VOICES: My Creative Journey
MOVING AND GROOVING
INTRODUCTION:
This project will be about what I have done to get where I am. I will answer a series of questions to better understand what I want to say about myself and turn those ideas into a script. From this script I will be creating illustrations to be put in an Adobe Spark Video where I can add voice recordings and soundtrack. What I look forward to most about this is finally being introduced to storyboarding and other aspects of creating a video.
MATERIALS:
Hardware: iPad, MacPro
Software: Illustrator Draw; Illustrator CC, Photoshop; Adobe Sketch, Draw, Spark Post, Spark Video
Platforms: Creative Cloud, Behance
CREATIVE PROCESS:
My peers, 17-22yrs old, students.
To introduce myself and create connections with my peers that could turn into social or professional relationships.
I have worked very hard to get to where I am and the obstacles I have faced have developed important life skills and character, as well as skills that make me a great team member.
I want the audience to make connections with me in real life, or through social media. This might be about projects, collaborations, or groups I should be a part of.
Choosing to move 300km away from my hometown to create the kind of life I want.
Trouble in my hometown, moving, getting my job, and doing will in school.
-First person
-Photography, Illustration, and Video
-Theme: Personal Growth theme in Adobe Spark Video
-Slightly sarcastic or ironic humor since I wouldn’t be true to myself if I did not include that.
CONTENT of your story.
-Goofy and deadpan. Blunt timing.
Who/What were your earliest creative influences and why were they so important to you?
MuchMusic - music videos, pop culture, media,
The Wedge- Really weird music videos and alternative music.
Internet- Dial up-> youtube-> Rookie Mag -> Tumblr
Records, live Music
Documentary and Travel shows/ news
What was your earliest memory of a creative accomplishment that you were proud of?
Lady Baden Powell award in Girl Guides for doing extra badge work and being a leader in the group.
Who/What stood in the way of your creativity and how did you prevail against them/it?
Living in a small town with nothing to do.
Not having any money.
Lots of people were awful and didn’t like anyone who was different.
What was your area of interest and why?
Drama class/club- Getting praised for acting weird and funny. Meeting others with similar creative ideas. Creating live action performances. Directing and creating a story from a written script.
Which experiences, interests or knowledge from your earlier life prepared you for pursuit of your current area of interest?
Taking applied visual art class in grade 12 for the first time, getting a co-op at the radio station visiting Guatemala for 3 weeks, directing The Sandalwood Box, attending Lambton College.
Which singular event in your past most affected your decision to pursue your area of interest?
Working at 99.1 CKXS FM
Who influenced or assisted you in pursuing your career ambitions, interests, or skill in this area?
Family and friends somewhat but mostly MYSELF.
:
How have your interests affected your life as a whole (family, friends, where you live)?
Moved very far away from my family and friends to live in downtown Toronto and study Art and Design at George Brown College. Working very hard to maintain a living so I sacrifice lots of youthful party time.
How would you sum up your creative, artistic or design philosophy (ie. what is the role of creativity in your own life and in the life of humanity in general?)?
Looking to create safer spaces in the community, promote ideas of social change, use creativity to become a better leader, and explore the world.
How does your creative work speak to or represent your personal creative, artistic or design philosophy?
Currently using personal symbolism and aesthetic choices to explore and develop my artistic and design skills. Learning more about my personal style through experimentation and developing skills which can be applied to my goals.
How has your time at school challenged you creatively?
The school is not a competitive environment but the variety of talent that my fellow students have is motivation to do my best. There are lots of presentations in which I have to explain my creative decisions to an audience. The process work which is expected in the classes is good experience for work that would be done in a career setting.
Share a time when you enjoyed an epic win in an assignment at school and explain its importance.
For Design Process, I created a Dingbat of a Flirty Flamingo which was a successful step in actualizing the elements of design and Gestalt Principles.
Share a time when you had an epic fail in an assignment at school and share what you learned from that experience.
Drawing class: Union Station Project. Hardly finished the assignment, barely passed. Learned some projects involve giving up a lot of my personal time to complete.
Share a piece of work that you are exceedingly proud of and explain why you are so proud of it.
Completed 6 Colour Harmony paintings for my Foundation Colour class which I got 100% on and will be featured in the end of year show.
What has been the biggest highlight in the current pursuit of your interests?
Achieving a 3.4 GPA in my first ever semester of college and maintaining very good grades in my current semester.
:
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
Traveling, owning a car, possibly pursuing a university education along with a career in a creative field.
What are your next steps after finishing the foundation program?
Returning to George Brown College to pursue Graphic Design or Media Foundation.
What is the important lesson have you learned as a student so far this year?
It takes a lot to try to create your own life but I have managed to accomplish a lot and am capable of achieving my goals.
What advice would you give to someone considering entering a program aimed at a career in a creative field?
If you feel like you are a creative person or a non-lateral thinker, entering a program aimed at the creative field will teach you valuable things to improve your skills beyond what you might have thought was possible, put you in an environment with similar people whose talents are motivating, and introduce you to educational and career paths that you may not have known existed.
If you could make a wish come true, what would it be?
I wish I had some peace of mind or a vacation from my life.
-Childhood: watching tv and getting the internet, exposure to new ideas
-Being a weirdo in a boring town
-Beginning creative projects like directing a play and working in radio in my last year there
-Chose to move to Toronto with minimal financial or emotional support
-Got my crazy axe job
-Doing well in school
Backdrop:
Rural town with nothing to do and few opportunities
1-Hey there! My name is Jackie and this is my creative journey.
(eyeballs and top of head)
2-My story begins as a young weirdo with lots of strange ideas, but very few creative outlets. People were not shy to let me know I was different, but I did not have much to show why that was a good thing. (photo of myself doing something strange)
3-On this journey, I learn how to embrace my own differences by creating the life I wanted.
(magic wand)
What I was doing:
Learned about popular culture from the internet, spending time with original people, getting a job at the radio statio, directing a play
4-My young self spent all her life living in a rural town in Southwestern Ontario. (map)
5-A place like this is known for not having many good opportunities to try new things, and hardly any positive spaces for youth. (sitting in middle of road with wheat in teeth)
6-The first light I saw into the magical world of popular culture was basic cable. 32 channels of unrestricted information gold.
(sitting in front of tv)
7-Enough late night comedy specials gave me a strange sense of the world I was living in. I became very interested in music and films that most of the people around me were not open to because they were different. (night tv with standup)
Challenge:
Move to Toronto to live on my own and attend school.
8-It was very early that I knew I wanted to move to Toronto. I had seen and read countless things about the amazing culture of the city. I got to visit a few times a year to see family or go to a concert and it felt like a new and surreal world each time.
(city scape)
9-However, I did not know what I wanted to do there! Sure I liked popular culture, but I was not a talented artist and careers in the arts didn’t exist. (idea bubble)
10-I spent a lot of time in my last few years there getting involved in a lot of experiences that helped me to define myself as a creative person and a jack-of-all-trades. (juggling skills)
11-Well, at least that’s what I heard a lot of when I finally accepted my offer to take Art and Design at George Brown College. (idea bubble with gbc logo)
Struggle:
Financial need and beginning of independence as an adult.
12-To accomplish this goal, I knew I would have to put in a lot of work. I was going to move 300km away from home to live alone for the first time ever. My family did not have the means to financially support me, so I had to get a job.
(small me with big buildings and magnifying glass)
13-The skills that I had developed over the years landed me a job right away. And if you “axe” me, it is one of the best opportunities I have been given so far. (axe video)
Realization:
Got a great job and work hard in school
14-After accomplishing what I set out to do, getting my own apartment, starting a fulfilling job, and beginning a creative program at school, I realized that I would be sacrificing a lot of the fun things that being a college student seemed to be. (college students partying)
15- I would work extra hours to afford my rent and spent the rest of my free time doing course work, still without much extra money to spare. My social life dwindled to a halt and I wondered how others were managing to balance their lives. (myself exhausted)
What happened:
Successful year at school, now indefinitely living in Toronto.
16-Instead of being let down by this, I knew that the things that I had to make priorities in my life were what would help me continue to establish myself in this city. Within a year I had learned many lessons about living on my own and making what I want out of my life that I had not expected and still had a successful year in school. (drinking tea and walking)
Lesson I learned:
I am capable of achieving what I want because I work hard and believe in myself.
17-What I learned on my creative journey is that I am a hard worker and the decisions I have made because of my experiences have propelled me to exactly where I needed to be. I have the continuing opportunity to live in a new place that inspires me to be creative and embrace everyone’s differences.
(sitting on cn tower like Drake meme)
18- I can no longer even afford the cable television that first introduced me to the world outside my small town, but I am now living it and always looking for new opportunities to connect with mentors and peers. (myself inside of tv)
19- I know that one day the effort that I have put in to create my own life will all balance out by creating social connections that will make the hard work more enjoyable. (holding links to connect)
Workflow
To begin, I broke down my cript into blocks that could be scenes. I numbered each scene and gave it a description for a visual representation in my storyboard.
Using the Adobe Draw app on the iPad, I created a Storyboard with 19 slides depicting each idea I had broken my script into with a simple skatch.
Here I decided to represent myself as a curly stick figure but with long blonde hair which is a symbol easily attributed to how I look.
Next in Adobe Skatch, I used the storyboard for reference and created nicer looking illustrations with more colour to be used in the video.
I uploaded each frame to a slide in Adobe Spark Video and gave it an audio recording of my script.
In Adobe Spark Post, I created a simple opening page.
Finally I gave the video a soundtrack called "Comfy Cotton" from inside the program.
The Final Product
Conclusion
This was a very interesting project for me to do because I would like to work with film and video one day. Learning about Adobe Spark Video was very useful and I look forward to creating other short videos with it's simple structure. I had a recent co-op with a radio station where I would get to do voice recordings for commercials so I am comfortable with that kind of work, but it is much different trying to get in done in your bedroom when your roommates can hear. I think that I was successful in choosing images which represented each idea but in the future, I would like to create more detailed illustrations with Adobe Draw and Sketch. What I most struggled with was creating the script. The questions that I was faced with to create the script were difficult for me to answer which I think is because of how personal they were when I am confused about my identity. This ended up being a very honest and personal project that I am nervous about making public online, but I am confident that the video is charming and well made.
