I’ve learnt a lot over the past twelve weeks. While I had some knowledge of the topics before I started the course, I feel like everything is slowly starting to come together.

The coursework has helped me improve the way I develop my ideas. I’m finding that I work best when I start out with a simple idea that I can develop as I work. Attempting more ambitious ideas has taught me a lot, even when they haven’t worked out, but I need to have a simple fallback plan. The course has also made me consider new ideas and possibilities that I hadn’t previously. For example, I’ve learnt plenty about sound and podcasts this semester. While I had a very basic understanding of sound 12 weeks ago, its something I never felt comfortable about and struggled with. I definitely still have heaps to learn about sound and how to use it more effectively, I’m starting to experiment with it a little more, such as how I played around with layers of sound while editing the PB4 audio essay.

The readings have provided good starting points for considering new ideas, and have often tied in well to the briefs. The Adam Hyde reading, “What is Collaboration Anyway?” not only helped me think about what it actually means to collaborate as it directly addresses, but also made me consider the work I was doing at the time for PB3 with creative commons clips. It made me think about how each clip was its own entity with its own creator, and how I was able to turn it in to something new in my portrait of Piri.

I think PB3 was a real turning point for me. Up until that point, I felt unsure of what I was doing. Even showing that piece to the class, I was really nervous and worried that it didn’t flow nicely (I’d probably spent too long editing and re-watching it). But the peer-feedback and the mark I received made me feel a little less like I was making it up as I went it along. Since then, I’ve felt a little more adventurous in terms of trying to find my own style.

PB3 also involved having to teach myself a number of new skills. Learning how to use Adobe Audition and the Zoom microphones was a lot more enjoyable than I expected, and I’ll probably utilises these skills often throughout the rest of my degree.

Developing my own style has probably been my greatest challenge in the course so far. Sometimes I have too many ideas of what I think I want my work to be, and they can’t always be combined in a meaningful way. I’m hoping as I continue through the degree and work in different studios, I’ll be able to experiment with some of these ideas and start to create my own unique feel to my work.

The discussions in lectorials and workshops have been really interesting and prompted me to learn more about the topics we look at. I found the discussions and debates about copyright particularly fascinating, because I know its something I’m going to have to deal with, no matter where in the media industry I end up, and it has applied to a lot of the work we have already completed in the course. I managed to find the report that had just been put out by the Productivity Commission, which looked at what changes might soon be made to our current legislation. Being able to find this information allowed me to link what I was learning in the classroom to what is currently happening in the media industry.

Below is my learning graph, which shows how I felt about my learning in different areas over the past twelve weeks. While my sense of media practice was initially the lowest, I know feel like I have a fairly good sense of what I’m doing and where I’m headed. My technical skills improved at a pretty steady rate throughout, as I was constantly learning new things, either about recording or editing, through the briefs and workshop exercises. When I started, I felt the most confident about my conceptual and theoretical skills, however I think the readings, lectorials and general discussion throughout the course has allowed me to take these skills to a new level. I still feel like my professionalism as a long way to go, but it’s certainly improved from the work I was doing in high school, as I now need to make considerations that would have to make if I were in the industry around copyright and permissions.

 

Media One has taught me plenty of new skills and encourage me to embrace new ideas and possibilities. I’m excited to begin the studios and start using these new skills a different context.