Final Thoughts On The Project
Throughout this project I feel like I’ve taken inspiration for many different sources, whilst also having a clear idea of what I wanted to produce in my head, with the points of research adding to but not overriding my initial ideas. I feel the intention of where I’ve been heading was very clear throughout the project, although my communication skills to other when communicating what the project was about could have been less vague, but this was mainly due to my mind always being on something else to do with the project most of the time.
I feel as though I’ve shown my ability to get my point across many times throughout this project - even when communicating ideas about the project before it had started’; an example of this being the equipment we used - I inquired about the equipment that was available in the media store in college, and even after initially having an issue with the interlacing property of the video camera we used, I looked into the problem and solved it, whereas a certain person in the group said the fact that the camera was interlacing therefore deemed it ‘impossible’ to use effectively without even trying to solve the problem.
My abilities in camera work have also improved throughout this project, through a combination of video tutorials and brainstorming of shooting techniques with other members of the group.
This project has been the most structured project I’ve done to date, and even though this was the case has involved a lot of re-arranging of schedules and reorganizing of certain ‘key’ filming days (e.g. Dermot’s schedule). This was frustrating at the time, and I don’t look back on the moments fondly as they were out of my control, but we were able to overcome the majority of these issues with both compromise or quick, effective improvisation - the latter is less than desirable, but turned out for the best in the end.
This project definitely shows off my skills and our skills as a group, and my/our ability to produce a successful final product in the form of a short film. I feel we’ve shared our knowledge and ideas around the group effectively, but also resent the fact that there were a lot of times when I was expected to know information from conversations I wasn’t even a part of, and treated as if I was incredibly stupid for not remembering said events I wasn’t even there to experience. This lead to some arguments that I don’t feel were necessary, but people seemed to think that their views needed to be heard in an aggressive manor, so I responded in kind. I did run into the situation several time when my knowledge and ideas were ‘inferior’ to other people’s, as I hadn’t had the “training” they had experienced (a.k.a. BFI), and therefore my input wasn’t needed in those situations; I let this go on for a while, but after speaking my mind my ideas were actually listened to on several occasions, and taken on board.
In this project I feel as though I’ve shown my understanding and demonstrated my ability to effectively apply the design process to something I’m working on more that I’ve even done in any other project I’ve worked on in the past. This lifts my confidence greatly, as it shows me that I’ve developed and learnt from all the struggles I’ve come across during my time at Hereford College of Arts. It also demonstrates to myself that I am able to use the design process in a way that communicates my ideas and methods to other people in ways that my verbal communication skills don’t necessarily get across. It has definitely helped that I was finally allowed access to a video camera after a rather long wait (wink, wink), but feel that my work has been well received ever since I’ve been able to show off my ideas in the medium I feel most comfortable working in.
As I mentioned before, when confronted with insulting negative comments I responded in kind (myself normally being someone who holds back my views on someone till I’ve given them a second, third, fourth chance, etc., but not standing for negative comments when they’re aimed at me with the intent of being an insult or to put me down - from which I respond in kind. Due to this, my level of understanding of how people can jump to conclusions without and actual knowledge about the events still confuses me, therefore my conclusion still is that humans are mind boggling confusing to understand.
