From reflecting upon the studio prompt and the intention behind “Real to Reel,” I believe this course will encourage and motivate myself as a media student to learn about non-fictional content and what it truely means to create something based on truth. As a lover of documentaries and exploring factual ideas and stories, I am yet to dabble in creating something based on this interest. My favourite form of documentary series is based on true-crime. I’m not sure if this says anything about me, but yes I love learning about serial killers and what motivates them to commit such unlawful acts of violence.

In terms of my goals for this semester in this studio, I really hope not just to improve on my practical skills (which are a bit rusty since being on a three month break) but try photojournalism. I once wanted to be a photojournalist during high school as one of my biggest inspirations is social media photojournalist Sjana Elise. I wanted to travel the world and take photos of what I saw, and reflect on the stories behind them, just as she did and continues to do. However, the reality of becoming successful through such a practice was too slim for me to feel comfortable pursing it. Hence, when I saw we would be touching on photojournalism and photographic essays, the younger version of myself squealed in delight. At least this way, I can see if I enjoy being behind a camera as I already know that I love to write and reflect.

I am also in this semester taking the course “True Lies: Documentary Studies.” From the first week I can already see the connections between these two classes, and it will be interesting to see how I can take knowledge from that class and put it towards my practice in this one.