In the first week of this course, I wrote a blog post entitled “Media 1, Week 1: Here We Go.” And go I did. The weeks have flown by, and challenge upon challenge has been thrown at me which I have accepted and attempted with various levels of enthusiasm and success. A good place to start is to look back at the “Dear Future Self…” goals we set, all the way back in Week 1.
“Find something within the media industry that you are passionate about and can do as a career.” I’m still tossing with this idea of “passion.” Right now, if I were to follow my passion all I’d do is find a sunny spot in the house and nap there all day. Realistically, this is not a viable career option, and to throw back to Cal Newport ideas from Week 1, this would probably stop being appealing if it was all I did every single day. At the conclusion of this course I do, however, have a stronger idea of what I am decidedly not passionate about. I found myself irritated at some of the activities in the workshops, such as the Sony MC50 exercise where we filmed mock interviews. I can understand that that practical experience is a big part of this course, and is a big bonus for most students, but I find that I preferred theory and discussion, and that these exercises took away time from these, which I enjoyed more, simply because my style of learning is better suited towards reading, writing and listening.
Honestly, the fact that I learn better this way and enjoy this style of learning was a point of tension for me, in terms of enjoying Media 1 and the Media course overall. It’s frustrating to hear fellow students complaining about the set readings and writing, or don’t think it’s a priority to come to class.
“Learn practical skills related to film making.” As I discussed in my previous point, I found the practical work in the course less engaging, and thus I’ve had to reconsider how important this goal is for me. Whilst not relevant to Media 1 specifically, I’ve really enjoyed Introduction to Cinema Studies, which I also blogged about. It really broadened my understanding of cinema, and encouraged attention to details I wouldn’t previously have noticed.
“Be better at writing for a public audience.” This is one point I feel I have definitely made good progress towards. The first blog post I wrote I spent ages agonising over, but as the course progressed it became so much easier and I found myself looking out for things to write about. My blog posts ranged from slightly humorous to ~art~ and to more formal. I found myself looking out for things to blog about everywhere, whether it be an interesting article I read, or something I noticed walking home. I think writing is one of my stronger points, and it’s a skill I hope to hone further and hopefully apply in my career.
“Graduate with a positive outlook to the future and my place within the future.” Although I’m still a fair way away from graduating, this objective is still central to many of my insecurities. This course is, I think, quite broad, and whilst this is a good thing, it means that I’m finding it hard to find a way to carve out a career path. There are lots of things I would like to do, but everything seems too difficult or overwhelming. At many points throughout the semester I found myself wondering if I had chosen the right course, not because I did not find it enjoyable, or I thought it was a bad course, but more because I didn’t feel I had the same level of passion, especially regarding practical work, which I mentioned earlier, as my fellow students. I’m therefore looking forward to the Studios and the Work Attachments, which I hope will give me a better idea of the places where I can take this course and what that kind of work is like.
Photo cred: Me
As shown in the ‘learning graph’ above, I do feel like overall I did improve my skills and knowledge throughout the semester. The big jump in the ‘professionalism’ skills (the blue line) coincides with, you guessed it, the commencement of Project Brief 4. If I were to pick out the most beneficial things I learned this semester, it would be learning how to blog, and learning how to collaborate in a team. When group work was mentioned in the Lectorial that faithful week, I was also part of the collective groan that was heard, but now I feel I have a completely new perspective on collaborative work. My group was a joy to work with, and I felt we all worked together efficiently toward a common goal (to create awesome video/audio essays!), and also I made some great new friends I might never have been introduced to if I weren’t for the group project. I’ve come a long way from my initial musings on what video/audio essays actually are. PB4 would have been a mammoth task to take on by myself, so now I definitely see the value of teamwork and hope to utilise this positive attitude going forward.