It seems like only yesterday that I stood in the Virginia Ball dining room staring awkwardly at the 16 other students that would soon become some of my best fellow workers and friends. At that time, I do not think any one of us could have imagined the roller coaster that was ahead. Four months and a documentary later, I realize how unique of a semester it has definitely been. I truly enjoyed the opportunity to take part in an immersive learning experience here at Ball State, especially one with this particular subject.
When I was in high school and even younger, sports were always a big part of my life. Even now, as my playing days have come to a close, I still find myself glued to the TV several nights a week watching the Colts, IU basketball, Lady Volunteer Basketball (OF COURSE!!!) and other sports which is why I thought this specific seminar was going to be such a perfect fit for me. I was not disappointed. I learned so much about sports in general, the female athlete, Title IX, and exemplary women's athletic programs, all while gaining a lot of real world skills that I will continue to take with me past this project.
"It's not exactly something they cover in history class…" said Mia Tabberson in our documentary; this is the perfect idea about Title IX. Title IX is certainly not something that you hear about often, even in history classes with women who would probably not be there without it. However, it is such a crucial part of everyday life for many women. I know I never thought about Title IX when I was involved with sports and several of the Burris Owls from this year had similar feelings. We, as a society, have gotten to the point where we do not have to think about Title IX much anymore, which is a great improvement. However, it is a never-ending process and a law that needs to continually be challenged and reflected on as years pass. I enjoyed the opportunity to truly reflect on the opportunities that are being given to women today with sports and also in academics, business, and all other areas in which women have made such great strides toward equality. I hope through our seminar, that not only our students had the chance to learn more about female athletics and Title IX, but that those who viewed our documentary also took the time to think more about the immense opportunities females are being granted today.
Continuing to reflect back on this semester, I have gained so much knowledge in other areas besides Title IX. I have learned how to work effectively and cooperatively in a group setting. I have learned skills that I never thought I would, such as operating a camera and setting up lights. I have collaborated with 16 other students and 2 wonderful teachers that have such different talents and personalities but also have such similar goals and work ethics. It has been a semester of ups and downs, but I am thankful to have had the opportunity to take part in immersive learning. Good luck to next semester's seminars!
Showing posts with label immersive learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immersive learning. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2007
Coming to an End
It's Friday afternoon, and very shortly our Fall Seminar will be officially over. It's odd to think that I will have to get up extra early in order to find a parking space, I will have to walk on campus, or that I won't be receiving daily emails from Kecia.
Last Tuesday night we had our last screening of the film in the Letterman Building, and we had an amazing turnout! Shortly after 7:00 p.m. the room was packed and we had to bring in more chairs. The walls were lined with people, and there were even a few Burris players sitting on the ground in the front. This time we even had a few very insightful questions. After the screening I had a several of my friends come up to me and tell me how wonderful the film was, which is always great to hear.
Wednesday was our final day of class. We turned in our portfolios and watched the completely FINISHED Behind-the-Scenes! Well, there was one small clip we had to fix, but after that it was COMPLETELY finished. It was nice to hear our classmates compliment us on the work we had done. The music boys were really pleased that we used a lot of their songs. Now we are just waiting for our copies of the movie. I'm very excited to go back home and show my family the work that we have all done.
The ending of the seminar is rather bittersweet. It's nice to finally be done and not stress, but then it's sad because our class has such a close bond with one another. I would do the stress and long hours all over again, for an experience like this one.
Last Tuesday night we had our last screening of the film in the Letterman Building, and we had an amazing turnout! Shortly after 7:00 p.m. the room was packed and we had to bring in more chairs. The walls were lined with people, and there were even a few Burris players sitting on the ground in the front. This time we even had a few very insightful questions. After the screening I had a several of my friends come up to me and tell me how wonderful the film was, which is always great to hear.
Wednesday was our final day of class. We turned in our portfolios and watched the completely FINISHED Behind-the-Scenes! Well, there was one small clip we had to fix, but after that it was COMPLETELY finished. It was nice to hear our classmates compliment us on the work we had done. The music boys were really pleased that we used a lot of their songs. Now we are just waiting for our copies of the movie. I'm very excited to go back home and show my family the work that we have all done.
The ending of the seminar is rather bittersweet. It's nice to finally be done and not stress, but then it's sad because our class has such a close bond with one another. I would do the stress and long hours all over again, for an experience like this one.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Coming Up for Air
Sitting in the front row of the packed room in Cornerstone, it hit me. This is my final. Not an essay in a blue book or a multiple test online, but this, a Gala! It also hit me that a whole semester has been compiled into a 46 minute film.
For those who couldn’t make it to the Thursday and join the audience of Steve and Don Shondell, Burris volleyball players from 1982 and 2007, Ball State professors, and all the friends and family that came with their support and enthusiasm, I’ll try to sum up the experience.
The Cornerstone Center of the Arts did a wonderful job with the twinkling lights and Christmas trees. The Events Committee in our class did a great job with setting up volleyball nets that had photographs of the Burris volleyball players and behind the scenes of us this semester, taken by us. In a corner we had the Behind the Scenes documentary, compiled by non-Telecommunications majors. After mingling with delicious appetizers, most of the seminar went up and spoke to the audience about their experience in the project. Despite everyone being tired from the rush to complete the film, no one tripped to the stage.
And then the film began. Not to give anything away for those coming Tuesday, but I was too awed to be nervously sneaking glances at the audience. My friends were amazed at the music and the camera’s shots. One friend said she was surprised to have the emotional response she did. After the light slowly came back on we wrapped it up with a few more speeches and a Q and A session.
Earlier I had compared this experience to scuba diving, and Sam had said how her grandmother first thought immersive learning was about swimming (“Not sub-mersive Grandma”). But now as we are working on our portfolios and looking back, I think we are realizing how we were truly submerged into this project.
For those who couldn’t make it to the Thursday and join the audience of Steve and Don Shondell, Burris volleyball players from 1982 and 2007, Ball State professors, and all the friends and family that came with their support and enthusiasm, I’ll try to sum up the experience.
The Cornerstone Center of the Arts did a wonderful job with the twinkling lights and Christmas trees. The Events Committee in our class did a great job with setting up volleyball nets that had photographs of the Burris volleyball players and behind the scenes of us this semester, taken by us. In a corner we had the Behind the Scenes documentary, compiled by non-Telecommunications majors. After mingling with delicious appetizers, most of the seminar went up and spoke to the audience about their experience in the project. Despite everyone being tired from the rush to complete the film, no one tripped to the stage.
And then the film began. Not to give anything away for those coming Tuesday, but I was too awed to be nervously sneaking glances at the audience. My friends were amazed at the music and the camera’s shots. One friend said she was surprised to have the emotional response she did. After the light slowly came back on we wrapped it up with a few more speeches and a Q and A session.
Earlier I had compared this experience to scuba diving, and Sam had said how her grandmother first thought immersive learning was about swimming (“Not sub-mersive Grandma”). But now as we are working on our portfolios and looking back, I think we are realizing how we were truly submerged into this project.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
It's too late... I'm using too many elipses...
0400 . . .
The gala is . . . technically, well, tomorrow. The butterflies are more than hardcore now, and even though I am home, I still cannot manage to let my brain rest.
I feel so much for our editors who have been working so hard in the cave, and I have complete trust in their abilities to turn out a film that is guaranteed to turn heads. They truly are the core of this project, and I don't know where we would be without their talent, commitment, and patience. We could not ask for more.
Today was an eye-opener. Everyone has been talking about immersive learning and what it is like to collaborate this entire semester, and I guess I just took it as a given. I thought, “Of course, we have to work together. We are together all the time." Today, I realized I have to be open to others. Yes, I have been teaming up with others for weeks, but I have always tried to do things the way I envision them, and haven’t really gotten past that until today.
The Behind-the-Scenes Documentary crew has mainly consisted of Kristen, Samantha Davis, and me for the better part of the semester. We were assigned to do a piece in the early weeks and just kind of were . . . in charge from then on. With other committees and commitments outside of the project, I have been spread pretty thin giving me limited knowledge/focus about the project with the two them. With the gala nearing and other projects wrapping up, I have been able to spend more time with them, but am extremely behind on the keyboarding/editing skills they have acquired. Long story short, I went in with different ideas and skill sets, and I quickly became frustrated. After talking with Laura and Kristen, I realized my frustrations (with myself and the BTS documentary) only made the situation more difficult.
The skills I am learning, no matter how minute they might seem compared to my peers, are those I might not have learned otherwise. So, again, I thank them for their patience in teaching me and putting up with my stubbornness . . . next time, a swift kick will do.
On the topic of collaboration and new skills, Blake and I worked together on the invitations and programs for the gala. My interest and abilities with photography and Adobe Photoshop were rekindled while working on these projects… which remind me that the gala is EVEN CLOSER! There were a few problems we didn’t catch through editing the programs, but as Jamie said, “If that’s the worst thing to happen, we’re in good shape.” (KNOCK ON WOOD!)
The photos for the gala are in, and spiffy at that! Adam Wilson was hiding his awesome photography capabilities all semester! Some of the best photos we have are from the state game with the Owls, and our audio gentlemen in the studios. I really hope everyone enjoys them.
As I type, Adam and Dan are pulling one of many over-nighters in Sursa for the second week in a row. They top my list of favorite people, and have probably the toughest job of all because they have to wait for the rest of us before they can finish their work. I have complete faith in them, and will never pass up bringing the cherry scented lotion for their cracked hands and chocolate coffee for rejuvenation.
Last kudos go to Sarah Marty and Michael Straub who lent us their time in finishing up this project. I can’t wait to see your work with our final presentation.
. . . bed.
The gala is . . . technically, well, tomorrow. The butterflies are more than hardcore now, and even though I am home, I still cannot manage to let my brain rest.
I feel so much for our editors who have been working so hard in the cave, and I have complete trust in their abilities to turn out a film that is guaranteed to turn heads. They truly are the core of this project, and I don't know where we would be without their talent, commitment, and patience. We could not ask for more.
Today was an eye-opener. Everyone has been talking about immersive learning and what it is like to collaborate this entire semester, and I guess I just took it as a given. I thought, “Of course, we have to work together. We are together all the time." Today, I realized I have to be open to others. Yes, I have been teaming up with others for weeks, but I have always tried to do things the way I envision them, and haven’t really gotten past that until today.
The Behind-the-Scenes Documentary crew has mainly consisted of Kristen, Samantha Davis, and me for the better part of the semester. We were assigned to do a piece in the early weeks and just kind of were . . . in charge from then on. With other committees and commitments outside of the project, I have been spread pretty thin giving me limited knowledge/focus about the project with the two them. With the gala nearing and other projects wrapping up, I have been able to spend more time with them, but am extremely behind on the keyboarding/editing skills they have acquired. Long story short, I went in with different ideas and skill sets, and I quickly became frustrated. After talking with Laura and Kristen, I realized my frustrations (with myself and the BTS documentary) only made the situation more difficult.
The skills I am learning, no matter how minute they might seem compared to my peers, are those I might not have learned otherwise. So, again, I thank them for their patience in teaching me and putting up with my stubbornness . . . next time, a swift kick will do.
On the topic of collaboration and new skills, Blake and I worked together on the invitations and programs for the gala. My interest and abilities with photography and Adobe Photoshop were rekindled while working on these projects… which remind me that the gala is EVEN CLOSER! There were a few problems we didn’t catch through editing the programs, but as Jamie said, “If that’s the worst thing to happen, we’re in good shape.” (KNOCK ON WOOD!)
The photos for the gala are in, and spiffy at that! Adam Wilson was hiding his awesome photography capabilities all semester! Some of the best photos we have are from the state game with the Owls, and our audio gentlemen in the studios. I really hope everyone enjoys them.
As I type, Adam and Dan are pulling one of many over-nighters in Sursa for the second week in a row. They top my list of favorite people, and have probably the toughest job of all because they have to wait for the rest of us before they can finish their work. I have complete faith in them, and will never pass up bringing the cherry scented lotion for their cracked hands and chocolate coffee for rejuvenation.
Last kudos go to Sarah Marty and Michael Straub who lent us their time in finishing up this project. I can’t wait to see your work with our final presentation.
. . . bed.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
A Non-committee Comes Together
So here's the final count. We have 87 hours of footage, about 55 of which are interviews. The movie is going to be about 45 minutes long. I hope you're thinking, ". . . how?" Because it was no easy feat.
The people in charge of carving the story out of the countless hours of footage have throughout this process been known as the narrative committee. Although I feel it incumbent upon myself to note that it was more of a narrative "non-committee." Throughout the entire semester there has never been a set group of people who collectively comprised the narrative committee. It was whoever felt strongly about it that week, with of course about 5 regulars. As this is a student-led project and we are all on the same level, no one of us could really turn another one down who was interested in helping, even if it was a scattered showing. The fact that all 17 students are so strongly invested in one story has been the most amazing and equally challenging aspect of this project. But fear not! We did manage. It just took . . . a little bit longer.
We tried a couple of different organizational ideas and finally landed on the most effective to date about 3 weeks ago. Every single reel of footage was assigned to someone on the narrative "committee" (on average about 10 people), which means each of us had about 8 or 9 reels to either watch fully or review the transcripts. In doing this everyone was supposed to find the golden quotes and place them into an appropriate place within the rough script outline posted on our group's personal (wiki) website. It got a little crazy sometimes, and I'm sure not all of the quotes were golden, but in the end everyone did their work. Now, two days away from the premiere, I've seen our work together (thanks to the editors) and I'm very impressed that so many minds can do individual work and it can come together so organically. I'm very proud of our work.
The people in charge of carving the story out of the countless hours of footage have throughout this process been known as the narrative committee. Although I feel it incumbent upon myself to note that it was more of a narrative "non-committee." Throughout the entire semester there has never been a set group of people who collectively comprised the narrative committee. It was whoever felt strongly about it that week, with of course about 5 regulars. As this is a student-led project and we are all on the same level, no one of us could really turn another one down who was interested in helping, even if it was a scattered showing. The fact that all 17 students are so strongly invested in one story has been the most amazing and equally challenging aspect of this project. But fear not! We did manage. It just took . . . a little bit longer.
We tried a couple of different organizational ideas and finally landed on the most effective to date about 3 weeks ago. Every single reel of footage was assigned to someone on the narrative "committee" (on average about 10 people), which means each of us had about 8 or 9 reels to either watch fully or review the transcripts. In doing this everyone was supposed to find the golden quotes and place them into an appropriate place within the rough script outline posted on our group's personal (wiki) website. It got a little crazy sometimes, and I'm sure not all of the quotes were golden, but in the end everyone did their work. Now, two days away from the premiere, I've seen our work together (thanks to the editors) and I'm very impressed that so many minds can do individual work and it can come together so organically. I'm very proud of our work.
Monday, December 3, 2007
3...2...1...
There are only three days left until our showcase. To think, just three months ago, we began this project, and it all comes down to these last few days. There has been a shift in urgency in all of us, but, at this stage, there are only a few specific tasks to be complete, namely editing and scoring. Both the t-commies and music tech people are working to finish their respective pieces, while working together to ensure cohesion between the two projects.
One challenge to this goal is that Evan, Audrey, Blake, and Jon have been working here at the mansion, while Dan and Adam have been at the music building using the recording studios. This distance makes it difficult at times to collaborate effectively, as Dan and Adam need to see what they are scoring. As a result, there are lots of trips between the two buildings to transfer files and get a general sense of what each team is working on.
For those of us without a lot of the technical expertise needed to edit or score, we have been trying our best to fill in where possible. It has certainly been a source of frustration to know there is a tremendous amount of work to be done, but to not be able to directly contribute to completing that work. A few people have complained of feeling useless or like they aren’t doing anything. In all honesty though, at this point, there are a limited number of things that can be done and a limited amount of people that can effectively complete those tasks. The situation is a conundrum, because we want to make sure that the editors and musicians have everything they need to do their job, but we don't want to be in the way of that process either.
With seventeen of us, as we have found throughout the semester, it is far too easy to have too many cooks in the kitchen. We try to help out by finding scenes or quotes to fill in our story. Others provide a fresh eye and mind to the editors as they piece together sequences, while others have been around to offer support and boost morale.
Some of the general moods I sense around the mansion are panic, frustration, anxiety, and hope. In three days, all of those emotions will melt away with a huge sigh of relief as we sit back and watch our film with a deserved sense of pride.
One challenge to this goal is that Evan, Audrey, Blake, and Jon have been working here at the mansion, while Dan and Adam have been at the music building using the recording studios. This distance makes it difficult at times to collaborate effectively, as Dan and Adam need to see what they are scoring. As a result, there are lots of trips between the two buildings to transfer files and get a general sense of what each team is working on.
For those of us without a lot of the technical expertise needed to edit or score, we have been trying our best to fill in where possible. It has certainly been a source of frustration to know there is a tremendous amount of work to be done, but to not be able to directly contribute to completing that work. A few people have complained of feeling useless or like they aren’t doing anything. In all honesty though, at this point, there are a limited number of things that can be done and a limited amount of people that can effectively complete those tasks. The situation is a conundrum, because we want to make sure that the editors and musicians have everything they need to do their job, but we don't want to be in the way of that process either.
With seventeen of us, as we have found throughout the semester, it is far too easy to have too many cooks in the kitchen. We try to help out by finding scenes or quotes to fill in our story. Others provide a fresh eye and mind to the editors as they piece together sequences, while others have been around to offer support and boost morale.
Some of the general moods I sense around the mansion are panic, frustration, anxiety, and hope. In three days, all of those emotions will melt away with a huge sigh of relief as we sit back and watch our film with a deserved sense of pride.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
He built WHAT?
Some of us have been spending some pretty crazy hours at the mansion lately. Last night, I arrived around back in around 10:30 pm and headed upstairs to the East Parlor, where my office is located. As I approached, I heard power tools and smelled sawdust; for a couple of terrifying moments, I thought that one of my students had finally snapped, and s/he was taking out pent-up frustrations on the lovely hardwood floors or the VBC furniture. All I could think was, "Donna (our office manager) is going to kill me!"
Rounding the corner, I found that the ever-resourceful Blake was in the process of building a teleprompter. Yes, folks. Building. A teleprompter. A few days ago the TCOM kids worked up this incredibly brilliant scheme to make it look like folks were speaking directly into the camera while they read the text of Title IX; they inverted the text (backwards) on a laptop screen, which they then set up beneath the camera, and they used a mirror over the laptop (and under the camera) to reflect the words back to the subject being filmed. Apparently, that wasn't enough for Blake, who returned from Menards armed with enough materials to actually construct a base and frame to hold the laptop and the mirror.
Forty minutes later, Blake was calmly vacuuming up sawdust and the new apparatus was ready for shooting the next day. My point is simply this: that one of the best things about this semester for me is watching the students identify what they need, think through the problem, and then find ways to CREATE solutions. It's not unlike watching Dan and Adam match musical themes to bits of film, or watching the narrative team piece together a story out of a million jigsaw pieces of footage we have shot, or watching the students brainstorm ways to visualize an abstract concept that we want to convey in the film. I was just surprised that this time the problem-solving was so, well, tangible.
Given our struggles with finding an HD projector for the gala screening, I am half-convinced that I will come in tomorrow night and find Blake building one of those, too. . .
Rounding the corner, I found that the ever-resourceful Blake was in the process of building a teleprompter. Yes, folks. Building. A teleprompter. A few days ago the TCOM kids worked up this incredibly brilliant scheme to make it look like folks were speaking directly into the camera while they read the text of Title IX; they inverted the text (backwards) on a laptop screen, which they then set up beneath the camera, and they used a mirror over the laptop (and under the camera) to reflect the words back to the subject being filmed. Apparently, that wasn't enough for Blake, who returned from Menards armed with enough materials to actually construct a base and frame to hold the laptop and the mirror.
Forty minutes later, Blake was calmly vacuuming up sawdust and the new apparatus was ready for shooting the next day. My point is simply this: that one of the best things about this semester for me is watching the students identify what they need, think through the problem, and then find ways to CREATE solutions. It's not unlike watching Dan and Adam match musical themes to bits of film, or watching the narrative team piece together a story out of a million jigsaw pieces of footage we have shot, or watching the students brainstorm ways to visualize an abstract concept that we want to convey in the film. I was just surprised that this time the problem-solving was so, well, tangible.
Given our struggles with finding an HD projector for the gala screening, I am half-convinced that I will come in tomorrow night and find Blake building one of those, too. . .
Monday, November 26, 2007
Ups and Downs...and Ups again
As the semester comes closer to its end, I find myself looking back and evaluating my experience at the Virginia Ball Center. Coming into this semester, I was very excited to have an out-of-the-classroom learning experience. I was a bit nervous about the different type of workload...one semester-long project that cannot be finished by simply cramming at the library the last week of classes. I was also anticipating the diversity of the group of people I would be working with.
My parents kept telling me that this would be a very challenging experience, but completely worth the time and effort. I actually slightly disagreed with them because I knew we had at least 15 people in our group...how challenging could it be if all the work was split up between us!?
The semester started off as good as I could have imagined. Our group got along from the start and soon developed inside jokes and positive group dynamics. I thoroughly enjoyed our class discussions that usually involved gender issues, which is one of my all-time favorite topics. I would leave our daily meetings feeling intellectually fulfilled.
As our semester progressed and we broke off into committees, the stress level of the project increased. It became my number one priority to work with the narrative committee. Many days I found myself feeling completely bogged down and full of stress from trying to develop skills and creative ideas to help produce a narrative for the film. At times, I would feel as if we were making tremendous progress...only to run into another one of the various speed bumps along the journey. Discouraging...
Finally, Finally! A skeleton narrative was produced which was followed by a storyboard. At this point, I could feel our project starting to really come together...there was an end product in sight and we would successfully accomplish our goal.
We have had to place together interview clips/voiceover, visuals, and narration to fit into our storyboard. This required the time-consuming process of going through each and every reel of footage (85 discs to be exact) and recording timecodes for each clip. When I saw the rough cut of the documentary last week, I felt very proud of our work... and thankful that I had been motivated enough to sit at my computer for 13 hours straight the previous day/night in order to give the editors more clips.
I saw clips throughout the documentary that I had personally chosen and it made me feel great inside. It really showed me that all of our hard work throughout the semester has been worth it. If I felt that incredible sense of accomplishment from seeing the rough cut, I cannot wait to feel the sense of pride when we show our final product on Dec. 6!
To sum up this semester in one sentence...
This semester has been the most stressful and challenging educational experience of my life thus far, but the development of skills and sense of accomplishment have been completely worth the time and effort.
Looks like my parents were right...again!
My parents kept telling me that this would be a very challenging experience, but completely worth the time and effort. I actually slightly disagreed with them because I knew we had at least 15 people in our group...how challenging could it be if all the work was split up between us!?
The semester started off as good as I could have imagined. Our group got along from the start and soon developed inside jokes and positive group dynamics. I thoroughly enjoyed our class discussions that usually involved gender issues, which is one of my all-time favorite topics. I would leave our daily meetings feeling intellectually fulfilled.
As our semester progressed and we broke off into committees, the stress level of the project increased. It became my number one priority to work with the narrative committee. Many days I found myself feeling completely bogged down and full of stress from trying to develop skills and creative ideas to help produce a narrative for the film. At times, I would feel as if we were making tremendous progress...only to run into another one of the various speed bumps along the journey. Discouraging...
Finally, Finally! A skeleton narrative was produced which was followed by a storyboard. At this point, I could feel our project starting to really come together...there was an end product in sight and we would successfully accomplish our goal.
We have had to place together interview clips/voiceover, visuals, and narration to fit into our storyboard. This required the time-consuming process of going through each and every reel of footage (85 discs to be exact) and recording timecodes for each clip. When I saw the rough cut of the documentary last week, I felt very proud of our work... and thankful that I had been motivated enough to sit at my computer for 13 hours straight the previous day/night in order to give the editors more clips.
I saw clips throughout the documentary that I had personally chosen and it made me feel great inside. It really showed me that all of our hard work throughout the semester has been worth it. If I felt that incredible sense of accomplishment from seeing the rough cut, I cannot wait to feel the sense of pride when we show our final product on Dec. 6!
To sum up this semester in one sentence...
This semester has been the most stressful and challenging educational experience of my life thus far, but the development of skills and sense of accomplishment have been completely worth the time and effort.
Looks like my parents were right...again!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
BTS
Today Kristen and I worked for about six hours on the Behind-the-Scenes documentary. Six hours sounds like a really long time; we got one segment finished. We decided to edit together the clip about the '82 reunion, because we thought this would be a rather easy clip to put together, we have a lot of footage, and Audrey gave us some great sound bites for it.
Putting together the clip wasn't necessarily difficult, but it was rather time consuming. After we started working on the clip we realized that a lot of the B-roll footage we had wasn't that great or wasn't what we needed. That was probably what took up a majority of our time. Finally, we decided just to watch the whole reel over again to see if we had missed anything good. We did. There was some good footage on the reel that wasn't captured. No biggie, we got it and used it. It made our little segment flow a lot better.
We also got the chance to learn a few new things about Final Cut Pro. One of the major things we learned that will help us in transitions, was the cross fade. It is exciting to learn about a program that you didn't think you would be able to comprehend! I love having that feeling of accomplishment when the day is done. After several hours of working you get to sit back and watch a three minute clip that you have completely dissected and put back together again, and you get to have a moment of pride.
I get so excited when we finish just a small clip, I can't wait until we actually finish the whole Behind the Scenes! To be able to look at something you once before knew nothing about and then to conquer it and produce a great (hopefully) final product is an amazing feeling.
Putting together the clip wasn't necessarily difficult, but it was rather time consuming. After we started working on the clip we realized that a lot of the B-roll footage we had wasn't that great or wasn't what we needed. That was probably what took up a majority of our time. Finally, we decided just to watch the whole reel over again to see if we had missed anything good. We did. There was some good footage on the reel that wasn't captured. No biggie, we got it and used it. It made our little segment flow a lot better.
We also got the chance to learn a few new things about Final Cut Pro. One of the major things we learned that will help us in transitions, was the cross fade. It is exciting to learn about a program that you didn't think you would be able to comprehend! I love having that feeling of accomplishment when the day is done. After several hours of working you get to sit back and watch a three minute clip that you have completely dissected and put back together again, and you get to have a moment of pride.
I get so excited when we finish just a small clip, I can't wait until we actually finish the whole Behind the Scenes! To be able to look at something you once before knew nothing about and then to conquer it and produce a great (hopefully) final product is an amazing feeling.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Diamond in the Rough
Since our return from the University of Tennessee, we have been devoting our lives to logging, capturing clips for the storyboard, logging, editing and panicking. Did I mention logging? Our time has been spent locked in The Cave, dorm rooms and apartments at all hours -- throwing ourselves into our roles in the project.
The result, thanks to an incredible story board, was the beginning of a "rough cut" that took the story caught in 17 minds and placed it on one computer screen. We still have a lot of work to do, and I can't say how much I appreciate the editors and music boys being able to work with so little time and a crew comprised largely of non-T-com students.
Right now, our narrative script, which shows us the clips that will represent each frame of the story board, is filling out nicely and sequences are forming. Music is being mixed and placed into the film, and ambient noise is being modified.
Last night, the rough cut of the film so far was showed to members of Ball State's and the Center's faculty, and was followed by a discussion of the film's narrative. The outside opinions were helpful, giving us all a chance to step back and look at the film as, using a comparison of Fred Johnson's, a pliable sculpture. We were able to step back from the storyboard and look at new ways to shape the scenes and stories we are creating.
I think Thanksgiving break is going to be a real blessing for us. We'll be able to come back and look at the project with fresh ideas, after having days of isolation which I know at least half of us will use to stew over the project and think of new ways to use clips, new pieces of footage to include, new interviews that introduce ideas. . .
The result, thanks to an incredible story board, was the beginning of a "rough cut" that took the story caught in 17 minds and placed it on one computer screen. We still have a lot of work to do, and I can't say how much I appreciate the editors and music boys being able to work with so little time and a crew comprised largely of non-T-com students.
Right now, our narrative script, which shows us the clips that will represent each frame of the story board, is filling out nicely and sequences are forming. Music is being mixed and placed into the film, and ambient noise is being modified.
Last night, the rough cut of the film so far was showed to members of Ball State's and the Center's faculty, and was followed by a discussion of the film's narrative. The outside opinions were helpful, giving us all a chance to step back and look at the film as, using a comparison of Fred Johnson's, a pliable sculpture. We were able to step back from the storyboard and look at new ways to shape the scenes and stories we are creating.
I think Thanksgiving break is going to be a real blessing for us. We'll be able to come back and look at the project with fresh ideas, after having days of isolation which I know at least half of us will use to stew over the project and think of new ways to use clips, new pieces of footage to include, new interviews that introduce ideas. . .
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
filming, omg!
The tape count is now up to around 83. That is just over 80 hours of footage that I have helped capture with my fellow videographers. Coming into this project I had never shot any athletic event, let alone volleyball. I remember back to the Cathedral game early in the Burris Owl's season where I was trying to follow the ball and all of the action going on on the court, it wasn't easy. My skills behind the camera have definitely improved throughout this process.
I have been able to have my hands on a camera (an HD camera) any time I wanted. I have, by far, filmed more this semester than any other semester in my college career. From all the games to the interviews I have lost track of the amount of time I have spent behind the camera. The project has also brought experiences that I would have never received taking regular classes. Most recently, I had access to film the IHSAA State Finals match and be court side during a Lady Volunteers basketball game. I don't know too many students that get to be film that close during a high profile program's game. In fact, I really only know one, Blake, one of our other shooters. Even though the Lady Vols demolished their opposition by 61 points and Candace Parker didn't play very much it was still amazing to be down there (See below).
Filming for a documentary is unlike any other type of film. Although we have an idea of what we want, there isn't a script. Basically, it is essential that we are everywhere. We have to shoot as much as we can because that's where some of the most important parts of our story will come from. If we aren't there and if the camera isn't rolling we miss it and can't put it into our film.
There are around 20 more days until we have to show an end result and we still have more to film, but the major bulk of everything is done and the editing days are upon us. With that said I wonder to myself, "What were we thinking, why did we film so much?" Cutting 80 hours to around 1 hour seems daunting as I am sitting here, but we have made it as easy on ourselves as we can. We have been logging, transcribing, and picking out, from the many hours of footage, the best shots to be slipped into our editing software and eventually be cut together for a final project.
I have been able to have my hands on a camera (an HD camera) any time I wanted. I have, by far, filmed more this semester than any other semester in my college career. From all the games to the interviews I have lost track of the amount of time I have spent behind the camera. The project has also brought experiences that I would have never received taking regular classes. Most recently, I had access to film the IHSAA State Finals match and be court side during a Lady Volunteers basketball game. I don't know too many students that get to be film that close during a high profile program's game. In fact, I really only know one, Blake, one of our other shooters. Even though the Lady Vols demolished their opposition by 61 points and Candace Parker didn't play very much it was still amazing to be down there (See below).
Filming for a documentary is unlike any other type of film. Although we have an idea of what we want, there isn't a script. Basically, it is essential that we are everywhere. We have to shoot as much as we can because that's where some of the most important parts of our story will come from. If we aren't there and if the camera isn't rolling we miss it and can't put it into our film.
There are around 20 more days until we have to show an end result and we still have more to film, but the major bulk of everything is done and the editing days are upon us. With that said I wonder to myself, "What were we thinking, why did we film so much?" Cutting 80 hours to around 1 hour seems daunting as I am sitting here, but we have made it as easy on ourselves as we can. We have been logging, transcribing, and picking out, from the many hours of footage, the best shots to be slipped into our editing software and eventually be cut together for a final project.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Every Rose has its Thorn
Now that you have all gotten to hear about all of the great and wonderful things that happened on our trip to Tennessee, I feel that it is my duty to shed some light on some of the more challenging and frustrating aspects of a trip, and a project, like ours. This is in no way intended to bring negative attention to the trip or anyone involved. It is merely a way for us to share our struggles in hopes that our mistakes, or even those things which were out of our control, can be avoided in the future.
The first thing that pops into my mind when I begin to list the challenges that we experienced is simply the matter of group dynamics and how those dynamics become amplified the longer a group is together. Anyone who has been on a vacation or trip with several people will immediately know what I'm talking about. I'm sure we can all remember those family vacations when mom and dad would threaten to "pull the car over right now" if those in the back seat didn't start behaving. Although our troubles were a little more valid than the childish pestering that goes on in most back seats, we still all have personalities and when they are forced to be together for five straight days they will clash. I don't know that there is really a method for handling this type of challenge because every person handles it differently. However, I feel it was the first and most important challenge that we had to deal with because it could have kept us from accomplishing our goals for the trip. The best way we combated this was to have moments when we could completely forget about the project and just enjoy being together. It helped us realize that our problems were not really with each other but stemmed from frustration and anxiety about the project.
The second challenge we had to deal with was the unfamiliar surroundings. My classmates have talked about the beauty of the campus and how impressive many of the campus structures and buildings were. However, when it came time to set up the camera and do an interview we weren't able to pick and choose where we wanted people to be or the places with the most photogenic backgrounds. Our interviewees were gracious enough to give us their time, so we wanted to go where it was convenient for them. In our main interview room we found ourselves overturning a table with the Lady Vols logo on it for our background. The sound was a whole other animal as the traffic and the campus' apparently robust public transportation system were always nearby. At one point a crew of men carrying leaf blowers walked right by our interview room at which point I began to suspect sabotage. However, in the overall scheme of a one hour interview, a few moments of train whistles and car engines won't ruin all of the footage.
The last challenge is time management, and it is one that we have been dealing with, not just on the trip, but throughout the project. However, as I said earlier, minor issues are greatly magnified when seventeen people try to travel together. With that large of a group, something as simple as going to the grocery store becomes a trip that requires five phone calls to plan. These little stresses really began to pile up over the course of the week along with the added stress of our ever-shrinking time frame. If there is one thing I learned this past week its that no matter how well you plan and communicate, something will go wrong, someone will not be informed, and you have to move on and just deal with it.
I think as a group we did an amazing job of rolling with the punches. Even if we knew we couldn't quite make lemonade with our lemons, we were at least going to get lemon flavored water. I think the fact that I am able to think back on the trip with such a humorous tone says a lot for our ability to overcome the challenges and obstacles that we faced. I hope to see you all on December sixth so we can fully share this semesters experiences with you.
-Mahalo
The first thing that pops into my mind when I begin to list the challenges that we experienced is simply the matter of group dynamics and how those dynamics become amplified the longer a group is together. Anyone who has been on a vacation or trip with several people will immediately know what I'm talking about. I'm sure we can all remember those family vacations when mom and dad would threaten to "pull the car over right now" if those in the back seat didn't start behaving. Although our troubles were a little more valid than the childish pestering that goes on in most back seats, we still all have personalities and when they are forced to be together for five straight days they will clash. I don't know that there is really a method for handling this type of challenge because every person handles it differently. However, I feel it was the first and most important challenge that we had to deal with because it could have kept us from accomplishing our goals for the trip. The best way we combated this was to have moments when we could completely forget about the project and just enjoy being together. It helped us realize that our problems were not really with each other but stemmed from frustration and anxiety about the project.
The second challenge we had to deal with was the unfamiliar surroundings. My classmates have talked about the beauty of the campus and how impressive many of the campus structures and buildings were. However, when it came time to set up the camera and do an interview we weren't able to pick and choose where we wanted people to be or the places with the most photogenic backgrounds. Our interviewees were gracious enough to give us their time, so we wanted to go where it was convenient for them. In our main interview room we found ourselves overturning a table with the Lady Vols logo on it for our background. The sound was a whole other animal as the traffic and the campus' apparently robust public transportation system were always nearby. At one point a crew of men carrying leaf blowers walked right by our interview room at which point I began to suspect sabotage. However, in the overall scheme of a one hour interview, a few moments of train whistles and car engines won't ruin all of the footage.
The last challenge is time management, and it is one that we have been dealing with, not just on the trip, but throughout the project. However, as I said earlier, minor issues are greatly magnified when seventeen people try to travel together. With that large of a group, something as simple as going to the grocery store becomes a trip that requires five phone calls to plan. These little stresses really began to pile up over the course of the week along with the added stress of our ever-shrinking time frame. If there is one thing I learned this past week its that no matter how well you plan and communicate, something will go wrong, someone will not be informed, and you have to move on and just deal with it.
I think as a group we did an amazing job of rolling with the punches. Even if we knew we couldn't quite make lemonade with our lemons, we were at least going to get lemon flavored water. I think the fact that I am able to think back on the trip with such a humorous tone says a lot for our ability to overcome the challenges and obstacles that we faced. I hope to see you all on December sixth so we can fully share this semesters experiences with you.
-Mahalo
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Immersive Learning = Unexplored Territory
Ball State makes all of its campus tour guides memorize the definition of immersive learning. How do I know this? Because I am a tour guide myself. Of course, being three months into a bona fide immersive learning experience, I felt no need to memorize the printed text. On tours I just talk about my experience. But I always think to myself, the other tour guides must be very befuddled when trying to elaborate.
I sometimes find it difficult to explain exactly what it is. Not the project, mind you. Give me two minutes and I'll explain our (broad) project goal. Give me three minutes and I'll read you Ball State's immersive learning definition. But ask me about the heart and effects of immersive learning and you'll be sitting a while. But don't worry! I'll just hit some high points here.
My parents never had to light a fire under me to get me to work. I get the feeling the other 16 group members (all of whom I met at the start of the term) would tell you the same thing. But immersive learning has brought me onto an entirely new and, thus far, unexplored level of motivation. There are no tests and very few mandatory class meeting times. Yet, I find myself waking up at 9 in the morning on days when nothing is on the schedule, working for hours on tasks I assigned myself. No one tells me to do probably about 90% of the work I do. I just do it. And I know I'm not the only one. There is something about an atmosphere where 17 talented and motivated people have been thrown together knowing that the university has invested money and so many other resources in our work. Everyone wants to create something extraordinary. Everyone wants to leave their mark. And everyone cares. That's my favorite part: everyone cares.
In summary, immersive learning is this: As we move along in the semester, the bar just keeps raising higher. And the coolest thing? No authority figure, no parent, no outsider is doing that. We the students are raising the bar ourselves.
I sometimes find it difficult to explain exactly what it is. Not the project, mind you. Give me two minutes and I'll explain our (broad) project goal. Give me three minutes and I'll read you Ball State's immersive learning definition. But ask me about the heart and effects of immersive learning and you'll be sitting a while. But don't worry! I'll just hit some high points here.
My parents never had to light a fire under me to get me to work. I get the feeling the other 16 group members (all of whom I met at the start of the term) would tell you the same thing. But immersive learning has brought me onto an entirely new and, thus far, unexplored level of motivation. There are no tests and very few mandatory class meeting times. Yet, I find myself waking up at 9 in the morning on days when nothing is on the schedule, working for hours on tasks I assigned myself. No one tells me to do probably about 90% of the work I do. I just do it. And I know I'm not the only one. There is something about an atmosphere where 17 talented and motivated people have been thrown together knowing that the university has invested money and so many other resources in our work. Everyone wants to create something extraordinary. Everyone wants to leave their mark. And everyone cares. That's my favorite part: everyone cares.
In summary, immersive learning is this: As we move along in the semester, the bar just keeps raising higher. And the coolest thing? No authority figure, no parent, no outsider is doing that. We the students are raising the bar ourselves.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I totally dominated Final Cut Pro!
Yep, you read right. The philosophy/psychology major has mastered professional editing software. Well, maybe I didn't master it, but it feels like I did! This past week I spent most of my time working with Teri and Samantha D on the behind-the-scenes documentary. During the all-nighter we started to pull together all of the footage of the class that has been taken thus far. We soon realized that while we had lots of footage of classmates doing things, we didn't have anyone talking about our project. We decided at that point to do a couple interviews with Aaron L. and Rachel. We also created a list of all the subjects that we needed people to speak on so that we can 1) use the footage we already have and 2) create a documentary that is representative of our creative process. At this point we want to interview our classmates on the subjects of interviewing, the reunion, the Tennessee trip, frustrations with the project, learning new skills, our own attempts at playing volleyball, and our enhanced appreciation and excitement for Burris volleyball. I'm sure we will add more subjects as the semester progresses.
On Wednesday, Samantha D. and I discovered that Kecia expected a clip of the behind-the-scenes documentary by next Tuesday. We looked at the mess before us and decided there was no way to we could create a trailer that hit on all the subjects that we wanted to cover. We had been working intensely on a small section devoted to the all-nighter narrative meeting and came up with the idea to just focus on that section for the Tuesday screening. It was very important to us to create a trailer with structure as we need to get used to envisioning the project, itself, as a story. We added an introduction and a nice wrap up, as well as a few surprises of which I am quite proud. By the time we were finished we had created a trailer with a little story line and even some music.
The completion of a 3 minute and 42 second trailer might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for me it was. I had spent most of the semester completely avoiding anything associated with technology. I was convinced that I would break or mess up any of the great work that was being done by my more technologically savvy classmates. Tackling this fear was a huge achievement for me. I also experienced the reward that comes from creating something tangible. Most of my college experience has been spent reading and writing papers. A whole semester may result in one paper that I actually like, but this was totally different. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I finally felt like I had something to show for all of the work I (and the others) had done. It is simply different from turning in a paper at the end of the year, or giving a presentation. I was so excited about what I had completed that I told everyone I saw and even called my mom. That's something I have never experienced with a good paper and it's awesome. I can't wait to continue working on this part of the project!
**And thanks to everyone who popped in and imparted some of their wisdom on us: Adam, Dan, Aaron L., Blake, Laura Huffman, and anyone else I have forgotten**
On Wednesday, Samantha D. and I discovered that Kecia expected a clip of the behind-the-scenes documentary by next Tuesday. We looked at the mess before us and decided there was no way to we could create a trailer that hit on all the subjects that we wanted to cover. We had been working intensely on a small section devoted to the all-nighter narrative meeting and came up with the idea to just focus on that section for the Tuesday screening. It was very important to us to create a trailer with structure as we need to get used to envisioning the project, itself, as a story. We added an introduction and a nice wrap up, as well as a few surprises of which I am quite proud. By the time we were finished we had created a trailer with a little story line and even some music.
The completion of a 3 minute and 42 second trailer might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for me it was. I had spent most of the semester completely avoiding anything associated with technology. I was convinced that I would break or mess up any of the great work that was being done by my more technologically savvy classmates. Tackling this fear was a huge achievement for me. I also experienced the reward that comes from creating something tangible. Most of my college experience has been spent reading and writing papers. A whole semester may result in one paper that I actually like, but this was totally different. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I finally felt like I had something to show for all of the work I (and the others) had done. It is simply different from turning in a paper at the end of the year, or giving a presentation. I was so excited about what I had completed that I told everyone I saw and even called my mom. That's something I have never experienced with a good paper and it's awesome. I can't wait to continue working on this part of the project!
**And thanks to everyone who popped in and imparted some of their wisdom on us: Adam, Dan, Aaron L., Blake, Laura Huffman, and anyone else I have forgotten**
Friday, October 19, 2007
All-Nighters and Boxed Webs
This week the group and I decided that we needed to sit down and hammer out more of a narrative for the film. Since we are college kids, we decided to do this in the form of an all- nighter at the mansion. (Because really, who wouldn't want to sleep at the mansion??) Most of us congregated between 7 and 8 with food, and started talking about the plan for the rest of the evening.
Once we had more of an organized game plan, we watched a couple of the interviews together while we finished our late dinners, then began coming up with sub-groups and categories. These were branches of our big themes such as gender, community, and sports. We all decided we needed to be more specific and came up with many sub-topics to focus on. After this we ventured up into the creepy 3rd floor and started designing our "box web". We started with Burris history and branched off from there. We also made lists of follow up interviews we want, interviews we have yet to get, and other footage we need to make a good movie.
While some of the narrative team was in the attic, other members of the group were working on the behind-the-scenes documentary while our musicians were composing a song for the film. Both made very good progress. Kristen, Teri and Samantha had clips to show us throughout the night, and interviewed Aaron L. and myself so they could incorporate sound bytes into their film. I have yet to force myself to work on editing with the Final Cut Pro, so I have a lot of respect for those that have sat down and learned it. And as for the musicians, we could hear the drumming all the way in the attic. It amazes me how they can complete a song in one night.
After descending from the attic, the Aarons went on a pizza run to keep the rest of us fed and motivated. The narrative team watched and read through interviews, finding the parts that we found insightful as well as fitting into the narrative topics we had just layed out. This was more difficult then I thought it would be. Nearly every interview has so many good sound bytes within it. This makes it difficult to choose just a few from each person.Around midnight some people started trickling out because of work or meetings in the morning. Others stayed and kept working until about 2 a.m.
After that our productivity went a little down, but those of us that were left listened to Adam and Dan's newest song. Then we had a little drum circle/jam session which helped keep up our spirits. We slept (ghost free) for about four hours, claiming both couches and floor space.
The first of what I can only imagine will be many all-nighters was incredibly successful. We showed Kecia our web the next morning, and she seemed pleased with our work. She also listened to the new song which she enjoyed. I learned that many of us work a lot better at night and it's when many of us are free since our jobs fill our daytime hours. The narrative keeps coming further and further and I can't wait to see the final product.
Rachel
Once we had more of an organized game plan, we watched a couple of the interviews together while we finished our late dinners, then began coming up with sub-groups and categories. These were branches of our big themes such as gender, community, and sports. We all decided we needed to be more specific and came up with many sub-topics to focus on. After this we ventured up into the creepy 3rd floor and started designing our "box web". We started with Burris history and branched off from there. We also made lists of follow up interviews we want, interviews we have yet to get, and other footage we need to make a good movie.
While some of the narrative team was in the attic, other members of the group were working on the behind-the-scenes documentary while our musicians were composing a song for the film. Both made very good progress. Kristen, Teri and Samantha had clips to show us throughout the night, and interviewed Aaron L. and myself so they could incorporate sound bytes into their film. I have yet to force myself to work on editing with the Final Cut Pro, so I have a lot of respect for those that have sat down and learned it. And as for the musicians, we could hear the drumming all the way in the attic. It amazes me how they can complete a song in one night.
After descending from the attic, the Aarons went on a pizza run to keep the rest of us fed and motivated. The narrative team watched and read through interviews, finding the parts that we found insightful as well as fitting into the narrative topics we had just layed out. This was more difficult then I thought it would be. Nearly every interview has so many good sound bytes within it. This makes it difficult to choose just a few from each person.Around midnight some people started trickling out because of work or meetings in the morning. Others stayed and kept working until about 2 a.m.
After that our productivity went a little down, but those of us that were left listened to Adam and Dan's newest song. Then we had a little drum circle/jam session which helped keep up our spirits. We slept (ghost free) for about four hours, claiming both couches and floor space.
The first of what I can only imagine will be many all-nighters was incredibly successful. We showed Kecia our web the next morning, and she seemed pleased with our work. She also listened to the new song which she enjoyed. I learned that many of us work a lot better at night and it's when many of us are free since our jobs fill our daytime hours. The narrative keeps coming further and further and I can't wait to see the final product.
Rachel
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
My New View of Volleyball
If you had asked me what I thought I would gain from this project, I would not have said an interest for volleyball. I’m not much of a sporty person, at least that’s the evidence of my past, but I have fallen into the net so to speak.
Many interviews I’ve seen and read, whether from teachers at Burris or parents of players, seemed to express the same surprising change. Volleyball wasn’t on their radar until they saw the Burris women play. Perhaps any sport, if it has the skill and drive set into its foundation, will gather a community around it. Or is it a supportive connected community that fosters a successful sport?
Either way, watching Burris volleyball was an experience I was not expecting. In particular I am thinking of the Central versus Burris game. Wowee. Instead of yawning like I did at high school football games, I was anxiously wringing my hands.
It was really interesting to see a contrast from the intensity of the biggest game of the season to seeing Steve’s 5th grade gym practice. He worked on the basics with the kids. These kids were so organized and attentive, it seemed as though Steve’s focus infected everyone in the room. My gym classes were rather scattered and not very productive. I never learned a drill or skill, just that I couldn’t do a chin up.
Although being a spectator is a blast, I am very glad that everyone is doing such a good job of logging all our footage because stopping play by play to type what happened can be taxing. But transcribing and reading all our hours of footage so far is like the practice for our documentary. If we keep the focus and dedication during these “drills,” our biggest event will be a wonder to watch.
Many interviews I’ve seen and read, whether from teachers at Burris or parents of players, seemed to express the same surprising change. Volleyball wasn’t on their radar until they saw the Burris women play. Perhaps any sport, if it has the skill and drive set into its foundation, will gather a community around it. Or is it a supportive connected community that fosters a successful sport?
Either way, watching Burris volleyball was an experience I was not expecting. In particular I am thinking of the Central versus Burris game. Wowee. Instead of yawning like I did at high school football games, I was anxiously wringing my hands.
It was really interesting to see a contrast from the intensity of the biggest game of the season to seeing Steve’s 5th grade gym practice. He worked on the basics with the kids. These kids were so organized and attentive, it seemed as though Steve’s focus infected everyone in the room. My gym classes were rather scattered and not very productive. I never learned a drill or skill, just that I couldn’t do a chin up.
Although being a spectator is a blast, I am very glad that everyone is doing such a good job of logging all our footage because stopping play by play to type what happened can be taxing. But transcribing and reading all our hours of footage so far is like the practice for our documentary. If we keep the focus and dedication during these “drills,” our biggest event will be a wonder to watch.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
New Experiences
They told me when I joined the Virginia Ball Center, that I would learn lots of new skills. Until this week, I never really thought much about that, but then I did my first interviews. Before going too far, you must realize that I haven't done any filmed interviews since I was in high school. Even then, they were just with my friends and we were just screwing around with a camera. I know, we didn't always make the best of our time in high school T-Com classes, but by God, at least we had fun!
Having finished my first VBC interviews and looked at some of the footage, I'm really surprised with how easy it actually is to complete a real interview; it's actually quite painless. I was worried for the longest time that it was going to be a long complicated process that would take all day, but it was quick and easy to do. My first interviews were with Coach Carr and Reese Peacock, and I couldn't have made a better choice for my first interviewees. They were nice, very easy-going, and gave us all some very good footage to use. Setting up for the interview was also a breeze. For the first one, we basically just went outside and pointed the camera at a shady spot under a big tree. It made for an interesting shot and an easy one to use. As for Reese's interview, it was a little bit more difficult in that we had lights to set up, but overall it was nearly as easy.
Looking ahead, I'm now very excited for more interviews and I was actually quite disappointed about today's interview being canceled. I know there will be more interviews and I'm sure I'll be sick of them by the end of the semester, but for right now I'm just excited. I only hope my excitement doesn't get the best of me or make my fellow VBCers too annoyed. ...Nah, they love me!
Having finished my first VBC interviews and looked at some of the footage, I'm really surprised with how easy it actually is to complete a real interview; it's actually quite painless. I was worried for the longest time that it was going to be a long complicated process that would take all day, but it was quick and easy to do. My first interviews were with Coach Carr and Reese Peacock, and I couldn't have made a better choice for my first interviewees. They were nice, very easy-going, and gave us all some very good footage to use. Setting up for the interview was also a breeze. For the first one, we basically just went outside and pointed the camera at a shady spot under a big tree. It made for an interesting shot and an easy one to use. As for Reese's interview, it was a little bit more difficult in that we had lights to set up, but overall it was nearly as easy.
Looking ahead, I'm now very excited for more interviews and I was actually quite disappointed about today's interview being canceled. I know there will be more interviews and I'm sure I'll be sick of them by the end of the semester, but for right now I'm just excited. I only hope my excitement doesn't get the best of me or make my fellow VBCers too annoyed. ...Nah, they love me!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Grasping Immersive Learning
When I was asked to write what my experience of immersive learning was like so far, I started with a simile. Most learning I have done is like being on a cruise boat with binoculars. You can see the glaciers and whales from a distance as a person drones on from the speakers about the cold hard facts. Immersive learning is like scuba diving. I’ve never done it, but it’s a lot more dangerous than being on the deck of a boat and you have a lot more responsibility.
So I’m a little out of my comfort zone carrying ominous anxieties. The “what ifs” are a bit heavy on my mind. What if I don’t make my mark on the project? What if I can't keep a balance of my on deck activities and my scuba diving adventures?
At the beginning the VBC was more like snorkeling than scuba diving. As a class we were peering at the project we were going to submerge ourselves in and learning new skills like interviewing and different types of narratives for documentaries. We were researching the history of Burris, the history of volleyball, and Title IX. Now we are working on taking our knowledge and transforming it into a tangible object. We are beginning to scuba dive and I have a feeling it’s going to be a whale of a time.
So I’m a little out of my comfort zone carrying ominous anxieties. The “what ifs” are a bit heavy on my mind. What if I don’t make my mark on the project? What if I can't keep a balance of my on deck activities and my scuba diving adventures?
At the beginning the VBC was more like snorkeling than scuba diving. As a class we were peering at the project we were going to submerge ourselves in and learning new skills like interviewing and different types of narratives for documentaries. We were researching the history of Burris, the history of volleyball, and Title IX. Now we are working on taking our knowledge and transforming it into a tangible object. We are beginning to scuba dive and I have a feeling it’s going to be a whale of a time.
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