For the workshop we first looked at the project briefs of people that hadn’t been watched yet. We also said who we were doing for the project brief 2 and sent stills and basic summaries of what we’ll be talking about to Mr. Rowlands. I received from him his feedback of my project, quoted here:
“Well done Oliver with the self portrait. I felt you had an idea for this work set pretty early on that you stuck ridged to. It’s clear and defined with a great sense of your humour but I don’t feel it reaches over and above. I don’t feel you entered into unknown murky territory, testing the boundaries of your capabilities. I feel you achieved primarily what you set out to achieve and no more surprises. This is not a bad quality as for many they set out with no real aim. Possibly if you know the direction you want to go, keep an awareness of what’s at the peripheral to this.
70% Distinction”
This is a good mark, but despite this it is clear that I need to work a bit harder on my project brief 2. Hopefully my use of the found footage will be the kick that my project needs.
In the lectorial, we had a guest speaker called Amy Saunder, from the Library. She took us through an introduction about research strategies. One way is to use the “ask a librarian” section of the Library/myRMIT website, or to find the library guide part to target what sort of book we may want (not a specific book, but perhaps a book in the media/communication area).
Online sources for Media and Communication through RMIT include:
- Kanopy
- Lynda.com
- TVnews
- EduTV
We were also shown the way to search for specific books within the RMIT Library’s possession, and how to borrow a book from a library.
We were told what a scholarly source (essentially something that’s from an article or book or even certain websites, and that has been peer reviewed by experts in the field). We can limit our Library searches to peer reviewed works only (which are usually scholarly).
In media and communication (both in-class and in the job market) we will have to collaborate with people and groups. We should also assume that not everyone knows how to collaborate (although I do because I have worked in many groups in the past).
Some of the good experiences I have had working in groups include:
- Some people have great ideas and can contribute greatly
- Many hands often make light work
- I have bonded with group members in the past and made friends
Bad experiences include:
- Sometimes there are people who don’t do any work at all and I am forced to do everything
- Sometimes people don’t say anything then once the project is almost completed they voice lots of concerns about every single aspect of the project
- Fights can occur that stop everything
- One person literally just left the project half-way without telling anyone that he was transferring to another school. Even the teacher had no idea he was transferring and had no intention of helping to complete the project
I have done dozens of groups in the past so at this point its pretty second-nature for me. That being said, the tips Amy Saunders gave were useful.