My major here at school is Advertising. Though I am taking classes for my major that require my creativity cap to be on, this class also really challenged my creative skills. The topics for our projects were broad enough where we had limitless directions. Part of what I appreciated most about this class was the fact that we could do whatever we wanted for our projects. Nowhere in our rubrics did it narrow down our choices.

Writing across all different mediums was very unique experience for me as a student. I am used to the traditional essay format on Microsoft Word. Using different mediums to extend our personal thoughts and opinions about many different topics was amazing. I really enjoyed how every person was entitled to illustrating their own personal standpoint on whatever it was they were trying to say. For example, for our stencil projects, I chose to demonstrate a somewhat contradicting concept. I consider myself to be a talented graffiti artist and because many people consider graffiti artist to be affiliated with drugs and violence, I thought it would be really cool to have a quote that contradicts the graffiti artist stereotype. I graphitized the quote “Say No To Drugs” and sketched a magic mushroom.

I learned a lot about different types of media in this class. I got sneak peeks at what certain professions in the media industry consist of. Obviously the programs we used were not as advanced as those who may create documentaries for the Discovery Channel or podcasts for ESPN, however using the resources available through the University was enough to build a basic understanding of what many of these jobs entail. Though some projects were not as good as others, it was interesting to see how people chose to utilize their resources and remediate information for projects.

This class was a great introductory to many cool programs like iMovie. After familiarizing myself with these programs, I believe I can do a much better job next time around. Unfortunately there is not next time around. I wish there was a class that was offered to students who had previously taken INFO303. By utilizing the skills that I have developed through trial and error the first time around, I would attempt to take my theories further in depth. Since each project took me so much time due to my lack of knowledge and experience with the programs, completing another round of projects using the same programs would be much less time consuming. Overall, I was able to learn the significance of each type of medium when communicating an idea. Everyone has a different way of interpreting media. This idea was reinforced into my brain by experiencing this first hand not only by discussing it during class but also in our blogs.

Initially, Julie and I were stuck as far as the direction of the final project, but like all projects, we slowly figured out how we were going to arrange the information into one video. Since the articles talked much about how video games have advanced tremendously, we thought it be a great idea to include a timeline introducing all the eras of video games. Through our timeline, the viewer was able to gain an understanding of how far video game technology has come. We also read a lot about how the technology of video games has also contributed to the shaping of present day media and society. Moreover, we also wanted to compare the theories with our own experiences as well as our classmates’. We both interviewed friends and family to build some second hand opinions and insight. We combined our information and pieced them into our video in attempt to explain some of the ways videos games have began to shape media in our society.

As soon as we brought all of our information to the table, we immediately began editing and preparing our video so that it would be a good illustration of what the theories in the articles were getting at. This was the long stretch of our final project which took up most of our time. We went through out interviews and voiceovers and decided what to leave in and leave out. It was tough to decide what to leave out and what to leave in because we really did not have as much time to work with as we anticipated. Julie had a bit of trouble converting the formats and she ended up re-doing a lot of work. In the end, we both were happy with what we had composed together and were excited to present it to the class. Prior to presenting, we decided we would pose a discussion for the class. We wanted to know what their opinions were. Specifically, we wanted to find out what they thought about the Chinese gold farmers. In one of the articles we read, they discussed how there were “gold farmers” for World of Warcraft which meant that these people were forced, like slaves, to earn gold points and sell them to gamers in America for money. What has this world come to? How far will technology drive our society?

I was very happy with our final project. I thought the content was presented in a great remediated fashion. Although we ended up changing a few things in the end, I still was very confident with the work Julie and I had put together. From the sounds of it, the class really enjoyed our video too. I think our topic was interesting to most because we presented our concepts in an appealing fashion which made it easy for the audience to pay attention. One thing Julie and I had discussed that we could have done differently was create a way to involve the audience a bit more then to just pose a discussion after our video. In the end, it was a fun project and I think Julie was a great person to work with.

Initially, we had a tough time figuring out how we would distinguish the subjective from the objective. We came up with several ways in which we thought it could be done and finally came up with a decision. We decided that I would represent the objective side, the overall idea of there being drug use amongst college students. Dan was going to provide a subjective viewpoint which was going to narrow down an outsiders perspective who is against the abuse of drugs. We decided that the objective view would show a lot of footage of college students using drugs. Even if some clips were exaggerated and a bit ridiculous, we thought it would be effective to really stress the idea that college students abuse drugs. While most students do not abuse drugs to the extent that we illustrated, for the purpose of our subject we wanted to clearly give an idea about how it still goes on and it is certainly something to think about.

Before we began recording footage and audio, we came up with some questions that we would ask each of our interviewees. We decided it would be unique to do an interview with our interviewees in the act of using the most prevalent drug amongst college students, marijuana. Since I was doing the objective, which was illustrating the overall picture of students using drugs, I included that specific interview session into my video. I wanted to include the habitual drug user’s insight into my video. On the contrary, Danny was going to include audio from the opinion of a drug abuse detractor. The audio we recorded for Danny’s subjective video was recorded in his room and we decided to ask questions that would help highlight his critical insight. Then we decided to open the floor for an open discussion so that he would have a lot of recording to work with and edit into his video. Unlike the interviewees I used in my video, those included in Danny’s video were not comfortable showing their faces.

The objective video that I created took a very long time to edit. I included some footage captured from YouTube as well as photos of paraphernalia that I gathered from Google. I thought that my video recording, combined with my YouTube clips and my photos did a very good job conveying my overall message that drug abuse exists among college students. I used windows moviemaker which at first took me a while to learn but as soon as a got the gist of things; it became really fun and straightforward. I overlapped a few different songs over my visual that I thought were catchy and went well with the video.

Overall, I am extremely content with the way our videos turned out. I think we did a great job working together and making sure that each viewpoint was distinguished. Like all media, there were some critics who showed some opposition and suggested we did things differently, however we are very content and confidant that the criteria for the assignment was not only met but also exceeded. For example one person suggested we included some example or statistic about how people die from drug use, but this was quickly responded to because that was not our goal for the video. The goal for our video was to objectively show in the most creative way possible that there or college students who abuse drugs, and also to show simultaneously and subjectively the viewpoint of others. I think that for the most part, the class enjoyed our video and appreciated our unique approaches for creating our videos.

To answer Hannah’s question: How do I think Ede & Lunsford’s discussions of authorship and collaboration apply to the collaborative video project I’m working on?
The collaborative video we are working on encourages combining ideas to put together a final masterpiece. It would benefit the final piece if both group members work to together actively to combine ideas. Just like I mentioned in the answer to the previous question above, when an idea sparks, but it is a little off, the other member can work off it to fine tune it and offer other ideas. Also, because this project offers two versions of footage, this concept really works out.

2.) Do you think collaboration in a non-academic setting can be just as, or more productive as an academic setting? Why or why not?

3.) Do you prefer to work alone on projects, or do you like collaborating ideas with classmates?

If there were enough visual evidence, you wouldn’t need any sound. Visual evidence is supposed to portray an idea. Words are definitely a part of a documentary as well though. It’s not enough just to say things. There is something about a visual that will help present or express an idea. I believe an interview can be both objective and subjective. It is difficult to achieve the perfect mix of both objectivity and subjectivity. For example, a set of questions in an interview would be subjective, but for the overall B roll, a more objective approach would be taken.

Hampe contends that listening is the hardest thing to learn when interviewing. What other things can you think of that could be even more difficult to learn when trying to interview?

To answer Davis’ question, I agree with Hampe, paying attention and actually listening to the person your interviewing is extremely difficult because you’re thinking of so many different things all at once. Interviewing is a tricky thing. There are several things that go into creating an effective and successful interview. One other difficult component of an interview is following up with questions based on the person’s answers to your “planned” questions. I think it is important to follow up with the answers given in an interview instead of just sticking to a specific set of questions.

2) Do you agree with Hampes fundamental principles of interviewing? Why or why not? Also, do you think interviewing can be done extemporaneously?

3) Typically, do you think an interview is a vital component to a documentary? Why or why not?

Tom- Tom I thought your podcast really started off rockin’. I enjoyed what you had to say about the music festival. I thought what you had to say was very interesting and insightful; it actually made me want to go myself. I could imagine myself at this festival, listening to music with my buddies, having a great time without a worry on my mind. I couldn’t agree more with you about how times like those are the best to just be yourself and escape from our busy lives.

Patrick- I liked where you went with the podcast. I agree, athletes are definitely over paid. I thought your sarcasm was funny and definitely made your podcast more enjoyable to listen to. Finally, I like how you ended your podcast by asking the audience to call and donate a dollar for athletes.

Amanda- I’ll start off by saying I think you’re a very talented poet. I liked your style in your poem “average”. I also thought you had a good use of music throughout your entire podcast. In your poem, I liked when you talked about looking to seek self-esteem. Finally, I thought the way you ended your podcast was very lively and if it was up to me, I would have played it a little longer.

Jen- I liked the country music in the beginning. Your podcast was very interesting. I never knew anything about fungi hunting and you made something that I would have thought to be really boring actually seem quite fascinating. I never knew there were mushroom counting competitions. Also, I thought your inclusion of an interview fit nicely into your podcast. Overall, great job!

Christine- Personally, I have never had any interest in WoW (World of Warcraft) but after hearing your podcast, I became very interested. In your podcast, I liked the back ground music that was constantly playing. Some of the music sounds like it could have come from the game itself. I specifically found it interesting when you talked about all the addictive aspects of the game which really made me want to go out and buy the game for myself, but since I’m as broke as a joke that isn’t possible. Overall, great podcast!

Brian- Brian your podcast made me want to buy a smoker and smoke a brisket for lunch. I thought your step by step how to format really gave the audience a detailed idea of how it’s done. As far as your podcast goes, if the sound you included would have played, I’m sure it would have added a nice compliment to your overall recording.

Danny- Well done sir. I thought your story was funny although I’m sure at the time it was the farthest from that. At least you can laugh about it now. I thought your overall style was excellent. It was well spoken and very organized. Clearly, this was a detailed memory engraved into your head forever. Moreover, your back ground audio was perfect. Overall, swell job!

Katie- Katie, your podcast got me so excited for Halloween. Unlike the majority, including several speakers was unique and made it more enjoyable to follow. I thought the giggling at the beginning was unique and had me hooked because I was wondering what on earth could this be. Finally, I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m definitely dressing up and going trick or treating in Urbana!