Past, Present, and Future—A self-reflection

Well, this leg of my multimedia journey is now over. Hopefully, it’s the beginning a new chapter in a novel and not the end of another short story; a prologue instead of a fin. I quite enjoy doing this blog, and really want it to stick. However, I think that some problems which I’ll have to give some serious thought to. I’ll address them at the end of the post though. But for now, let’s see how this particular odyssey has progressed over the course of the semester

Past

Thinking back to when I joined COJO 3530, my expectations where that I was going to learn how to use various audio-video equipment, create different kinds of audio/video media, and edit them on a basic level. I can safely say that those expectations were met and somewhat exceeded. According to my first blog, I was looking forward to breaking out my camera equipment again and fine tuning my writing skills. These goals were also met.

Reviewing that first post, I think I come across as trying to push away from the more journalistic side of writing. In hindsight, I believe I leaned pretty heavily on it, especially in my fourth blog about 7220 Entertainment. It’s odd; my minor is in Public Relations, and therefore I should be good in writing it. However, I feel myself becoming worn down by the feeling that the PR style of writing is dry. Or perhaps it’s something else about PR which is dragging me down.

In addition to the practical skills, I learned and improved some of my “soft skills” while working in this class. Some of these skills include brainstorming ideas, planning ahead, and interpersonal communication. The above-mentioned skills tend to revolve around preparation and planning of tasks, which will help me greatly in my future career in addition to the production skill and ideas from the class. Everything that I have learned in this class have helped round out my skillset, making me a more versatile worker.

Present

The most meaningful assignment of this class was Blog 5, the audio profile. Not only was it fun, but I understood the editing process easier. It was fairly easy to get accurate edits with the audio. It also felt like one of the more practical assignments of the course, since audio only can be created simpler and quicker than video. I can definitely see myself doing more audio profiles as a professional.

Without a doubt, the hardest task was the video from Blog 8. I can definitely see why videos can have more appeal to them. But I’m confident in saying that trying to edit an hour’s worth of footage down to three minutes was one of the most labor-intensive and tedious things I’ve done. There is an aspect of fun, but the delayed gratification is frustrating.

Looking back on how I managed my assignments, there are definitely a few moments where I wish I could have gone back and given myself some advice. If I could and did, I’d tell myself to manage my time better. There were a few places where I could have broken up the amount of time for each assignment to do with a bit more prep work. A sort of “smaller pieces over more time,” type of strategy. And it’s something I can certainly work on in the present.

Future

As I said in the beginning, this has been a fun experience and one I would like to continue if I can. But I see two immediate, considerable obstacles to overcome. This first will be the want to keep posting and consistently. This blog isn’t my job; just a hobby, and it may end up being pushed to the side if life gets in the way too much.

The second problem is what kind of content do I want to post about. My interests are video games, roleplaying games, and my family. I’m unsure how to incorporate them into future blog posts without running the well dry too quickly. Perhaps I can find other areas of interest to explore, but what and where to look? Or I can use my hobbies to explore new methodologies like podcasts, but how to start?

In the end, this has been a fun class to take and a fun blog to start. Likely the most fun class of the semester. Quite the way to end my journey as an undergraduate. Hopefully things will keep going up after I graduate. Farewell to arms my friends!