After beginning my first media one class for the semester with meeting those whom I sat next to and being slowly made to feel enthused by the aspect of lectures, we as a cohort were asked to write down a list of five things that we wanted to improve, learn or be better at in the art of media towards the end of the course and at the end of the degree. So, here’s what I decided on 🙂

 

 

At the end of my course I wish to be able to

  1. Make a quality short film- because I have tried this before and made one for my high school media project and wish to better my skills to a higher standard.
  2.  Have a better knowledge in sound both in pre and post production- As it is generally assumed (and was mentioned by Brian) sound can often be where media makers fall short in their projects often due to a lack of practical knowledge or attention to that area which I am also very guilty of.
  3. Be better at editing- This is a general one, just as I wish to be a generally better editor and again raise the standard of my projects and the look of them.
  4. .Being more proactive in media making (bettering the skills to approach people and create more unique stories with depth). Basically improving my networking skills.
  5. Be better at cameras: operating them, understanding their true capabilities, lenses, shutter speed the works.

At the end of my degree I would like to be able to

  1. Be a valuable employee to a media company or another company of some kind.
  2. To have a solid work ethic and be able to meet deadlines/ due dates with clear organisation and detail.
  3. Have the tools to be able to create media
  4. Have a digital CV of work to use
  5. To be confident in my abilities as a Graduate bachelor of Media and Communications.

Whilst they are slightly big goals, I know they’ll take time and that is perfectly ok, I’m looking forward to the ride.

 

Part 2 of the Lesson

 

After we shared what we had written, everyone in the class was given an article to Read:

“Hyper and Deep Attention: the Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes” By N. Katherine Hayles.

The article delved into two established ways of cognitive thinking Hyper and Deep attention and the ways in which they differ, prove to be advantageous, disadvantageous and useful towards the world of media making. In Layman’s terms, Hyper attention is suggested to be the concept of being able to swap ones attention onto multiple tasks at once. These thinkers adapt far quicker and easier to several “things” going on around them i.e seeking the desire to scroll through Facebook, watch television whilst listening to music.

The Deep Attention thinkers are the opposite to this. Generally preferring to focus on one task at a time, the article comments on the association between this type of thinking and the application of it to the Humanities field. Whilst both have their qualities, within the discussion I had with my classmates, I generally came to the conclusion that I have an uneven combination of the two. As the article looked at the growing trend within the generations Y and Z that Hyper attentive thinking is becoming more common, so much so that educators are considering changing their teaching styles to accommodate it I can happily confess that I do find myself using more than one electronic source of information. And when I’m not, there is a sense of anxiety associated sometimes as though I’m not doing enough or I should be doing more than one thing, which is pretty absurd.

However at the same time, I have found that if I am focusing on one thing, then I am more likely to complete it to a higher standard and with all requirements adhered to. Cognitively working through and focusing on tasks one by one, has always been the most successful way to achieving something, which makes me wonder, if my generation has created a slight issue for itself? It was really interesting to discuss what people thought of each cognitive thinking. I noticed that a lot of people find the hyper way of thinking often to be disruptive and lacking in strong advantage over Deep attentive thinking. Deep thinker will often be able to notice things others do not, or fix mistakes that they don’t pick up. As a film maker or editor this process can generally require such qualities. Whilst it is true that with the world and how we take in media is constantly changing it is natural that we will have to adapt to its quick pace. However at the same time, personally I feel as though it is important to work hard at the deeper thinking side of our brain capabilities. After all, in the words of Ferris Bueller,”If you don’t stop to look around at the world, you could miss it”.