In this session we were given time to get together with our ‘assignment 4’ groups to hold our first (official?) meetings. In this initial stage of the project, we needed to do a lot of brainstorming in order to formulate an approach to this somewhat ambiguous task. At the moment this task still holds many unanswered questions but hopefully these will be answered in the coming weeks.
Butcher’s paper and markers were broken out and Jeremy, Cheyenne and I started thinking of ways to interpret our topic (mediums) and of any relevant ideas/concepts. We also evaluated the strengths and limitations of certain approaches to the task; we currently plan on creating a website/blog which. Doing this will allow us to present information in a variety of forms (or mediums – hahaha).
In this session we also worked on completing our ‘Collaborative Contract’ – after some discussion, my group decided upon our goals, governance strategies and preferred dispute resolution methods – in doing so, we began to shape our team’s relationships and ideologies. For my personal development, I consider a key goal to be the development of my collaborative abilities. As an aspiring filmmaker/media producer these will be invaluable skills which I will undoubtably need to use in the future.
Lastly we decided upon future meeting times (outside the classroom) and currently we plan on meeting 2 times a week to discuss issues, what needs to be done, and how everything is progressing. Luckily our timetables were relatively similar so there are numerous times when we can get together to work on the project. I think these regular meetings will definitely benefit our overall production, as it will allow for a more organised and ‘collaborative’ environment.
And now here’s another video that I’d like to share. This one shows classical guitarists Yamandu Costa & Doug de Vries performing a 2 part song titled ‘Hummingbird’. I think their performance demonstrates a lot of collaborative qualities (this musical synchronisation reminded me of the Week 6 reading on ‘Group Flow’ – specifically the examples given about Jazz groups and how each member must be aware of the other members actions, mistakes and improvisations). Obviously, to be able to perform such complex and interwoven parts, the two musicians are familiar with each other’s style and playing capabilities. Not only is this relevant to our examinations of collaboration, it’s also a really amazing performance. Give it a watch/listen.