Introduction
“How can I use unconventional forms to express myself?”
During this period, we were tasked to take a conceptual statement write about it, and in film, to create an experimental film. I valued this experience because it was new and challenged me to create something that I was proud of as my first project here at freestyle.
Haiku
For the conceptual project, I was given the phrase “I am exploring the feeling of pride though solitude.” To me this meant being comfortable and at peace by being alone, but not lonely. For some reason, as I read this phrase it brings me images of cooler colours. In the cold, people are often reliant on themselves for survival or warmth. When I remembered I had previously taken this photo at The Blue Note in NYC, I immediately connected with this image. I took it because in a bustling city such as New York, there are so many people that sit at peace with themselves which is sometimes a really hard thing to do. The “snowflake” is a unique feat of nature. Each looks different just like each persons story, pride, motivation, or personality.
Why Art?
For my Why Art? essay, I researched artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and star of the film Roma, actress Yalitza Aparicio. My research was very driven by my own desire to learn of minorities and diversity in the arts because of my personal experience. The article, “In Mexico, ‘Roma’ Lit a Fire in Workers Rights” was from the New York Times. I was drawn to the aspect of such a well known film and it’s something that I love. I learned a lot about what came with being a person of colour in a medium that is predominantly white from Basquiat, and the trailblazing ways of women of colour in a different country.
Throughout the writing process, I found that the feedback I got from my draft was super helpful. I’ve reworked it through multiple titles and understood more about art and diversity in pop culture I hadn’t predicted at the beginning of the unit. `
You can also listen to my Why Art Matters essay with the audio below.
Photoshop Blend Modes
I found this assignment’s biggest challenge was how time consuming it was and resisting the urge to use other editing programs I am most accustomed to. I appreciated the skills and patience I acquired while working through this assignment. I enjoyed finding new little tricks to make my edits and images cooler.
Experimental Film
“My experimental film, “SEEK”
My prompt “exploring the feeling of pride through solitude” posed a lot of challenges for me because I kept thinking of building a story around rather than thinking of creating for arts sake. I turned to sound and music to invoke most of the films feel for completion which I appreciated because I wouldn’t otherwise think too much about it. So far I have been so fortunate to expand to a more open mind in a class of my peers all trying out the same thing that was equally new to all of us. My original synopsis was nothing like what I made it into because starting to film it soon became an experiment (fitting) of how many unusual things I could explore and not following any by the book rules or something I had just written as an assignment.
Short Assignments
The double-mint exercise was meant for us to learn how to utilise blend tools and blocking in editing to “clone” one person in a room all doing different things. It was tricky to create cohesive interactions in separate characters that are not realistically working off each other.
This was the first time we got to partner up. We were challenged to get as many shots of various subjects and camera angles to become better acclimated with film vocabulary, teamwork, and camera work. My group chose to ironically recreate an early 2000s summer camp video resulting in us running all over the campus and chasing cars down the street. I had fun finding suitable music with my group and working with new people.
For this assignment we were tasked to use the film room and make a greenscreen scene. Since I wasn’t sure right off the bat what I wanted to do, I just had my actor run across the room. I then took a video from youtube and keyed both my footage and the greenscreen of the minion as if it were chasing her. I had a fun time revisiting some of the tools on the editing software, Premiere.