Below are a culmination of digital projects I worked on during my first quarter at SCAD. Though I came to the school knowing some of the programs I used, I wasn’t fully aware of all I could do with them. There were also programs I got to try that I had only heard of. The first few classes I took let me experiment and learn each program in new ways and the outcomes were very exciting to me.

In my first studio class, we were given the task to create our own version of A Christmas Carol (ACC), set for the theater. We used the Lucas Theater in Savannah,GA as our location and had to make sure our sets could realistically happen in that space. ACC is my favorite holiday play and story so I had a fun time with this project. Below are images of my initial process and ideas, floor plans from various scenes, story boards and two final renderings.

Mousetrap is still one of my favorite projects from my time at SCAD, even though I did it back in my first quarter. This was a group project where we had to take the story of Hamlet and turn it into a public attraction. Our group created a themed bar based where Hamlet was based - Denmark. It had 3 distinct areas, one for each climax in the play. I designed the basement which was the first climax, when we see King Hamlet’s ghost. I also created most of the drink names and the ingredients for them all. Drink menus designed by Shayne Bock.

This was the first of two projects we worked on in the Studio II class in Fall 2018. We all had to watch and read the script for 3:10 to Yuma, and then pick two sets to design. The idea was to have everyone work on different sets, so the whole movie could be designed. I picked the Contention Hotel - specifically the Bridal Sweet, and the armored stagecoach. Typically, I don’t tend to watch western films, but I had a surprising amount of fun working on this project. It was a welcome challenge.

Cabaret is the theater show I designed in my Studio II class. I wanted to create a set that was inspired by art and artists of the period. I wanted to create a visually dynamic set that played of the shapes and colors in Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings. When in the cabaret the lighting will be more vibrant. When in the apartment and other locations, the colors will be more bleak.

In my Studio III class, we had to pick a script and create a location set (the hotel casino) as well as a stage set (Rosalyn’s house). We could also change the time and location of the film (to a degree). American Hustle originally takes place in New Jersey in the 70s, but I thought it would be fun to move it to the 50s. The FBI offices, hotel/casino and most other locations would be set in Manhattan, but Irving & Rosalyn’s house would be in Staten Island. Other requirements included script breakdowns, hit lists, site measures and abbreviated drafting packages and making a white model.

For the final project in my Set Decoration class, we had to read the pilot script for Mad Men and design an apartment for Midge, an independent woman who lives in early 1960s Manhattan and goes against the typical housewife trope of the time. We also had to include research and furniture/props (but not fully design) for the secretarial pool and Don Draper’s office.

My thesis was inspired by a mixture of things: the trend in making live-action Disney films, the desire to continue creating films (if this were realized) that would give African American actors more opportunities to be in leading rolls after the #OscarsSoWhite movement, and a want to challenge myself and create something different than what I already have during my SCAD career. This version of The Lion King would be a true live-action using real people, and reflect the lives and culture of the Bassa Tribe in Buchanan, Liberia and the real life battle they have been facing with palm oil company, GVL, that has been destroying their sacred and familial lands for nearly a decade.