Hello friends, I’m back to tell you about another adventure! I recently finished a project that took me along the west coast, literally. I went from Vancouver, BC to LA, California with my class to deepen my learning throughout the project and also have a little bit of fun.
This project was about answering the question “Why are some people able to see around corners in ways others are not, and by doing, shape how we see ourselves in this changing world?” This was one of the harder Driving Questions I have had to answer so let me walk you through the process.
To answer the question I was tasked with asking a docu-series episode with 2 of my classmates, Quinn and Keenan. The theme we were assigned was art and architecture on the West Coast, I was thrilled with this topic because art is one of my passions. As I mentioned earlier I went to LA for this project, so I started by researching the places I would visit that would help show West Coast people who can see around corners and shape our identity. The places my group and I first came up with were Luna Luna, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach and canals in LA, and Stanley Park. Unfortunately, there were too many examples to use and not many of them included art, most of them just showed architecture. So we narrowed it down to the Walt Disney concert hall, The Hollywood Sign, Griffith Observatory, Venice Beach and canals, and Stanley Park, then added the Mr. Brainwash Museum and The Broad.
To start the video process my group members and I had to do a couple of assignments. Quinn started thinking about the photography and the video style, I created a storyboard, and later Keenan made an animatic.
Then we went off to LA. The itinerary was too long to list but a couple of my highlights were:
Universal Studios
it was an amazing experience seeing all the crazy themes and rides.
Griffith Observatory
it was a beautiful sight at night and such a fun educational experience. Learning about how it was the first public observatory in the US added to the visit.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The building is one of the most interesting pieces of architecture I have ever seen. I got to do a self-guided tour and hear about what went into the building like how much care was put into making the building flow with its surroundings.
Luna Luna
The visit to Luna Luna was my favourite, it was colourful, beautiful, and incredibly unique. The place made me curious and I wish I could go back to learn even more about its history.
The Wende Museum
I originally wasn’t excited about this visit but it was one of my favourites. We got a tour, and our guide was entertaining and very well-versed in his knowledge of the museum. At the end of the visit, my group and I got an incredible interview with our guide which helped our video so much.
When we returned from the trip we put together all the clips we got, I made voice recordings to put in the video and Keenan edited the final product. I am happy with the final video but I do wish we had a bit more time to revise and edit it more thoroughly. Overall we did get our answer to the question “The juxtaposition between the natural and man-made beauty on the West Coast has pushed for the development of the collective West Coast identity that is especially shown through our art and architecture “
Anyway, that was my adventure through the West Coast and its well-known beauty, I hope you enjoyed this blog post almost as much as I enjoyed this project. Until Next time!