Coming into this studio, I wanted to complete more project compared to my previous studio. In working with smaller projects, I believed they are less about the final result but the skills and competencies that I pick up along the way. I began learning about video editing in year seven, starting with Sony Vegas, working with footage that was not filmed by me or in video games. I find myself lacking experience in the filming aspect of production. Therefore, I am looking forward to solidifying core filmmaking principles. I also wish to rediscover my passion for video production in my spare time. Ever since joining the course, I began to use the classes as an outlet for my works. But in doing so, I began to ignore my other creative pursuits, such as making videos with friends and podcasting. I find it harder and harder to resume a video script or plan, opening Premiere Pro for anything other than for school purposes seem like a chore. Thus, I hope through frequent and yet brief usage of post-production programs, I can overcome my equivalent of a writer’s block.

I think Small Things is a studio in which I can explore unfamiliar concepts and techniques without having the commitment to stick to them for weeks for an assignment. I am fine with being guided by restraints since most projects in the real world will also be confined with restraints in some way or another. In fact, for me, it is more interesting to work within these constraints as they often allow one to think outside the box and find new ways to push the boundaries. As I’ve learned from the first two weeks of class, the iterative way of learning can have its positives. Making multiple versions of a sequence may seem trivial at first but doing so really does push one to explore new options. Far too often I’ve made videos with only one sequence. This makes me feel unwilling to change the order of events and a mistake can potentially ruin the rest of the sequence. And so, through the iterative method of learning and smaller projects, Small Things ought to be a vessel for students to alter their familiar ways of making media.