Here is the link to our artefact: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/2015-media1-projects-onestepfurther/

 

The final media brief of this semester definitely proved to be the mot difficult one yet. It was a synthesis of everything we covered in the first semester. The task was, indirectly, to combine the theoretical and practical aspects of the course to produce a work that involves the central media ideas we have covered and testing our abilities to collaborate as media practitioners.

 

Lucas, Emma and I shared the work fairly evenly between all of us – we all communicated really well and met up regularly to discuss our progress on the artefact. I feel that I got really lucky with my group as we all established good relationships very early on and we were all really understanding about other assignments and projects that we had on. One of the best aspects of the group situation was that we were able to suggest and take ideas from each other and incorporate these ideas into our works.

 

Many of the difficulties began at the beginning of the assignment. Lucas, Emma and I were pleased to find out that we had been assigned the idea of ‘Texts’ as it was a very broad topic. However, in the case of this brief, the broader the topic the more difficult it was to choose a specific aspect of ‘texts’ to hone in on. We decided to select 3 areas of ‘text’ to focus on (Adaptation, Copyright/Plagiarism and Remix Culture) – but we were suggested to select one. Thankfully, we chose adaptation as 3 would have been extremely difficult to manage and the quality of the artefact would have suffered. The next difficulty was choosing a text that Emma, Lucas and I were all familiar with in order to begin the exploration.

 

We decided on William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet as our text. This proved to be difficult because we had so many preconceived ideas and thoughts on the adaptations, but initially struggled to find resources relevant to our topic.

 

I personally struggled with using the equipment for this brief – not because I lacked the ability but rather because I lacked the confidence. However, once I got into the process it was not as bad as I thought. I also struggled with the editing – editing is still a relatively new process to me, before this semester I had never dealt with editing software before. My editing often lacked the seamless aesthetic that I desired, but Lucas was able to help me with the final touches.

 

This media brief, despite the struggles, has taught me a lot in regards to what it means to be part of collaboration. I have learnt that communication between collaboration members is extremely important for the collaboration process. I also realised how important it is to not only develop professional relationships with other members but also to develop personal relationships. This helps you discuss your anxieties/fears you may have about the project with more confidence. Working on a collaborative project has taught me how important punctuality and organisation is. Being a more organised media practitioner causes for less delays during the production process – it makes the entire process much more smooth and helps build rapport with the other members of the project.

 

This media brief helped me appreciate the intricacies of the collaborative process. It helped me take into account other peoples’ opinions and ideas and incorporate them into my own thoughts and views. I learnt that it was important to give feedback, whether it was negative or positive, in order to create a final piece that had been refined and illustrated all members’ opinions and ideas.

 

I feel like this brief has helped me grow as a media practitioner as not only do I have more experience in both the theoretical and practical field of media – but also, I have learnt how to adapt within a group environment. My skills in giving and taking feedback have improved and I am feeling much more confident in my abilities when practicing media. This brief has taught me how to conduct interviews more efficiently and has taught me more about the editing process.

 

Throughout brief 4 I have learnt about a vast variety of different media texts and the process of analysing media texts. I have greater interest and appreciation for semiotics and the intricate process of adaptation. I have learnt to appreciate the work that adaptors go to when trying to keep the tradition of a particular text and present it in a new, original way.