“In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester. You will review this later in the course. You may rethink this dramatically – this is a good thing.” You were asked this at the beginning of the semester. Now, could you review constructively what you got from this semester – has the course lived up to your expectations, delivered what you expected, maybe even surpassed it?
As this course comes to an end, I have realized that time flies so fast. At the beginning of the semester, I haven’t really set my goal but this course has live up to my expectations. I have definitely developed my knowledge on filmmaking including editing skills. One of the examples is while watching movies sometimes I may have noticed the change in the camera angles or the camera would focus on a certain person, but I had no idea why the they did it like that. What was the purpose of that change in angle or focus? What was the director trying to convey to the audience? However since we often discussed and critically analysed parts of the film such as the camera angles and movements, lighting, music and costumes, it allows me to get a better understanding of the the elements and factors that go into making them, especially while I was doing the Lenny exercise.
Also, I have had an opportunity to work in a group for each project. Throughout the group work, I learned how to collaborate with others and share the knowledge and ideas within the group. Moreover, I had the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience from people that have more expertise than me.
From taking this class, I have learned that my preferred learning style is visual and practical. I learn best from a lot of practices that we did in the class. I remembered there was one time that Paul asked me to operate the camera in the class. I was so nervous and a bit insecure at that time because I rarely used the camera and I didn’t know much about it. But I want to thank Paul for that because from that moment, I got a deeper understanding about the details of the camera and how to properly operate the camera.
In the end, it was a great experience and it was really fun working with an awesome group of people. I enjoyed learning how to operate a camera, analysing a scene, reflecting upon the exercises that we did in class. Also, I’m glad that they appreciate the process more than the result. Hopefully I will be able to use the skills that I gained from this course in media industry later on.
Veronica Onggoro 