over the course of the last 10 months, i’ve been tirelessly working towards achieving my masters degree in live music production and design from berklee NYC. when i was sitting in a random diner with my sister two years ago researching grad programs and thinking about what my life might look like if i decided to go back to school, i could’ve NEVER expected it to be so special and fruitful.
these photos were taken at designer showcase where i presented all of my work both scholarly and professional from the last year as well as showed off my thesis project, a themed roller coaster experience based on Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita”. More on that later…
to my cohort at @berkleelmpd , every single one of you is a rockstar and i’m so happy and honored i was able to learn and struggle alongside you. to dan (@unkwn.io , to the faculty, to my thesis advisor, brian (@taxiplasm ), thank you for pushing my limits as a creative and engineer every day. don’t be strangers.
i have my MASTERSSSSSS!!!!!!
SHADOWDANCER, an immersive thrill ride experience loosely based on the events of “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov.
Concept virtually designed using Unreal Engine with modeling work in Blender, real-time lighting effects via OSC commands sent from Ableton through Touch Designer to DMX Fixtures in Unreal Engine. Sound designed in Ableton.
Storyboards by the inimitable Katie Heaton (@obilicity )
3D Ride Vehicle Model by Phillip Fei (@idkaatal )
For many of you who have known me for some time, you’ll recognize that this source material and narrative influence is strikingly similar (the same) as my undergraduate thesis album. Sometimes you encounter a book or a film or an album that is so deeply influential to your work, that no matter what medium you’re working in, it always comes back to you.
This project is incredibly special to me. When I was little, I was deathly terrified of rollercoasters. I couldn’t ride one without crying. So, over the course of a few years, I learned everything I possibly could about them. The engineering. The companies that manufacture different parts. The theming. The narrative process of designing a ride. At the same time, I kept a lot of that to myself because I felt ashamed of it. I’m an incredibly outspoken person, but for some reason my love of theme parks and roller coasters felt like an embarrassing love.
When I began thinking about what I was going to do for my Master’s thesis, I decided to test all of my design insecurities at once. I am by no means a 3D Designer, but I wanted to challenge myself, so for this project, I decided I was going to design a roller coaster all in 3D space. It was an incredibly taxing and difficult process that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve without the help of all of my professors at Berklee NYC as well as some dear friends who listened to me as I spewed nonsense ideas at them until it became something real. I especially wouldn’t have been able to do this project without my wonderful advisor, @taxiplasm , who pushed me at every step to add more and more detail and clarity to the work I was creating.
some of my visual work from the last few months🙂↕️
featuring @sevvv7777@corsette.nyc and some 3d work from @natenaw 💪💪💪
song: body song liquid mix (myself and june jung @mosh.monk aka undrfloor)
recent work roundup!! will try to keep u more updated!
1+2: Call Back and The Tone Pillar (Lighting) (if u took these photos pls let me thank u!!)
3: Bilaal: The FATE Experience (Lighting) (photo by Tomás Tarnopolsky)
4: Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm (Sound Design) (photo by Devon Kish)
5: Big Love (Sound Design) (photo by Matt Walting)
6: SEE/UNSEE Workshop (Lighting) (photo by Chase Eubanks)
7: DIRT (Ass. Sound Design) (photo by Mari Eimas-Dietrich)
ive been crosstitching for years but never thought to scan and post my work because it’s always been a hobby to me and i felt like i should only be posting my career work online. instagram degraded the shit out of the quality, but whatever. slow crafts like this keep me sane, so i hope you enjoy this piece which is a loving replication of a round of blokus played with some of my dearest friends. i was red! (i lost)
having trouble finding the words or the photos to sum up everything this year has had to offer. every year it feels like there’s more and more to hold and even more i’ve let go of. i’ve always been comfortable with being earnest in an almost bluntly honest comedic way online, but with every passing year of new and emerging technologies we become newly distanced from each other. i hope that changes in the future. all i give to the online space to end this year is the collage that began it. i guess the end is the beginning!
got to swing in last minute to do some programming for the inimitable @hailes.wav @ ars nova <33
thank u for the trust @bebeeee_nicole !!!!!!
beautiful photos by @ogata_photo
