Semester Reflection

This semester I was in the Exploring Video class, specifically the Convergence Journalism part. There were five projects that were assigned: basic procedures, audio only interview, full interview of about a peer and their hobby, a live event (blood drive), and then the final ONW Now episode. During the course of this class, I have learned a lot of valuable information and I really enjoyed the semester. 


Some key events were the audio only interview, the live blood drive, and the final ONW Now. I really liked the audio interview as it gave everyone a chance to really understand how a interview should go and it was nice to worry about only that and not the video as well. I also enjoyed that there was a real live event to practice what most journalistic videos would be like. As stressful as it was, it was a very good experience. The final project of an ONW Now episode was a very good experience as well. It was good to work with a lot of people who were all working toward one goal. It was interesting to see everyone working together and fighting through his or her issues. With very strict deadlines and high criteria for the final product, everyone in my group did very well for our first time. There were some small issues like there always will be, but overall I’m proud of what we made.

Elements from this semester that worked were working together with others in my class, havig to come in to work before and after school, and being able to do everything by their deadlies and well. I liked working with the kids in my class even if it was hard at points. Everyone was understanding and we were willing to help each other. I normally get to the school fairly early in the morning so I was able to go in and finish up a project if I needed to, and I love to stay after and work when there are just a few people who really want to be there and work hard. Something that did not work out well was the time that video takes outside of class. I have the dedication to work as hard as I can to do something high quality, but I have a lot of duties outside of class that have been scheduled for a long time, so when it comes to video I do not have a lot of oppurtunity to go film an event on any given day. It all worked out in the end, and I what I made this semester, I am proud of. 


I have learned a lot of skills this semester. I have learned many technical skills, people skills, and concepts of video. I have grown to be more comfortable with Final Cut, through working on these projects. I have learned how to properly favorite and favorite my clips, as well as check audio levels and manipulate them. Through this sophomore semester, while working with the Panasonic cameras, I have new skills in quickly learning to work with equipment I may not have even touched before. Final Cut and the cameras have both helped improve my technical skills immensely through this semester. Video requires a lot of group work as well. Working with the wide range of types of people in this class has taught me many collaboration skills that I will take away from this semester. I’ve always considered myself a good project manager, but this class has reinforced some of those skills, such as keeping a calendar of the schedule and sticking to it, and leadership skills like making sure everyone is on task and gets everything son the way it needs to be done while still doing all of my work. I have also learned many aspects of video production. How to edit journalistic pieces properly, how to correctly set up an interview, and how to write voiceovers that are engaging and narrate the story.

Next semester I am looking forward to continuing to learn more about eComm and go into more depth about what I want to be doing. I enjoyed video this semester and I will continue to learn some about it on my own time or through talking with the other classes. I hope to improve my people skills even more, and hopefully start on some more client work in graphic design. I love eComm and can't wait to continue.