For the entirety of this semester I’ve been working alone, doing test shoots and conducting many of the filming on my own, however I feel like collaboration for me comes through the exploration of ideas. Every time I’ve come to class it has been really helpful letting others know how my shoots have been going and what sort of processes I’ve been exploring. Hearing their ideas and struggles as well, helps to inform me and give me an insight into how I can better my own work. I’ve really needed to have full creative control in the content I’ve been producing and I don’t think I would have been happy with work that was not my full creation. Not because I am too proud but I don’t believe it would have forced me to learn in the capacity I have so far. I believe that collaboration in many situations can result in one person doing a lot more or a lot less than others and in this particular subject I wanted to bear the full weight of my decisions and the marks that I receive. I’ve really appreciated that Paul has given us the opportunity to work with others in the class exercises, with the opportunity to join forces later on (only if we want to). I feel that it’s been really important making connections with other students in the class for future collaborations. However so far in my university experience I’ve hated the idea of being forced to collaborate, when usually it isn’t optional and more importantly its with people you would never wish to collaborate with in the first place .

Thus what I’ve learnt about myself is that the most helpful and important aspect of collaboration is the sharing of thoughts and ideas and well as helpful practices and advice. I hope that in my next semesters at uni there can be a greater focus on the discussion of ideas and practices rather than pairing of random students together in the hope that they will have a successful and creative collaboration.