Reflection

During the course of this project my group and I have overcome many barriers. For me, the biggest struggle we encountered was the fact that nobody in my group was extremely tech savvy, and we all have never used any type of video editing software. Alongside of that, We had three very strong leaders in the group and ideas where being thrown between the three of us constantly, so it was extremely easy to lose track of our intended directions. Looking at our documentary, being able to have all the elements coming together and working properly makes me the most proud. Being able to see how far we came from the beginning of the project to the finished part. Having all the different tracks line up and play in unison made all the difference. Not everything was perfect or even close to it on our presentation. If i could I would go back and ask more in depth questions on the scholarship so our audience can have a better understanding of it's purpose, not just what it is. If the time Allotted was six months instead of six weeks, our documentary would have been like a small movie. That being said, we wouldn't have to make it extremely long we would just be able to give it that movie like feeling, excellent sound quality, and fluent transitions from scene to scene. Personally, I was in charge of editing as a whole, as well as getting the shots for the opening presentation, recording live footage of Ian and Charles walking up the steps of the Funkhauser Building. Since no one in my group knew how to use editing software, I took it upon myself to learn multiple software used for video editing to make me versatile for this project. I was able to strip audio files and mend together small videos and pictures into a larger scale movie/slideshow, with transitions and background music to accompany it. Since my group had three very strong opinionated leaders it was sometimes difficult to get work done. At times it felt like our group was way behind the curve, mainly due to the fact we couldn't fully agree on which direction to pursue. Tension grew in the group as deadlines started to creep up on us and it seemed like only Ian and I, was working steadily on the project. Parts that were designated for Charles to complete, ended up taking too long and not relevant to the rest of the documentary at all. Instead of getting angry Ian and I simply told him no big deal and we would fix it. Throughout the project we kept our cool in heated situations and i feel as if it wasn't for that, the group would have fallen apart and so would all of our grades. I fell that if i could have been with Charles while he was interviewing people that we could of had more in depth information about the scholarship. It wasn't that the questions he asked were bad, the problem was they only scratched the surface instead of digging deep like we had planned. I think i contributed a fair amount of effort and time into this program, though there were times i could have provided more and even less input, I feel that i still did a fair share.

  Through these six weeks i have learned how to dig deep and look at underlying messages instead of taking things for face value. This class has helped me a lot in my critiquing skills, as well as my researching abilities. WRD 110 is defiantly a helpful and strong class to take, due to the fact that your put into a situation to adapt, and you learn a great deal from it. Having Professor Owen as my instructor made the class even better. Having a down to earth instructor who can match the personalities of his students and see things from their perspectives adds more of a one on one feeling though the class had many more people in it. After the first break when we were able to go home, i started to notice that i could argue points more clearly and fluently, as if i was a lawyer of some sort. My parents were extremely impressed in my new found vocabulary, and thirst for knowledge. I can definitely say this class helped me in more ways then one. The first project we were instructed to due made me realize exactly how hard it is to speak clearly in front of people, even when you have backgrounds in public speaking. Being put on the spot with a topic and having to voice your opinion can be difficult, this class has shown me how to control my voice and my tempo when speaking to have a fluent presentation in my voice. During the course of these six weeks i have really enjoyed the in class discussions on today's topics and dissecting the media of today's age. My least favorite thing about the course was... well, there wasn't a least favorite. This course was full of excitement and involved a wide range of techniques and strategies to relay the information to us. This class will be the backbone to many future class when it comes to editing software.

Chicago Trip