It’s been a while my friend.

Participation for this studio has definitely gone up. From the painfully lacklustre last few weeks of minimal contribution (and maximum time wasting) I find myself back in the routine again. The pre-assignment submission rush is an exhilarating time (and of course, stressful – controlled stress this time, schedules have been figured out and sleep is a little more wholesome) but the flurry of collaboration is a refreshing change from the usual self-submission rush. Pats on the back do nicely, and a completed piece that everyone is happy with is even better. The scraps I do remember from my initial participation criteria are fairly basic scraps and probably need reworking (is it too late at this point? can I ramp up my participation to compensate?). Let’s see:

• Make notes on the readings

Zzz. Boring. You’re meant to do this regardless, ya idiot. How about: read the reading twice, and make notes only on the second time (unless it’s really really long and impractical to get around to, or, you’re really confident you know what’s important in the reading and the only way to make the highlighter in your hand stop trembling is to let it take its course on the page). Ah: much better, though probably a few weeks late. The new ’20 things you don’t know’ method has worked wonders for my participation in this. I don’t know anything!

• Socialise – make an effort to talk to others

This has worked in part. Considering groups were made and that’s where most of our/my time is concentrated, I’ll give this a tick. I feel more comfortable in class now than in the first few weeks. Thanks, group. Effort made.

• Start assignments earlier

Sigh. “I swear I’ll do better next time!” — time flies, huh?

• Familiarise myself with content, definitions, concepts

Ok, I like this. This can definitely be extended to: gain a better understand of the world: how we operate as humans, which systems are at work, what does what, who is who, how selfish really are we, and how can I make real the learning I do in this class? I’ll admit, this studio really threw a spanner in the works (cool blog title, huh). But in 9 weeks, I’ve learned not only what a spanner is, but learned how to properly bend down, pick it up, and to use it for purposes beyond being thrown. This studio changed my life, all cliches aside.

•  Refine documenting/filmmaking skills

Less refine, more understand how to properly use the formal elements of the screen or of the sound and use these in the creation of small scale media used to represent an idea, or place, or thing, and of course, it’s relations. And hey, stories! you suck! (alright, you don’t suck, but you’ve had your time to shine. Time to pass the baton).