Introduction
This project taught us the beginnings of a lot of professional, creative applications, including Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Audition, along with learning how to navigate DSLR cameras. Throughout learning these applications, I was able to better express myself creatively, as well as experiment and take risks with my new skills and understanding of these applications.
What I value about being in Freestyle English and Digital Media is the opportunities we receive, as well as the opportunity to work with peers and brainstorm ideas together to strengthen them. We have access to professional applications and are given in depth instruction on how to properly navigate these applications, as they can be confusing and overwhelming to do by yourself. Along with that, in English, we get to work together and help each other build ideas, which creates a very successful and productive environment.
Haiku
For the Haiku Video project, we were assigned to create a video including our haiku poem, and our corresponding visual representation. On top of that, we were assigned to use our knowledge of key framing to animate the image, text, and intro (or outro) title scene.
What I valued in the haiku project was the practice it gave us with key framing and using Premier Pro in general. It was also valuable to learn how to better trouble shoot, as I encountered some challenges and was able to figure them out using what I learned. I also thought it was really cool to see a poem and photo I worked hard on to create come to life in a video form.
The Codependence of Art and Subjectivity – “Why Art?” Essay
Throughout the creation of this essay, we were tasked to research an artist, and evaluate, through their works, their purpose of creating art. Then, we connected this artist and what they think the purpose of art is to an article from the list of articles that we went over and summarized. I decided to research the artist Lois Jones, and focused on her approach of showcasing her culture and the importance of staying in tune and proudly representing/learning about your heritage as the leading point of my essay.
You can also listen to my Why Art Matters essay with the audio below:
*.mp3 audio recording of why art matters essay
For our Why Art Matters presentation, we were tasked to consolidate our essays, take the main points of them, and present them for the class with a corresponding slideshow. The goal for this presentation was to share the values of other artists with our peers, so we can all gain an understanding of different perspectives when it comes to art.
What I valued a lot through this English project was how it taught us how to analyze art, and what art says about a person’s values and the reason they do what they do. It provided me with a deeper understanding of how to view choices the artist made and what message these choices portray.
Photoshop Blend Mode Editing
Design
In Design in the Conceptual unit, we were able to creatively express our ideas through photography. This was through the Alpha Name project, as well as the Conceptual project. In Design so far we have learned how to use different tools and resources in order to convey our ideas and creativity. We have learned the mechanics of our DSLR cameras, learning how to adjust settings to get a certain look to a photo. We also used some photoshop and learned how to edit and enhance photos that we took with out cameras. I have really valued the creative freedom we have, and how we talk through our ideas as a class if we’re feeling stuck and bounce ideas off of each other.
Alpha Name Photography
In the Alpha Name Photography assignment, we took photos of different parts of buildings, nature, houses, etc., and each photo represents a letter of our name. This assignment taught us to not only look at our surroundings, but see our surroundings. This allowed us to be able to spot different branches, or different shapes of roofs that resembled different letters of our name. After taking the photos, we correctly sized them and made them black and white so they are easier to read.
Conceptual Photo
For the Conceptual photo project we were tasked to take a photo of objects relating to our different haiku prompts from the earlier haiku project. Our job was to not take the prompt to literally, and think of every aspect of the photo and how it added to our message.
Artist’s Statement:
I am exploring the feeling of peace when breaking a routine
The objects in my image include a vase with a white flag in it, and next to it, chopped up flowers. The white flag represents peace, as waving a white flag in a war or battle means to surrender, thus ending the constant fighting and declaring peace. The flag is placed in the vase and is meant to be a replacement of the flowers to its side. The flowers being cut up and out of the vase represent breaking a routine, the routine in question being having perfect flowers in a vase constantly. I shot the photo in my backyard, using the grass and nature in it to my advantage. I chose a background that has dirt and some new grass sprouts. In general, nature is associated with peace because of its calming aspect. The new growth in the background represents the newfound sense of self discovery which can be inherited after breaking a restrictive routine.
Through Photoshop, I was able to enhance my image and overall portray my message with better accuracy. This project solidified my understanding of certain aspects of Photoshop, especially the “curves” adjustment layer. I used this adjustment layer to increase the contrast of my photo. This enhanced my photo because it drew further attention to the lighter parts of my photo, like the white flag, which I wanted to stand out more than they had before I edited it. I also got more comfortable with the “crop” tool, and I used it to cut out some unwanted negative space in my image. Overall, gaining comfortability with Photoshop, specifically adjustment layers and cropping, led me to editing my photo to better fit my vision and prompt.
