With the first semester done, I feel that I have learnt a lot in the first semester of media. I feel that the various project briefs throughout the semester has been most helpful to me this semester, due to the practical skills that it has given me. However, I feel that the lectures and workshops helped most in providing information to understanding the key wider-world knowledge that is necessary for a better understanding of media.
It was in the week 2 lecture where I feel that I started to gain more of an understanding of what this course is about. In it, I completed the group task in the lecture whilst also explaining some of the broader ideas that was discussed in the lecture. I thought that the discussion that “media is everywhere” was an appripriate way to start the broad area of media studies.
In week 10, I found the topic of “institutions” as interesting and appropriate for the media subject. My focus for the example was institutions and how their independent guidelines are often motivated by the political stance of the company. I think that the outer media examples discussed in the blog post are appropriate for the topic in focus.
I found the week 11 lecture of remixing interesting, because I never really regarded the copyright breaches or the politics behind remixing music. I also agreed with the discussion of the theory that nothing created is originality in its pure form.
Week 12’s lecture was one my favourites, due to the stream of consciousness exercise. I focused my writings on the prompt of Humanity is in charge of its own future. The focus of media materialism was also interesting to discuss, as with the increasing use of technology, the idea of materialism and its executives can be easily forgotten about.
For an outer media example in week 12, I decided to focus on a less widely discussed media format of novels. In it, I discuss dystopian future novels by authors Margaret Atwood and George Orwell. This was due to the examples that we were given in the week 12 lecture, as well as the overall idea of media materialism.
Overall, I think that my first semester of University was a success for me. But I aim to try even harder next semester.
Extra link: Week 12 workshop (including graph)
Final Reflection:
This semester, I feel that I have accomplished my goal of how to successfully make a blog. To make and create posts has been something that I have been nervous about previously in terms of running a blog, but with more and more use, I have gained more confidence. Although I do have some room for improvement in terms of understanding the technology of the blogs, I feel that I have improved a great deal since the beginning of the semester.
I have learned this through many means, but it has mostly been allowing myself to make mistakes and then figure out how to fix it. It was challenging sometimes, because I also feel like I did not use my blog to its full extent. However, I feel that this will be something that I, with no doubt, plan to improve on next semester.
I think the running of blogs is a creative way to managing this course, although I do feel like I can improve on many things in the future. Looking back, I think that my general format of the blog is a little boring, and aim to find a more visually pleasing one next semester. Although I know that this was an option throughout the semester, I only realised that it would be more useful that I initially realised after completing Project Brief 4 (where my group created a blog.) I also aim to proof-read my work more, as I feel that my wording was, at times, my downfall in the blog.
I have found the outer media examples to be the most challenging in the course. It was hard to find a media text example week by week, and I do not feel that all my examples would be considered “creative” enough, particularly in context of others who have done so. I have chosen to (mostly) write my response instead of providing examples such as films and creative forms of visual media, however- I feel that this is the best way for me to relate to the week-by-week content of the course.
In terms of discovering my own creative practice, I realise that I need to gain more confidence in actually publishing my work. The majority of my work remained in drafts, mostly due to the fact that I was nervous about people’s reaction when I published them. However, I have written them in stages throughout the semester, and although I do not feel that they are perfect, I do feel that it is something I will definitely improve on next semester in the media studios. In terms of my blogging, I have realised that I prefer to write instead of providing examples. This may be frustrating for some, but I prefer it. I did provide examples in terms of the lectures and workshops, displaying photographs of work that was completed in class. In terms of writing, I do prefer to work in a “stream of consciousness” style, but that can also be frustrating for some, and hope to work on it next semester.