What My Blog Shows

Early in the year, in fact on the first day of this class I had no idea what it even was. All I knew is that I had to switch into this class at the last minute. I kind of wondered if it was going to be about journalism, but then I realized we would be making movies with scripts, and there may even be a little acting. My earlier projects don't really show any sophistication. There are crude cuts and it kind of looks like I was just putting random things together. In my opinion, they are actually a little boring because I had not yet learned how to use all of the effects that I enjoy using now. When I first started out, I didn't really keep to a theme as much as I would have liked to. For me, it was just about getting the clips in and getting the project done. I think that my later videos like the STAR promo video show that as the year went by I starting to have more of an eye for what clips went good together and how to create a mood and tone for the video. I did start to use music and sound a little more, but I think that is still something of mine that needs work. I usually spend so much time on everything else that the music kind of takes a back seat and in my opinion it's obvious. As time went by, my workshop videos got better and I was able to do them faster. But where I really feel most proud is with the current videos because I know how to use effects and I am better at my cuts, as well as fine tuning things like the audio for individual clips. I used to think that what I should do was treat everything like one big video. In actuality, I should have been treating every individual clip as its own projects because then each part of the video is equally good, and none of the important points get left out. Everything gets made to its full potential and it doesn't look like everything just got thrown together. What I feel that my best skill has been all year is my reflections. If you look at my blog, my reflections are usually longer than the videos themselves, and they usually have information that is of substance. I also feel that this is how I learned to make my videos better. I was able to go back, decide what I didn't like and what I wanted to change. Then, when I wouyld gop to do future videos, those reflections were like reminders and little hints about what I should focus on this time and what I should avoid or work on. It was a place to figure out where I could improve without getting down on myself. And as my reflections progressed, I was able to give myself more positive comments as opposed to negative ones. This is parts 5 and 6 for the final: I learned that the acting was really important for every film. I didn't have many acting opportunities in this class, but I know from watching videos in other classes that I get easily bored. However, if you have a good cast, then they can make even the worst or most generic script seem interesting. I really only had one acting opportunity to act when we did te script about inheriting money for college. I enjoyed that and actually got extra credit on the video because the acting was funny. This showed me that people appreciate your effort and even if you think that your acting isn't great or your embarrassing yourself, other people can tell that you are trying and it entertains them. All you really have to do is try. Use a funny voice, change your personality...it can all make someone think that you have a really entertaining video. Along with this acting, I also learned about how to act as a group. This was not easy at all. I learned that you need to choose who you work with wisely and if it doesn't work once, there is a good chance that it will not work the second time around. Everyone needs to pull their own weight and not rely on others to pick up their slack. If one person fails, everyone does and that is something you have to learn to avoid or change when it does occur. I really do like to work alone, n fact I prefer it. However, there were some people I enjoyed getting to know better and there were also some people who I had never met before but made friends with right away. I made new friends and I also learned how to use my video making knowledge in other classes and I became someone that my group members in other classes could rely on when they weren't sure about using this technology. I get excited when I can see their relief and I enjoy knowing all of these terms and programs that other people never knew existed.

Final Project

Symphony Story