Jules' lecture this week I found to be extremely useful. We were, each of us, split into three separate groups and given the assignment to produce a plan for the beggining, the middle, and the end of the visual essay we are all expected to hand in at the end of the year.
Afforded the ability to use whatever visual medium we think would be best, we have been set the task to essentially make a case for our choice of study (our pathway) next year. When I first heard this my mind was instantly sparked with creative energy, and still is. I am extremely excited about the project, and I feel it is a great chance for me to demonstrate everything about what I aspire to do, what I have studied, who inspires me in what way, how I think about certain things, things like that.
My group was set the task of planning out a plan for the beggining of the essay. We were given the following four bulletpoints:
- What and why is my Pathway choice?
- How might you get to know the challenges and opportunities in some detail? Where are the sources I might go to?
- How do I discuss my work? Specifically, how I have used research?
I more or less felt I did take charge a bit here, which I was happy to do and the group seemed happy to have happen. I began by finding out what each person in the group was leaning towards, and, unfortunately, no one was really sure. So, since I am more or less sure I shall be doing moving image, I went foreward using myself as an example, how I would plan it, and then with other people offering their opinions on my process, modifying it and adding their own thoughts on how they would like to approach it. Here is what we came up with:
- What and why is my Pathway choice?
Here I will begin by laying out exactly what it is I plan to do, and then go on to, in a very linear way, begin to describe what exactly has led me to come to this decision (excluding my three practitioners). I would begin with my experience of the subject before comming on to the course, about films I had got involved in, things I'd studied at school/college that inspired me to look further in to the subject, films I'd seen that made me want to study how to make them. From there I could move on to my course, listing specific elements from the course that had inspired me to choose what I have done, say a specific day of filming that went really well, or a really interesting lecture, or a talk/email with a relevant lecturer, some really interesting work I'd seen from third or second year work. From there I can line out perhaps a vague plan for the future, where I see myself in a few years time and how will choosing what I have done assist that. What sort of films do I want to be making? What sort of team do I want to work with? Films? Movies? Director? Behind camera? Edit?
- How might you get to know the challenges and opportunities in some detail? Where are the sources I might go to?
Here we came together to agree that lecturers would be an absolutely great place to begin finding sources. They are trained and extremely talented at critiquing student work, seeing what will and will not work. So I can ask them what sort of problems they've seen students in the past face and how they were overcame. Another great source would be students on the second and third years. Perhaps going and speaking to them about questions/concerns, asking them about problems that they may have encountered and overcame without the help of a lecturer. All of their blogs are also available on the reflective journal's page, and from there it is very easy to find out exactly what sort of work they did, with a running commentry alongside it showing you exactly what they were set, with problems they discovered along the way, and how those problems were addressed. Another few people I can think to go to would be some people I know who have left university studying a similar course a few years ago, what difficulties they faced when just leaving, how did their course help them to overcome them?
- How do I discuss my work? Specifically, how I have used research?
Here I feel is an excellent time to make use of the online journals that we have been keeping since the start of term. We can begin to discuss (again trying to keep things very linear) how, through iterative development, we have developed as students in our chosen pathway. For me, how have my films improved throughout the year? What mistakes would I go over to correct were I to do the projects again? Comments and feedback would be a good thing to use as well, especially if I can demonstrate how I have implemented solid, useful critique into the following project. It would also be excellent to encorporate the first term reviews we have recently recieved. The feedback in those is obviously invaluable, and I definitely need to be able to show how I have improved through use of this. How did I impliment it? Did it show an improvement? How do I plan to use this to further improve?
So that is the beggining of the essay planned out. I have had a few thoughts about how to present it, and I am pretty positive I would like to do it using a film. Like an extended show-reel sort of thing. I want to make it something someone would enjoy
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