I've been thinking that I'm pretty overdue for a blog post, and a lot has happened since the last one, so in the post, I'm attempting to cover all the bases.
To start off, lately in STAC we've been watching a lot of Twilight Zone episodes. This is great for me because I happen to love the Twilight Zone. I was a little familiar with the show prior to STAC, but these past few weeks that we've been watching them have really opened my eyes. I mean, let's be realistic here, though it's old and black and white, the Twilight Zone is freaking awesome. Twilight Zone episodes kind of make you feel a little disoriented after they're over, and they keep you thinking for a while after the episode has already been finished. It's amazing how the writers of the show tie in such big subject matters and life lessons in subtle ways and make an amazingly creepy and enjoyable show.
When Luke told us that we were doing our own Twilight Zone films, I was completely excited but also a little apprehensive. I didn't want to make a project that would look bad, because there is really no way that you can beat or compare to the Twilight Zone, but I'm excited to try in these next few weeks to make a cool episode with the rest of my group.
Another thing we've been doing in STAC is weeks of intensives. I was put into the songwriting group, and this entails writing a song every day, recording it, and sending it to Luke completed. Every song is different, and most songs do have restrictions. Sometimes Luke will give us the key, or the chord progression, or the genre, or even the lyrics and we'll have to write around everything he's given us.
Songwriting has always been something I've loved to do, but I always waited for it to come to me. If I didn't have anything to write, I didn't write. So naturally, I didn't have many songs under my belt. But after these 2 weeks of intensives, I've gotten a ton done. Sure, it's been pretty hard, and I don't exactly know how I'm doing it, but I am, and I have 7 songs completed so far. Granted, a few of them I don't really like, and I'm not really proud of, but most of the songs have really grown on me, and I find myself humming them and playing them constantly.
It's really interesting to take something you don't usually do a lot and work at it. Because after a while it becomes kind of second nature, and you can't remember what life was like when you couldn't do that thing. I'm pretty proud of everything I've accomplished these past two weeks in songwriting, and I think it's really made me grow as a songwriter.
This project made me learn that sometimes you just have to throw yourself out there with one eye shut and just hope for the best. And I'm learning that sometimes, that's really not a bad thing at all. You have to fail in order to succeed. Like Luke always says "The Beatles threw out their first 100 songs." That took risk. That was an "Edge of the Cliff" moment. In September, I was a little afraid when I saw that "Edge of the Cliff" was on the grading criteria. Now I'm actually standing on the edge of that cliff, looking down and ready to jump, and I'm pretty proud of that.
