Introduction

I was trying to come up with a classic story told in a slightly more unconventional way. I struggled the most with the ending… but thanks to Mr. Greco I was able to solve the problem by making the dad give Lena her acceptance letter that she had received and also giving her a plane ticket to go off to college, after spending a few years trying to find herself and not being successful in doing so by staying at home. Overall I really enjoyed writing these stories, and I felt as if I would have read them in an actual book by the end of the process. We never officially wrote a screenplay however I structured each narrative to be a portion of what a screenplay might consist of. I really wanted my book jacket to look simple, yet a little bit informal in comparison to how serious a portion of the story is. My idea was to use purple and yellow, which are complementary to one another. I changed the color scheme up from my last one, orange and blue. I really worked hard to make my book jacket look more put together than I care to admit, but it did come out almost exactly how I had imagined it, which is always exciting.

Stories

Column: 1st Person (protagonist)

I have been  sitting on my stool, waiting...for what, I don’t quite know. This cracked and concave stool has no support, but I don’t mind really. You can get used to those things after a year or two. The same neatly lined shelves sit there waiting just like me. I have been waiting to feel something different, something that I want to do other than sitting here looking at the same nauseating image. Somehow though, in all my books the people seem to just know what to do or they at least can figure it out, no problem. Each book is the same on the outside with their cracked and pale spines. You can’t read the titles, each book filled with notes and creases. All I can do is take notes, which should be good for college. However, they each give me some sort of glimmer about what I could become, with their unbleached paper with the blank serif print . Why can’t I be like that?     I look up whenever I think I hear the slight ding of the brass bell above the door. About nine times out of ten its my own imagination. The glare from the window, blinds my sight from the silhouette of someone. I hear the bell ding, it sounded imaginary yet again, so I ignored it. Something blocks my reading light, and I look up. It’s Aaron….   

“Aaron, what are you doing here?”    

“Just back for a visit. What have you been up to?”    

“Nothing really, how is school?”    

“Fine, why are you reading that book, you only read it when you are pissed?” I was hoping that he didn’t see that.    

“I do not! Why are you concerned anyway, its not like you have ever read it.”

    “I have 5 times, no thanks to you, now what’s up really?”    

“Its just my dad, he is concerned about how I have stayed in town for so long, he want’s we to leave and ‘experience the world’ or something, he really doesn’t need to though.”

    “Yes he does, and so do I… come on Lena I have known you forever, even I can tell when you aren’t happy, and you aren’t! Do you realize how lucky you are? We both want whats best for you.”

    “I am going home, I can’t be hearing this, especially coming from you.” I grab my jacket, and storm toward the door when I stop for a second as Aaron follows me.    

“ Jeez, at least let me walk you home, I am sorry about my reaction, but I am not sorry for what this is about, and until you realize it, the only thing I can do it try and talk to you.” he combs his hair back and starts walking. I stay silent as we go down the blocks, back to my house.    

“ Lena, I really am sorry that I upset you, I just…” he says as we come to a stop in front of my house.    

“I know, you are just concerned about my well being… I am sorry that I lashed out at you.”    

“So we’re good?”    

“ Yeah, I guess” I roll my eyes, and then he gives me the usual bear hug then says goodbye. I don’t know what he was even talking about, of course I am happy why wouldn’t I be. By getting out in the world and experiencing things, I just don’t see the practicality of it, I think that it is just a waste when I am perfectly fine here. I have been in the same place for 2 years, and so far it seems to be ok. I still have to go inside and explain to my dad, yet again how the day has went, and how I haven’t gotten that spark, or whatever it is supposed to be. I just stare at the date in awe, knowing that I couldn’t back out even if I tried, unlike last time.

 

 

Column: 3rd person omniscient

The two of them, Aaron and Lena, stood silently in awe of one another. Neither had seen one another for a few months now, the longest they have ever been apart since she was 6. Aaron embraced her from the other side of the counter, Lena had dropped her book and gave into his warm hug, comforting her in her decision ahead.

Aaron could sense that something was up, so he quietly whispered, “Is it about your mom?” Lena shook her head with a limited range of motion due to his shoulder being under her chin.

She quickly released him, just staring at him. He picked up on the fact that her mom was long forgotten, after all she had left when Lena was 5, so that was obviously not the reason for her extreme immersion in her book. “ I just don’t know what I want… I mean the world around me is fine, never moving at a rapid pace, but my dad doesn’t seem to think that it is healthy for me. I am 20 years old and still have absolutely no clue as to what I should do. Most people who have to make this decision are either a few years older or younger than me.”

“Well you know what he’s trying to do, right? He’s trying to get his old bachelor pad to himself again,” Aaron says with a grin.

Lena punches him in the arm. He pretends that he is hurt, but the reality is is that he is hurt from the fact that she is stuck. Why is it that he can’t help but be concerned for his friend, and have the same feelings about the situation that she is in. Lena looks at him for a minute and asks, “What if I were to come with you back to school… I mean at least I would have someone to help me decide on something.” As much as he liked the idea of his best friend coming to school with him, he had kept his composure and was trying to think of a good excuse for her to not go back to school with him. Lena’s face said it all: she always thought that she wasn’t ready, but all along she was. She just didn’t know it yet.

 

 

1st person column: antagonist

Lena has to know that she is unhappy right? I am pacing as I think about what I just did, she did apply to one school, University of Hawaii, with the intention of going 2 years ago, but she backed out then, maybe this time she actually might consider it. I am just waiting for her to get home from work, but I know that this time I would be having the same conversation but with a different outcome this time. I had to be a hard ass, or else it wouldn’t work, she wouldn’t go and experience the world that I know she loves, and will come to love. I feel the envelope in my back pocket burning a hole, like my anxiety is my courage. I have to do it though, I just have to, or she may regret it later. I hear her and Aaron walking down the road, and slowly I regain my courage. Then she walks up the steps and opens the door. To me this felt like an eternity.

“How was the hardware store?”

“I just finished my 3rd book this week.”    

“I thought you said that is was busy?”    

“Well… it isn’t really, I just-- I didn’t want to worry you.”    

“Well you would worry me a lot less if you would just try and leave the nest.” We have had the same conversation almost everyday for the last 2 years, I was shaking, waiting for the right moment. But there was no way to back out now, she was getting her annoyed look.    

“Well what happens if I do leave?”    

“ You could be happy… and also you could take a look at this.”

My hand reached back, and returns with the envelope attached with it. She looks over at me with a questioning look, but I think she already knows what it is. She looks up after viewing the contents.

Then I say, “ You always said that you wanted to study astronomy.” I knew that this time she would have no choice to back out now, not ever. I haven’t given her the choice to.

sorry :(

Lena Loughty is a 20 year old who is stuck in her hometown, and has been for the last few years. One day Aaron, her oldest friend, comes to visit from college. They catch up for a minute, discussing how her dad is encouraging her to leave home and go on an adventure, but then Aaron points out how she has been in town and not moving forward with her life. Lena retaliates and gets frustrated because she knows that he is right, even though she won’t admit it. Later on Aaron walks her home, and they call a truce. As Lena walks into her home, her father greets her and begins to make small talk, which quickly turns into the conversation that her dad and her have had for the last few years. The conversation comes to a halt when he hands her an envelope with an acceptance letter from University of Hawaii, to study astronomy.

My animation is a Lego stop motion, where I drew my own Lego character. The Lego character is standing on a rock in a lake, with a perfect view of the milky way, because my main character is trying to search for answers almost like looking out into the universe looking for something. My character, Lena has an interest in astronomy, but she is a little lost and looking for answers for what she should do. The envelope has a path for her to begin the rest of her life, which is why it is almost flying around her, but she isn’t grabbing it quite yet. This scene hold some of the beginning and the end wrapped up into one image.

 

I used HDR as a method of changing the perspective of a certain images, the three images that I used were of a ping pong net, a blue frisbee and a old pair of flip flops. I choose to use the overlay on the turtles, flip flops and the frisbee. I used several filters to create a surreal effect, and so that you don't actually see what the photos are really. I am so proud of this piece, mostly because of how I view the world, and I feel like this piece allows me to.

I thought that by using a ping pong net it would show the change of our environment, which could be viewed as a reflection of how we have changed it. The ping pong nets are supposed to represent turtles, the blue frisbee could be seen as the amount of water we need to help us out of our drought, and the flip flops show a subtle beauty in something old. I see the change in the world, which can be a part of the change we might want to see and experience.

Thank You