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Theory Jam is a series of online, education videos that teach music theory in a fun, engaging way. Our project is a response to the growing need for successful online education content. It incorporates strategies for creating effective educational video content and engages with contemporary debates in the field of

Theory Jam is a series of online, education videos that teach music theory in a fun, engaging way. Our project is a response to the growing need for successful online education content. It incorporates strategies for creating effective educational video content and engages with contemporary debates in the field of music theory surrounding the purpose of a music theory education.
ContributorsCannatelli, Joshua Bryce (Co-author) / Daval, Charles Joseph (Co-author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Scott, Jason (Committee member) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
My thesis is comprised of three components: the first is the short film, “State of Grace.” The second is a Project Portfolio of my films produced from May 2016 – April 2017; this document includes concept notes for each project, visual inspirations, shot lists, storyboards, and budget breakdowns. The

My thesis is comprised of three components: the first is the short film, “State of Grace.” The second is a Project Portfolio of my films produced from May 2016 – April 2017; this document includes concept notes for each project, visual inspirations, shot lists, storyboards, and budget breakdowns. The individual video URLs are included at the end of the portfolio. The third component is a video showcasing each of those projects in a demo reel.

The short film, “State of Grace,” is about a woman who reminisces about a past relationship on a night drive. The memories of this relationship compel her to show up at his door. The title, “State of Grace,” is a reference to the character’s emotional state. She is unable to move forward with a new relationship because she is still in love with her ex-boyfriend; however, her ex-boyfriend has moved on and she cannot reclaim that love. The title also refers to the struggle of reconciling love with heartbreak. The film is predominantly silent, accompanied by a piano driven score that reflects the character’s state of mind. The project is highly imagistic, intercutting between happy memories of the couple and the woman driving alone. The piece ends with the character at her ex-boyfriend’s door, intending to tell him she’s still in love with him. She changes her mind when she realizes he isn’t alone. The production influences are described in greater detail in the Project Portfolio.

“ACT1” is the brand I’ve assigned to my films. The Project Portfolio includes concept notes for each of the seven projects I’ve produced, directed, and edited in the past year (May 2016 – April 2017). In addition to a written description of the creative influences on the project, I’ve included my visual inspirations for each piece. All of the films are silent, feature slow motion photography, and are accompanied by original music. The visual expression of emotion inspires most of my work, along with connections in human relationships. Overall, my films have a cinematic, surreal aesthetic, experimenting with ethereal lighting and high frame rates. The shot lists and storyboards are included for most of the projects, along with an itemized budget breakdown. Since I’m most inspired by imagery, my shooting style is improvisational—none of my films have formal screenplays. Intercutting and jump cuts are frequent editing techniques in my projects, including the demo reel.

I edited the reel, connecting the different projects via match cuts whenever possible. The match cuts are on similar composition, content, or camera motion. The music is original and synth-heavy. The title animation features parallax overlays and lens flares to reference the surreal aesthetics in my films.
ContributorsTufts, Amber Christine (Author) / Bernstein, Gregory (Thesis director) / Maday, Gregory (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Liminality is a story yet to be told in broad scale entertainment. While a story about a boy who sees ghosts may be a recurring theme in Hollywood, (Sixth Sense, anyone?), queerness, particularly asexuality, is practically non-existent, and narratives that feature the coming of age of a queer adolescent in

Liminality is a story yet to be told in broad scale entertainment. While a story about a boy who sees ghosts may be a recurring theme in Hollywood, (Sixth Sense, anyone?), queerness, particularly asexuality, is practically non-existent, and narratives that feature the coming of age of a queer adolescent in a positive manner are even less present. Queerness, it seems, is more of a myth than ghosts and the supernatural to most media creators. This project seeks to combat this lack of representation. Liminality is a creative project working to normalize lesser known and underrepresented queer identities into mainstream media through the conceptualization of animated and comic web series. By doing so, this project demonstrates that entertainment can be used as a means of promoting acceptance and understanding of these identities. Our aim with this project is to develop an intriguing long-form story with realistic, relatable characters that exhibits the sociological themes we want to address. We intend this story to be an animated series that entices viewers of all ages, by which we mean that the story explores complex themes that would typically be limited to an older audience, yet are presented in a way that is still accessible to a younger audience. In the process of this project, we have drawn up concept art and storyboards, written character biographies and scripts, created sets and characters using 2D and 3D animation software, and begun setting up the infrastructure for the studio, Studio Skald, with which we may create this series.
ContributorsRandall, Phoebe Airika (Author) / Hansen, Elizabeth (Co-author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Dove-Viebahn, Aviva (Committee member) / Hannan, Peter (Committee member) / School of Arts, Media and Engineering (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
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Description
"The Art of Humans Being" is a feature length screenplay in the same vein as an original Pixar animated script. The story takes place in New York City, and focuses on our heroine, 13-year-old high school senior and certifiable genius, Lu, and our hero, 17-year-old high school senior of average

"The Art of Humans Being" is a feature length screenplay in the same vein as an original Pixar animated script. The story takes place in New York City, and focuses on our heroine, 13-year-old high school senior and certifiable genius, Lu, and our hero, 17-year-old high school senior of average smarts, Finn. We are first introduced to these characters as they struggle with fitting in both at school and in their lives at home. Lu and Finn feel a disconnect with their families, but both share a common appreciation for art and the escape it provides. Though her entire family is involved in artistic and creative pursuits, Lu has never painted a day in her life but dreams of one day being a great artist. Finn, on the other hand, has inherited his deceased mother’s immense talent with a paintbrush, but is hesitant to live in her shadow. Upon seeing their desire to paint, their high school art teacher—Miss Ro—encourages Finn and Lu to enter the world-renowned art competition Palette Parfaite, created by the famous French artist Madame Inès. In order to enter this art competition, contestants must dive inside a painting. As such, Lu and Finn are forced to literally enter the art world. Once inside the painting, they are introduced to colorful characters, stunning landscapes, and an entire studio of art materials that can only be described as every artists’ dream. However, the more time they spend inside the painting, the sooner Lu and Finn realize that this dreamlike world is not quite what it seems. "The Art of Humans Being" seeks to explore the world of art through the following questions: What happens to the forgotten art that has been discarded after being deemed “not good enough” to be finished? What happens to human beings who are treated the same? And finally, what happens when we accept people for who they are and what they create, even if they have flaws; even if they’re still works in progress?
ContributorsGraves, Cassidy Aadland (Author) / Bernstein, Gregory (Thesis director) / Maday, Gregory (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05