Legit though, it’s been real.

To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect with this course. All I knew was that it’s a media course and the closest thing I have to a film course, and most importantly, it was going to give me the fresh start that I needed. I’m here because this is what I’m interested in and I’m here because I want to be. And trust me, I’ve gone a long way from those high school days of mine, and I still have twice as long to go. I’m a work in progress.

And speaking of progress, there were definitely a bunch of new things I learned over the past 12 weeks. From getting a lecture on attentiveness (click here for a throwback to my first ever blog post) to reading about the fusion of social media into television (and click here for a more recent post), it’s really broadened my perspective on media — practically and academically. But in all honesty, the topics I really enjoyed were the ones that focused on focusing. Way back in Week 4, we got a lecture on media affordances and sound. And what I really took out of that was the discussion on hearing versus listening, and deep listening (click here to read more on my thoughts on that). Then a couple of weeks later, we were given a reading on noticing, that is, the art of noticing (and click here for a different set of thoughts).

I found these to be really interesting topics as I kept finding myself recalling these ideas throughout other lectorials, workshops and readings, especially when we learned how to use other equipment. When we learned how to use a Zoom H2N Audio Recorder, it really reminded of deep listening discussed in one of our lectures and how we really have to be listening to make sure we have a clean recording (and click here to hear about my experience with this equipment). Likewise, when we learned how to use a Sony MC50 Video Camera, we really had to pay close attention to the shots we were using, ensuring that they were focused and making sure we were aware of our surroundings to avoid distractions when filming (and click here to see how I survived that).

If there’s anything I learned about myself this past semester, it would have to be reiterating to myself the fact that I truly am a more practical learner. Previously, I’ve only ever used Adobe Premiere Pro. But being in this course, I had to learn how to use Adobe Audition. And frankly, I think that my first attempt with this software was quite embarrassing considering I think that I’m quite proficient in Premiere Pro (but click here anyway to listen to that attempt if you think you can bear it). When I tried learning how to use Audition on my own with video tutorials, that was quite the epic fail and merely just ended with me being more confused than when I opened the program for the first time. But when we were given a brief tutorial in a workshop, I actually got it (and click here to find out why). 

And moving on to something else that I found challenging, one word: blogging.

Firstly, why? Secondly, why? Thirdly, how?

Why do we have to do this? Why do I have to do this? How do I actually do this?

And now that I think about it, a lot of the titles I’ve given my blog posts are actually questions. I mean, What Did Y-Essay?, Did You Get My Message?, Does This Sound Okay?, Do You Remember? (and click on each title to check out what they’re really all about) 

Don’t get me wrong, I was excited by the idea of blogging and writing and all that jazz. And I do still enjoy it. It’s just that, at times, I found myself struggling to write in a more engaging tone. I mean, sure, I always write my blog posts the way I would actually say them in real life had I needed to do so because I thought that this would really help this blog of mine really get my voice that it should have. But sometimes, I found that my posts weren’t discussing the main points of the lectures or I wasn’t discussing the readings more than I should even though I was. So basically, I kept guessing whether I was blogging properly. And more than all this, as time went by, I also found myself getting tired of writing about my classes every week and thus, I found that I had lesser and lesser motivation to write. It started to feel a little bit like a chore.

But in spite of all that, I am quite fond of this blog of mine and the platform it has given me. To be honest, it’s given me more confidence in terms of presenting my work to a wider audience. I really feel like I’ve gone a long way from my self portrait (watch that here). It’s also enabled me to showcase my skills, particularly in our third project brief. I’m super proud of how that film potrait turned out and I believe that my editing game was quite strong here (and you can watch that here). 

Even though I say that, however, there is definitely a lot more to learn and I’m pretty keen on what’s ahead for me and everyone else in this course. I’m definitely pumped to learn and make more media, and to learn more about myself.

And with that, I conclude.

Peace out.