In this week’s media lectorial we were more guided into the world of media. We didn’t really learn anything too new. Instead were given tips and advice on how to approach media for our future careers. A video was shown to us in the lectorial. It was a video of Cal Newport using Steve Job’s advice of “Follow your passion” in a negative way. He explained how “Follow you passion” is not a god advice. Why was it not a good advice? He was simply stating the fact not many people who have passion by then, so there is no passion to follow. How could we follow something, when there’s nothing to follow. I like how he went on to explain it’s not where you start, but where you go from where you are at. He even made Steve Jobs sound hypocritical, as he mention that Apple was just another tech company to Steve Jobs, but it blew up in a big way, and from that he was able to keep working on from that, which in turn became his passion. At first Apple was not Steve Job’s passion, it was merely a stepping stone.

Even though this talk about “Following your passion” is a bad advice. It’s really only. Bad advice if you have nothing to follow and have no idea where to start. I know many people in my family and friends who still don’t know what they are looking for even after completing high school. I for one was lucky and found media as my passion when Inwas young. I simply picked up a camera when I was 11 years old and started filming. It was from that, I discovered my passion for media and film making.

I can agree to some degree with what Cal Newport said that “Follow your passion” is a bad advice, but then I have to disagree to some parts. Because following your passion is a good advice after you found it.

In week 3 of our workshop we spend the seminar watching previous years workshop and analyzing our own rough cuts. We watched some completely different self portraits. Some very dramatic to artistic ones. When I compared them to my own, I was very disappointed….at my own work that is. I was looking at mine very rough cut and saw I don’t really have some of the creative touches the ones we saw in class. So after looking at my own, I decided to pretty much scrap it and re shoot some of the shots. I rewrote the script and planned ahead on what I wanted to shoot, rather than just having random shots for the video. After getting some feedback from my classmates, I decided on what I wanted to do for the self portrait. So it was nice having been able to see previous years work, because I definitely got inspired by them. I may not be as artistic as them, but I like to do something with a simple look, but can make it fun and still enjoyable to watch.

As for last week in our Media Lectorial we were given an in depth tip into the world of editing. It was nice to learn how editing can be used for various things in media. And changing meanings behind simple editing could create a whole new meaning into a piece of work. We learnt things such as a obvious edit, when we saw a picture of a potato and then Donald Trump signifying the two as similar beings. Then we learnt about smooth invisible cuts, in one of the film sequence that we watched, it showed smooth transition between the characters and position, there will always be a specific spot the characters will be standing all for continuinity.  We also watched two different films of the same genre and setting. Both of them were about cowboys robbing a train cart. However the old one was just shot from one angle and there wasn’t too much suspense. The second one showed a lot of different cuts and shots and with the added music showed a lot more suspense. From that we were able to see how editing has effected film throughout the decades.

Were you nervous about presenting your work?

I was quite nervous presenting my work, as I didn’t really know what kind of reaction I would get from the people around me. It didn’t help that I was also nervous, because I wasn’t even sure if I did the work correctly.

What kind of feedback did you get?

I got some positive feedback, on how I did describe my character. But also some negative feedback as I need to probably show a bit more, to properly convey on what I was doing etc.

Was the feedback useful?

The feedback was really useful. I learnt a lot on what I can improve, but I also learn how from the peers around and take criticism at heart.

What is most difficult about the process and why?

The most difficult of giving feedback using the debono thinking hats were when I was on the green hat. Especially when a product was pretty good, sometimes its hard to give an alternative.

How might you get better at this hat system over time?

The only way I see about getting better with the hat system over time, is use it more. Because the more we use it, the better understanding we have with it. This just apply in class, we can use it in our daily lives. But it does force us to be critical.

What might be a good way to separate the moments of receiving feedback and actually evaluating it and doing something with it?

Best way to separate the moments, is take criticism to heart and listen to the negatives. Use the negatives to improve yourself. Same goes for positive feedback. Don’t be satisfied with your positive, push your strong aspect even further and improve upon it.

Is it worth reflecting on the feedback both close to the experience and bit further on?

It definitely worth reflecting on feedback, because feedback is what helps us grow and improve.