individual evaluation

In semester two, we were told that we have to create a project for the course digital media foundations. I was looking forward to the group work where we could apply the theories we learned this year to create something practical. Due to this, students could see the link between theories and practical work. Furthermore the teamwork made us achieve new skills needed for media studies, such as individual research, working with different media and planning, all whilst keeping the project’s goal in mind. In the following text I am going to analyze how all these points added to our video’s outcome and in how far they still apply or changed during the process.

            First of all, I will quickly outline our project’s goal to explain its advantages and disadvantages for the target audience. The video we were creating over the past weeks has a simple but important message we wanted to share with people; it is a story about how one often goes through life without noticing the beauty of it. The end is supposed to tell people that they have to be positive about changes in order to end up happy. At first we thought that the target audience could be anyone but after having done some brainstorming we realized that children would probably not get the depth of it, although they will surely enjoy the interaction of the video. The target audience is therefore rather for people established in life or young people who feel unsatisfied with the path they are taking in life. At first users might need some time to understand the project’s meaning but they can surely identify themselves with the main character at times as people tend to get stuck between work, money and stress and forget about the important things. The video is about routine and how to get out of it and although it may not realistically help people to achieve this, it can push them to think about their lives which is the first step to change.

            From the beginning on the roles in the group were clearly defined. Lotti did the background drawings, I sketched the character and Mai edited them in Photoshop and put them together, so that we could get started with Flash and work on the moving picture. When all the drawings were done, we divided work again and decided that Lotti and I would create the buttons for the interactive part and Mai put the motion picture together.  Problems appeared when it came to creating the shop, outside and inside, with Photoshop as we wanted it to look as professional as possible and did not imagined it to be so hard to create something when you have a clear vision in your head. The time was another problem because in a group one has always to adapt to others and we underestimated the project at first. However we turned out to be a good group, we worked together, listened to each other and thus managed to get everything done in time and achieved to create something we are all satisfied with.

            Furthermore this project made us aware of how important the link between theories and practical work is. Without the knowledge of different media, we would not have been able to create such a project and hence, the use of tutorials, explaining articles and lectures form the basis of our video and were inevitable. The project does not only rely on theoretical knowledge mixed with practical skills, it also reflects cultural theory by dealing with today’s society. The fact that a video wants to make people aware of their way of living relates to the contemporary generation, viewing everything through a medium, even their lives. We decided to make an interactive video because it is a current media trend and the most popular way to get users’ attention these days. Moreover it combines a lot of theoretical knowledge we gained this year such as the use of Photoshop, Adobe Flash, stop motion and cultural awareness for example how media can influence the world. One can say through theories and tutorials everybody can gain practical skills and therefore those two elements are equally important in a process of creation.

            All in all, I am positive about both the development and the outcome of this project such as our individual evaluation during that process. This practical work made me enjoy media studies a lot more and I learned a lot, not only about different media, but also about teamwork and individual research. If we would have started earlier, we might have been able to improve certain aspects of the project but, considering everything, I think the project will achieve exactly what it’s meant to, as it is a simple but yet effective message.