Makena Dettwiler

Cheating PSA I thoroughly enjoyed making this PSA. The whole point of this project was to catch the watcher's attention and then teach them something meaningful. The idea of the film was to show a conversation that could be interpreted two different ways. Upon first watching the PSA, one would think that the boy is seeing another girl behind the main character's back. However, toward the end of the PSA, it is revealed that he actually passed one of her assignments off as his own, cheating off of her, not on her. We spent about two weeks making this film. We lined up our actors, set up a filming day, gathered equipment, created the set, and filmed it. We edited it for the next couple days and then presented it to the class. On filming day, we learned last minute that the guy we had cast couldn't make it to the set, so we scrambled and asked Trevor to fill in. He did a fantastic job, and the PSA still turned out great. Along the way, I learned a lot about the effort th...

In this story, two people with severe social issues are trying to overcome them. Max is always worried about what others think about him, and Violet struggles when talking to strangers. Natalie wrote and an adorable script about how Max and Violet meet and learn to overcome their social anxiety. We originally were going to film a story about a kid whose parents forgot his birthday and he throws a party for himself. We started filming but ran into some logistical issues. We set aside everything we had already filmed and moved on to Natalie's script instead. We filmed and edited it over just a couple of days. I was originally the Art Director of the production, and I helped stylize and obtain props for the birthday party, but when we actually filmed, I was busy the whole weekend. I wish I could have made it to the shoot, primarily because there are things I wish I could have done visually. For instance, putting the waiter in a more formal outfit would have looked better, or having ...

The idea of the video was to hook the audience with something more dramatic and enticing, or in other words, a girl who is mad at her boyfriend because he got caught cheating. The viewers get to watch her argue with and accuse her boyfriend as they fight about what he did. What the audience doesn't know is that he is actually cheating off her school work. We tried to create an "Ohhhhh" moment, a kind of realization that dawns upon the audience when they finally figure out that he's cheating off her, not on her.  First, we sat down and looked at a list of PSA topic ideas, stuff like suicide awareness and drug abuse. When we had each settled on a few ideas, we brainstormed basic plot and synopsis ideas of each topic, and based off of those, ideas, we settled on Cheating. We figured it would provide the most interesting story for the PSA.  After deciding on a location, we visited it to finalize the decision. As the production designer, it was my job to ...

Opening Image: Star Wars has almost two opening scenes. There’s the timeless yellow-words-scrolling-through-space-to-give-you-background-info opener, but then the movie actually starts, moving into deep space where a larger Empire ship is attempting to capture and board another, smaller ship. Storm troopers board the smaller ship, along with Darth Vader, and the first ever documented Star Wars battle commences. Theme Stated : The theme of this movie is to never give up, no matter what is thrown your way. Set-Up: Mid-Battle, a yet-to-be-introduced woman fusses with R2D2, a droid. R2D2 and his comrade, C-3PO (another droid), run for cover. Meanwhile, we find out that Darth Vader has boarded the ship in search for something – he’s looking for “plans.” Turns out, R2D2 has been assigned to a secret mission by the woman. He has been given these plans in secret, and they are stored in his hard drive.  The two droids escape unharmed in an escape pod, but the woman, who we find out to ...

This year in Graphic Design, I have learned the importance of project management and technical skills. If I don’t stay on task and pay attention, I can’t complete my projects on time. Also, if I don’t pay attention, then I can't learn the technical skills that are vital to completing tasks on time. I learned all of this through my Individual Focus project. We were told to explore our own ideas and come up with our own assignment. I chose to learn new skills online through various tutorials on YouTube. I took pictures of celebrities that I love and turned them into Andy Warhol style pop art icons. By the end of the project, I was able to work really quickly and I didn’t need the tutorial anymore! It’s important because, without the knowledge that these skills are vital to success, it would be really hard to go anywhere in the Graphic Design world. Clients want their products quickly, and without previous exposure to the basics of what they are asking for, it’ll take a whi...

We’ve all seen this before. If you haven’t, you’ve been living under a graphic design rock. One of Andy Warhol’s most famous works, his portrait of Marilyn Monroe, is recognizable to anyone, just because of how famous the artist was. Using a publicity shot of Marilyn, Warhol created a few works through a silk screening process. He made the original, Marilyn , and then Marilyn Diptych , symbolizing the iconic woman’s death. In my own little way, I tried to create my own Andy-Warhol-based portraits of Hayley Willams, Gwen Stefani, Cara Delevingne, and Lady Gaga.  Following a basic color scheme, I created Pop Art Portraits

After being given the assignment to imagine a supplement and then create packaging for it, Sydney, one of my best friends, and I created a carton for a pill that will plump your lips. This is it!