For our last quarter of e9 we incorporated skills gathered throughout the year in a group based project. The project used skills from video production, graphic design, and animation to make a believable company and presentation to show to our judges (aka teachers). There were many ups and downs with this project, and I would say the most challenging part was the 3d animation and box design because it was hard to get a clear image of what we wanted to do. At first our group started out slow, coming up with various ideas and pitching them to the rest of the group, but then we caught on and split up the tasks to accomplish goals faster. The project took almost all the available class time during quarter 4 to complete, but the outcome was definitely worth the effort. My accomplishments as an individual in the group were not astounding, but they were definitely contributive and credible. I spent my time working on the 3d animation and box design as well as some of the creative construction of the product and company, and with the constructive feedback from my peers I was able to shape my work into pieces that fit well with our company and plan. After working with my group this quarter, I have learned several new skills in fields such as video production and graphic design that I could potentially use in future works for myself. Overall I would say that I'm rather proud of my work and my contributions, but also my group as a whole.
Animation for our website
Animation to put on other's websites
Use of Class Time:
Company banner
During class I would say that I remained a mixture between productive and unproductive. Although I was distracted easily, I still managed to complete my work on time with that being either the use of time out of class or the implementation of my peers ideas or feedback to help me make a solid product. Majority of my work was done during class, but during the filming period we did use time out of class to get a better shot and work on our filming skills as a whole. Also, I spent some time out of class researching potential editing tricks and skills for the commercial portion of our project to possibly improve mine and make it fit with the ideas I had in my head. My team and I also spent time communicating after school to check up on the completion of products that were others responsibilities (although I did try and provide feedback for said products).
Strengths:
After my official first year of E-communications, I can proudly say that my areas of expertise are in the video production and animation fields, especially since those fields are the ones I receive the most joy and entertainment out of. I have had experience with these fields in the past, but E-comm has helped me better my skills and taught me more about the things I love. I try to incorporate my strengths and use them the best I can, whether that be my edits on our commercial or feedback for parts of our project like the logo or animation.
Areas of Improvement:
After realizing my strengths in E-comm, I have also realized the parts that need improvement. For example, I would definitely say that I need to work on my capabilities in the 3d aspect of things using softwares such as Sketchup, as well as my filming skills with the camera and tripod. In the future I wish to improve my 3d models as well as my use of different angles and shots while filming. For these reasons, I believe I still have a long way as an E-communications student.
My Thoughts on Quarter 4:
As a wrap up for the entirety of quarter 4, i would definitely say that I loved working in a group and using everyones specific talents to master and put together a project. If I could restart this quarter I would definitely try and contribute some more to the group, rather than completing my tasks and letting the others figure out there, which then as a result would speed up the process and increase my work ethic. I would say the take away lesson from all this is that everyone has their own talents, and a long road ahead to perfecting them, so it's always better to have feedback from others but still be confident in your abilities. Next year I hope to keep progressing in the fields of animation and video production, and improve my flaws. This year has been a great learning experience for me, as well as a place for me to show off my skills and wind down and just enjoy my hobbies.
