End of Year Reflection

Independent Film Research
My Strength in the research aspect of the class is my interest in film. I love learning what goes behind in making a film because I believe that it allows me to further my knowledge of being a filmmaker. Knowing how established directers and film crews carry out their filming allows me to take those techniques to apply to my own filming. I think the area that I need to improve is going more in depth into my research because I feel that when I do research, I don't look for as much reviews. Instead I simply look at the development of the film and what it took to make the film such as economic and social climate during the time.

Oral Presentation Experience
I felt fully prepared for the oral presentation this year. This was thanks (and much excruciating pain) to the weeks of preparation leading up to the oral. I feel that all the research done prior to the oral not only helped to gather information to talk about, but it also familiarized us with the topics that would be needed to be discussed during the oral. I especially liked how Mr. Bigue prompted us to look at more differing responses in order to provide multiple perspectives on the film being looked at. If I could make a suggestion, I would assign less blog posts because it is really hard to balance all the research and writing alongside other classes. Instead, I would have more oral discussions in class in place of those assignments.

Production Experience
Having experienced producing a film has made me develop a new love for film. I particularly love the planning and shooting aspects of film. Actually, I love every aspect from coming up with a concept all the way to the export of the final cut. Is is for these reasons that I will continue to pursue a future enriched with photography and arts. I hope that one day I'll be able to afford my own camera that I could film side projects on instead of checking out school gear. One piece of production that I felt wasn't addressed in this class was scriptwriting. It seemed very forced upon the students. Scriptwriting is difficult and perhaps if that class were able to practice writing a script in their first year, they be more comfortable because for me, I had to learn on my own. Maybe students can collaboratively create a script together as a class.