When I transferred to UNC and saw the communications requirement, I immediately thought I'd have to take a public speaking course or something of the sort. So, I was thrilled when I found this course. I taught myself how to use iMovie at a young age and fell in love with making videos for my family, whether that be of our family vacations and other significant events in our lives. They truly mean the world to my family, and I've always felt like it was something that I could give them that was priceless and irreplaceable. From the first day of class, I knew I'd enjoy the material and that the class wouldn't feel like work, for creating pieces of media is fun and intriguing to me. I didn't foresee the challenges I would face and the risks I would soon take, but I was ready to take on whatever was coming our way.
It was somewhat convenient that we started our media journey with video production, for I was happily in my element. However, I have to say, putting words to music and video was certainly a bit different, for I usually begin with ample amounts of video and work from there. As a result of this change, I felt a bit of discomfort, especially when trying to revise my project to its finished product. This was the first time I utilized two very important tools that I would value throughout the semester: time and risks.
In a way, every project caused a bit of discomfort and called me to step out of my comfort zone, and I will touch on these individually as I go through each project. I was proud, however, of my ability to take this discomfort and use it to my advantage. Time played a huge role in this process, for I learned that it was impossible to rush through the creative process and actually produce something I wanted to share. I grew annoyed and frustrated at times with my inability to resolve elements that I deemed imperfect, but I tried to allow myself to be patient with my work. Sometimes the solutions would come naturally, and sometimes they did not. When they did not, I found myself feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable as I decided to take risks.
Risks are important, even crucial, to our ability to create. If I solely produced music videos for my family forever, I would be very limited in my capabilities to communicate via media... and that's certainly problematic in an increasingly technological world. Before this class, I had no idea how to create GIFs, had never thought about creating a podcast, and was overall fairly inexperienced in these various forms of media. This class allowed me to experiment with many forms of communication, and in my opinion, the risks that I took, though scary, were what ultimately made my work interesting and arguably successful. Maybe the risks were obvious in some pieces and maybe some were not. I will be sure to touch on them as I move through my portfolio. However, the main point that I want viewers to take away from this is this: Don't be afraid to take your time and don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Both things provide anxiety in their own ways, but the opportunity for learning and personal growth is so great in each. With these two tools in my creative toolbox, I was able to create these pieces of media that I am proud and excited to share. I hope you enjoy!
As mentioned above, this project was the most comfortable project that I completed throughout the semester. When it came to my choice software, I decided to stick to what I knew and use iMovie instead of Adobe Rush like the rest of my classmates. My choice of poetry, however, wasn't as easy of a decision to make.
I'd say I spend the majority of every day overthinking everything. I've always been very emotionally aware and have always loved people. In particular, I've always loved all that people go through to become the people that they are. Additionally, my little sister is a ballerina, and watching her dance has made me appreciate art (and dance) so much more than I did before. So, with my sister's permission, I decided to use this opportunity to combine my sister's love for dance with her recent struggles in the NYC ballet world to portray a triumphant, yet melancholy, story through video, words, and song.
Finding video clips for this project was surprisingly difficult. There weren't a lot of the kind of artistic dance videos that I was searching for. Originally, I wanted to use clips of my sister dancing, but we tried and failed to get them transferred in high enough quality. So, I decided to focus on a single video of one dancer instead. One of the critiques for my first draft, however, was that using only one video might've been a bad design choice. I was afraid that people might find it a little boring. I knew that trying to combine multiple videos, however, would be challenging. I was right.
It was particularly difficult to combine multiple dance videos, because the speeds and vibes varied so much between them. Therefore, it was definitely a big risk to make that transition, and I wrestled with this decision for a while. Ultimately, I decided to go for it. I had to utilize slow motion a lot and even altered the color a little in some clips. I messed with this project for far longer than it probably looks like I did, but I was ultimately happy with my decision to revise it so much.
Given my experience with iMovie, I think I anticipated that I wouldn't learn much during this project. However, I actually feel like I learned a lot! Most of it was definitely managing anxiety when taking on such a large editing task, for I learned that taking my time and going out of my comfort zone can really pay off and produce a better, more effective product. Additionally, I learned how to do a new editing technique called split screen which I was really excited about. Overall, I am really glad we did this project.
Draft
Revision
Fun fact: I actually rushed to do the research for this project as we pulled away on a cruise ship for our honeymoon. I ended up paying for wifi for the day. That's what I get for procrastinating! Anyway, this project was an interesting one for me. It isn't a big one that stands out for a couple of reasons... I don't love my voice, I am not a big podcast/audio essay person, and it just really isn't in my element. I also didn't feel super attached to any of the topic choices. I chose memes because it seemed to be the subject I was most familiar with, but in hindsight, I believe I should've taken a risk even with my topic choice!
This project had possibly my greatest challenge and source of frustration this semester: sounding casual while delivering an audio piece. I was already self-conscious about my voice, so to have to nervously deliver words while attempting to sound conversational.... well, it took a few tries, and I still wasn't thrilled with it. This was the major source of my revision, along with a few tweaks here and there. Though the changes were relatively small and technical, I think my revision was much more effective than my original draft.
I think there is a lot to be learned from this project and how I struggled with it. To start, it's good to try new things and to take the time to try new things. I would've never done this on my own, and I do see the value in it now. Secondly, it was exciting to use a new software. Again, I chose the Apple version (GarageBand), and it was actually much more challenging than I anticipated. I had to learn A LOT about the controls, so the technical aspect of this project was particularly challenging too.
Overall, I think this project was a risk as a whole. Though it was more of a required risk, I am so glad that I did it. I grew more comfortable and confident with my voice, learned how to use a new software, and dove into a creative realm I've never experienced before. I am happy with how it turned out, too!
Memes Audio Essay
Memes Audio Essay Revision
This project made me appreciate podcasts SO much more. As I mentioned before, I am not a big podcast person. I don't generally enjoy listening to them and have never had an inclination to make one. However, it was honestly so much fun! I was immediately nervous about this project, because again, it was very far out of my realm of comfortability. My anxiety was all for nothing though, because my husband and I just talked normally and before we knew it, we were passed 20 minutes.
This was a really cool project overall, because everything about it was a learning experience. Trying to organize research, quotes, and talking points ahead of time took patience, time, and a lot of practice. We also had to use new equipment, which took some time to figure out (my computer was set to only use its own speakers). We were amazed what that microphone could do, though! Lastly and most importantly, we learned the value of real, casual conversation.
I didn't realize how easy it would be to sound natural during this project, but it was like a light went off at the end of the tunnel after my struggle with the audio essay. I was amazed at where the conversation just naturally went and how little effort it took to learn so much about memes in a short amount of time. The major difference between the audio essay and podcast was this duel participation, and I felt like it was so effective and informative compared to a single person speaking. So, again, this whole project felt like a major risk, but it had great and surprising payoffs!
Meme Podcast
Reflection videos allowed us the opportunity to stop and think about the work we were creating. I felt like these projects were very grounding, for they helped me slow down, take in my work, and realize how much I had learned and how much I could teach/share with people. Playing with the screen recorder was an enjoyable process, and I feel like that is a very useful tool that I will utilize a lot in the future. Of the two, the audio reflection was definitely the most challenging given its nature, for it was difficult to know what to put on the screen to keep the video interesting. Overall, I think the key to these was definitely time. Each took several hours to compile and were less risky since we were merely reflecting on our work. I had never watched or created one of these before, but I feel like I will definitely do that now if I feel like I need help with a new software or project.
Visual Reflection
Audio Reflection
A big part of the learning and revision process is giving and receiving peer review feedback. It is important to get multiple perspectives of your work and to take it into consideration when trying to improve your overall presentation. Over the course of the semester, I was able to give my feedback to many classmates and was hopefully able to help them along the way. My classmates certainly helped me analyze elements of my creative projects and tweak them to the overall presentation's advantage. Without their help, my work would be limited, for feedback helps give projects the finishing touches that they need to become polished products.
- Comments to Classmates
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Throughout the semester, we were assigned various readings on what we were learning. Overall, I found them very interesting and enjoyable. This is a compilation of all of my reactions to the readings over the last several months. I found these assignments useful and was happy to engage with the material before actually attempting to create something myself. It was also useful to do some research/find examples before coming to class that day. Each photo is linked to the original posting (and thus, article).
- Comments on Readings
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This is a short list of all of the activities I've completed this semester that I haven't mentioned.
Overall, this has been a very enjoyable course, and I'm so glad I took it. I was able to learn so much about different kinds of media and actually create each kind with new software, techniques, and experience. I used collaboration with my classmates and professor to improve my overall projects and produce pieces of media that I was proud of and excited to share. Most importantly, I learned how to become comfortable in my discomfort and excel with risk-taking. Thank-you for taking the time to view my media and learn about the process I took to get here, and special thanks to Dr. Anderson for helping me and my classmates along the way. It was a great semester in this course!
Trouble-shooting Class Website:
Some elements in this portfolio aren't representative of my work. I have tried everything to fix them. I have even tried analyzing and playing with the codes. The portfolio looks perfect when I'm editing it, but small details change when I save it (second header isn't centered, social media section in bold font despite there not being a < strong > code anywhere, etc.). So, I thought I'd demonstrate that by screen grabbing my view of things.