Takeaways
Throughout the semester I learned many valuable skills. I learned things that will help me with future video projects. I learned new skills with the technology and how to work with others and many more things. I also learned more about my areas of strength and my areas of weakness. I also learned how to overcome issues within projects.
Technology
I learned many things with the filming equipment and the editing softwares. While we were creating entertainment pieces I got to learn how to use different types of microphones and I also learned more camera techniques. I got to also work more with Premiere Pro. I learned more techniques and how to edit different types of edits. I worked more with adding music and effects to the clips. I added fades and transitions to the video clips and I added music to the audio. Learning all these techniques is very important because when someone needs me to film something for them I will be able to edit it and make it look clean. Some challenges that I faced along the way is that the softwares were very confusing and I had a few issues while filming. One major issue that I had was that while my group was filming our short film we filmed an entire section without sound so we had to problem solve.
Collaboration
This semester I worked more with groups instead of individually. Starting with the music video I worked in a group of four and I also worked in a larger group when I worked on recreating the Mean Girls movie trailer. I learned many things while working with others. I had to work with people I didn't enjoy working with. While working in groups I learned how to delegate tasks and help people follow through on their parts. Learning how to work in groups and work with people I don't like is important because I will have to work in groups later in my future and in my future job. Some challenges that I faced along the way is working with the same person multiple times in a row, this is a problem because my group member wouldn't follow through on his part of the project.
Communication
While working in the entertainment section of video I learned the right was to communicate with others and I also learned the wrong way to communicate with others. One way that helped me succeed in communicating with my group members was creating a filming schedule. I learned that you have to talk to everyone as a group in person to set up the times when we would film. I also learned that I need to talk to them about each shot and talking to the director to make sure it's what they envisioned. These skills are very important for the future because I will need to communicate with my boss at my future job. Some challenges that I faced along the way is that while we were creating our production schedule for our short film we set the days that we were filming a week in advance and when it came time to show up at the filming location one of my group members didn't show up so we had to work without him. We faced miscommunication because no one knew what the plan was.
Project Management
Project management this semester was a lot harder than it was last semester. Working on convergence last semester was more individual work than working in groups. Because I was working with other people that means that everything got done at different paces. I had to work with their schedules along with my own and because of that it was harder to edit things in shorter amounts of time. I spent more time coming in before or after school to get everything done and turned in on time. Learning how to work with deadlines is very important because I will need to get things done in different periods of time later in life. One challenge that I faced was working on my recreation of the movie trailer because I was running behind and I came in after school to work many time and I wasn't able to get it done by the time it was due.
Leadership
I learned more about how I can be a better leader this semester while working in video. I learned how to be able to take charge and delegate tasks when work isn't getting done. I also learned how to approach someone and talk to them when they haven't done their part of the project. But not only did I learn how to be a leader I also learned how to be a follower. I was able to learn that I have to let others take charge and I will do what they told me. Learning these leadership skills will probably be one of the most important things that I have learned this year because I will always have to work in groups and sometimes the work isn't getting done and I am now able to approach someone about it and talk to them. I will also have to be able to obey directions and listen to others who are also in my group. I did have to face challenges while trying to be a leader because I didn't want to sound annoying when I brought up the topic of getting the work done on time.
Strengths and Weaknesses
While creating all the projects I learned more about my areas of strength and weakness. Some of my strengths are working hard and collaboration. One goal I had this year was to make every project as good as it could be. I worked hard all year to get projects in on time and edit them to the bet of my abilities. My other strength was collaboration because I tried my best to work with everyone. Even though I had to work with someone I didn't like I still wanted to make the video look as good as possible.
Changes?
If I could change anything I want to go back and re-shoot and re-edit my music video. I could have had better shots and I could have created a better production schedule to make the video better. I would then go back and change the way I edited it. I want to make the video better and make it more appealing to watch.
Summary
Overall I learned many useful skills including working with others, working with new technology and learning the softwares, and I also learned how to be a good leader. All the things I learned are all very important because I will be able to use them in my future career and other aspects of my life. I really enjoyed creating all these videos and I feel like I have improved since the beginning of the year.
