Entertainment Senior End of Year Reflection

End of Year Reflection:

The eComm Guarantees

With technical skills, I have progressed greatly throughout my time in eComm. I really came into the program not knowing anything about editing software or how cameras work, and now I am pretty proficient. Editing and camera work makes me nervous just because I am not the best at it, but I do have essential skills I have acquired and I know I can produce good work. Definitely with the feature film, I was able to step into the editing process as I helped out with color grading, editing scenes, and matching audio. Communication is a skill I believe I have gotten better at through this program. I have learned where my position is within the program and within film and when I need to speak up. My first few years I was scared to communicate just because I feel like I was not as valued as others within this program - but now I know I would not have made it this far if I was not on the same level. It is also difficult being a woman in this career. It's hard to communicate and gain respect from my male peers, but I have persevered and I will continue to do so. Collaboration is something I have always been pretty good at but with the program, I was able to test my collaboration skills as I worked with many different people and in difficult circumstances. I have grown a lot in my empathy with collaborating and working with others. I think this year I have grown as a leader. I think once I started believing in myself, I lead great projects (like my documentary). I wish I could have gotten more chances to lead my class, but with the ones I did I believe that I made an impact on my peers. My weaknesses have developed - I used to lack in confidence and technical skills but now I feel as though my weakness is just losing passion for projects. I have so many ideas, but I think no one cares so I lose passion for them. My strength I believe is my creativity, my people skills, my vision, as well as my work ethic. With all the skills I have learned, I hope to continue a career in film and storytelling, even if it's just on the side. I would change my priorities in the past. I hung out with the wrong people within eComm and I didn't take my time seriously - so that is a huge regret for me. Overall, eComm has been amazing and has helped me grow into the person I am today.

Video Projects

"Just My Imagination" - Feature Film

For my first project I chose to talk about, I picked our feature film "Just My Imagination." I picked this because it was definitely our hardest project and I progressed a lot throughout the process. This project took about 7 months to make, from writing all the way to premiere. There were a lot fo challenges. For me specifically, I struggled a lot with my role as art direction. It took a lot of thought into costumes and set, and I didn't always have a say in it. I also felt like I was alone a lot of the time. The characters did not have much personality or anything, so the clothing tried to make up for that but it was difficult. I learned about preparation, creativity, asking for help as well as just the hard truth that sometimes you have to do it all yourself. I was given mostly positive feedback, even though personally I know I could have done better. This project was a good learning process, while it's not my favorite project, I did learn a lot. I understand now that working together and communicating vision as well as a good script with good characters can drive a movie... a lot.

"Sixteen" - Short Film

This project was our short film. I wanted to showcase my MV, but our editor never put in on YouTube. I chose this because this was such a struggle and a hardship. This took about a week to two weeks to create. Some of the challenges faced were: a poor script, little direction as well as just a lack of communication within the crew. I learned with this project how a good director with vision and communication skills can really make a project. Our director was not very good, instead she made the shoot very difficult and full of tension and anger when it could have been really fun. Some feedback given was the lack of story as well as the audio was messed up. We didn't change anything after the feedback. This project was again a learning process, but overall not a very good short.

"The Reshoot" - Mini Documentary

This last project I chose to talk about is my mini doc. I chose this because I am so proud of it. This took about a week to concept and we filmed in one night as well as edited in a day. There were not many challenges we faced, as we planned ahead pretty well as well as the cast was very easy to work with. With this project, I learned how the subject can really help the film. Carson was so fun to work with and he really added such personality to the film that wouldn't have been there if it were someone else. I also learned that thinking outside of the box is good if executed correctly. Some feedback we were given is that the first half felt different from the second and people liked the second half more. We got praise for the lighting and story as well as the cinematography. I really loved this project and I am so proud of it and how it turned out. Shoutout to Sarah on camera and George for editing! 

Time 

Outside of class, I spent a lot of time watching movies. It is very, very important to study movies and all types of them! It surprises me how many of my peers do not watch movies outside of class, even though they are in a film program? I also spent a lot of time watching video essays and videos about movies (I love HiTop Productions, FoundFlix, and Karsten Runquist!). I have spent time writing scripts as well with my friend Courtney Honors. We are currently trying to film American Horse Story this summer!

Strengths and Areas for Improvement

My areas of strength include that I am persistant, hardworking, imaginative as well as individualistic. 

I believe it is important to have a vision, work ethic was well as not be afraid to standout and fail sometimes. My weaknesses I can work on are that I need to be more forward and assertive - whether that looks like a leadership position or a lower position and letting my opinion be known in a helpful manner. 

Feature Film

For our feature film "Just My Imagination," I was the art director. Within this job, I located and assigned costumes as well as decorated set and helped Evan with makeup. When I was not doing this, I helped with other jobs such as camera, audio, and first AD. I also tried to keep spirits high as most people were getting down about our movie from the start. I also stepped up at the end and helped edit the movie. In class, I made lists of wardrobe and props for the actors, trying to make sure we had all we needed before the filming date. I did the same outside of class as well as looked for this stuff with Sarah. 

Summary

What I loved most this year was the people. I grew apart from people who stunted my creative progress and I grew close with those who pushed me to be a good student. One thing I would change about my experience is that I would be more passionate and driven from the beginning, instead of focused on messing around and being foolish. One goal is that I was to produce and direct my own short or feature film. Mrs. Smith, thank you! I have had a good time in eComm and thank you for that! I believe eComm is in good hands with you and the underclassmen. The only thing I would say is keep an open mind and don't doubt people just because their ideas are outside of the box, or seemingly "impossible," because nothing is impossible and it is better to fail and learn than to never do anything you're passionate about. Final thoughts? I love eComm. Thank you for everything. I was just a scared kid who loved music videos, and now I am a young woman who loves film. Thank you for that.