Semester 1, Media 1, well lets reflect, reflect, reflect…

What I’ve found the most challenging is probably the easiest question to answer. For me it’s been about balance, I had this sudden inspiration to get involved in as much as possible as I really want to get a kick start on my career journey. It’s exciting I’ve found something I really love and now I want to learn as much as possible and gain as much experience as I can. So with taking classes, getting involved in RMITV, having 2 part time jobs, trying to maintain my old friendships and connect with the new people I have met, plus the extensive travel everyday it has been an awful lot on my plate. Despite this though, I really love it so far I just haven’t yet figured out the whole balance thing yet. I have really loved meeting a fantastic group of friends this semester we laugh, we help each other out and the best thing is we are all interested in the same thing, go through the same issue and all question if we’re doing the right course. For me Im not going to defer or switch, there are moments where I thoroughly do not enjoy what we do, but there are other moments i really enjoy. Creating is my favourite part getting to make content is exciting and fun but often with university this is paired with collaboration, group work to be specific. This blog showed the halfway point of our group work and how I went during the group assessment task. Group work; its something I’ve always been slightly resistant too, because you never know what your group will consist off. All of a sudden the success of an assignment is based on people I don’t know, this can go one of two ways but it tends to all piece together eventually despite the hiccups in the way. I think its especially hard when not everyone wants the same thing out of it. So especially during the last few weeks of this course I have realised that you never now who will be in your group in can be good or bad but you just have to step up, do as much as you can and try to make the best out of any situation.

What have I learnt? what probably stands out to me the most in regards to what I have learnt would be using adobe premiere and audition. These are two programs I had never used before and with the amount that we used them I finally feel i have got the hang of it, at the start it was a lot of trial and error but I feel that despite not knowing everything I have a good basic knowledge of the software.  Likewise we practiced a lot with the sony cameras and zoom audio recorder which i really enjoyed learning to use.

How do I learn? well hands on, in an environment that forces me to figure it out and do the action. The readings have been torture for me because long winded readings do not engage me nor does it stick in my brain. I know now I’m a visual learner, diagrams, photos, videos, discussions and experimentation are the foundation in which I must learn under. Thats why throughout the course I learnt more from getting straight in there and trialling with audition, premiere and the group assignments where we had to create something based on a topic. I learnt more about the topic by creating than I would from the readings, in all honesty I remember very little from the readings. However I remember how to use the different technologies and discussions we had in class that I could personally relate too.

This semester I involved myself in three shows, “Offbeat”, “Sorry What?” and “The Leak”, and it all happened so fast, I jumped write in there wanting to gain as much experience as possible. From day 1 I absolutely loved it, I loved meeting new people, working in the studios, trying all the different crew roles and working my way up to directing the last 5 short comedy skits on “Sorry What?”. The hands on experience is something I really look forward to in my week, it juxtaposes from all the lectures and workshops and gives me an opportunity put what Ive learnt into action. A goal of mine that I wanted to achieve over the entirety of my course is finding my own style, my own voice something that identifies me. I am no where near there yet but I have been working on my creative practice. I found that i am beginning to go out more and notice things around me wanting to capture it all, I take out my manual camera or video camera even my iPhone just to release some of my creative ideas. A huge inspiration for me has also been the people I have met, not only have I spoken to many people within RMITV who are all hilarious and lovely but I listen to how they got to where they are and where they’re going next and its exciting to hear for some it all started with offbeat just like me. Likewise I have friends in other courses like photography in second and third year and to see the things they are doing, freelancing video shoots for companies that has led to another job which then led to another. Being around such ambitious people excites me to get out there and make as much content as possible and learn and much as I can. Im starting to like my blog more and more, I definitely need to work on the content and the quality of that but its a progression. I also have my youtube channel which over time will develop a portfolio of my work. Im trying to save up for a camera as well as I want to have my own so I can create and take on small jobs that will then hopefully lead to more exciting things. I always knew that writing wasn’t my strong suit, if anything year 12 literature confirmed this, and going through this semester this has ben reiterated to me. Its not something I will given up working on however it has steered me to discover that I enjoy more the hands on side things like crew work and directing have really been a stand out passion of mine over the last few weeks. I think I will continue to expand my experience in this over next semester. A few blogs that show my experience in this include this one talking about my last “offbeat” show, and also this blog which tells my experience of networking within the industry.

I thought that in the future I want to work on big movie productions, hopefully as a director or something creative but I am not only scared but extremely unsure as to how i will achieve that. i think thats why I am just trying to get involved in as much as possible. University is hard, its a space where you must come to terms with your future, what do I want? where do I want to go? and how on earth will I get there? the pressure to be successful is all placed on my myself, its a overwhelming thought to be in control of your career especially when your still not quite sure what it is exactly that you want to do. Another struggle for me has also included passion and what I want for my future. This blog is a way of me trying to do some things that I enjoy such as taking photos. Until just recently I really thought I had a clear idea, I knew I wanted to go into Film and TV but I’ve just started to question I really want that. Admitting that I don’t really know what I want to do scares the shit out of me, if i have no goal then what is my purpose. What will I work towards, I thought getting so involved would give me inspiration but its just made me more confused. I think for now I will spend the next 6 months just experimenting ideas, trying new things and doing things that make me happy. Perhaps Ill find a passion in something like documentaries after watching grizzly man “see blog” I found that form to be extremely intriguing but who knows. Fingers crossed along the way through all of that I will find my so called passion.

Something I struggled with this semester was confidence, all of a sudden I am in a brand new environment with new people who are all interested in the same thing as I am. I feel that I haven’t done as well as I had hoped and this in some ways has set me back confidence wise, however it has also given me a taster of how hard I must work in order to achieve good marks. I know that as a person i struggle with writing and despite this holding me back Ive established that I will just have to work harder. I cant put in little effort and expect good results. Language, english, writing skills and grammar are all something that has let me down in the past, so its something I must be aware of as I move into next semester.

Here is my reflection of my semester and what I have learnt, in particular my technical skills have really improved especially in terms of blogging and using both the camera and audio recorders. I feel like things such as my professionalism and theory of the course are still very basic and have a long way to go. Overall though I feel I have made a steady improvement throughout the beginning of the course. This blog also shows my change over the semester in terms of what I want to have achieved.