is used, with phrases such as “feminine features” or “clean gleam”. Metaphor is used to show the calmness and tenderness of the situation. In the first stanza, the metaphor of “a blanket of warmth” that she is wrapped in represents comfort, and a nostalgic childhood memory. The first two stanzas are a sort of analysis of the woman’s feelings and thoughts. The final stanza highlights how much the audience is unaware of. The areas with end rhymes, such as in the third stanza, relate ideas to each other. Things are “shown” but also “unknown”. It illustrates the difference between the two ideas. I also used allusion to a famous painter, Van Gogh, in the third stanza. The audience is likely familiar with him, so the comparison of the photograph to one of his paintings is clear. When the lineation changes from more end-stopped lines to enjambed lines, the speaker’s attitude towards the whole event shifts from admiration and curiosity to critical and reflective. Ultimately, the pattern of alliteration, enjambment, metaphor, and end rhymes work together to show thought processes and contemplation. During the peer review, my readers enjoyed the enjambment, but suggested that I go beyond the literal. I took this into consideration, adding more metaphor. I adjusted the entire second and third stanza to add more metaphorical meanings. Another suggestion was that I use the word “I” less, putting less emphasis on the speaker and more on what is happening. I was particularly inspired by the poem “A Poem for Trapped Things” by John Wieners because of how skillful the lineation was. I was inspired by his use of enjambment, and how it created double meanings. It starts off with more end-stopping and ends with more enjambment. I made an attempt to emulate this sort of lineation. The shift in tone of “A Poem for Trapped Things” was also very effective, and I tried to emulate that as well.
In working on this, I valued how many parts went into making this. I valued learning how to use pro tools to edit audio, and using Photoshop to create the poem image. Of course there is also the English aspect in writing the poem itself.
Photoshop Blend Mode Editing
In the Digital Media class, we learned all about a few of the blend modes in Photoshop so that we could adjust the level of and create more interesting pictures. Below are images edited using the blend modes in Photoshop.
Photoshop blend modes are quite useful. They can be used for many purposes, including brightening or darkening an image, or combining multiple images.
I valued the skills that I gained, that I can use in the future. I also value being able to be creative in how I use them.
Film
I’ve always delighted shooting short videos and recording things. Film class has given me the opportunity to actually learn techniques in making more effective and interesting films, how to make stories flow better, and the rules in filmmaking. The class has allowed me to take filmmaking one step further than before.
The experimental film was the first “large” film made in this class. My concept statement was the same as my photo haiku, and I was able to take inspiration from that project into this one. At first, I wanted to be very literal, with a person sewing with a sewing machine and other related imagery. With feedback, I was able to push myself to lean more into the experimental aspect and really try a lot of things out.
This project involved many different clips and effects. It did not rely too heavily on special effects. The multicolored boxes are the video and audio clips. The gray dots in the effects section are keyframes of the blurring effect I added on her face.
Below are some of my other work this semester:
The chase scene combined suspense, Griffith’s pattern, and other techniques.
The Doublemint exercise was an exercise in which the camera was put on a tripod in one location and then two separate videos were cropped and combined into one.