Alongside the culmination of the semester, I present the inevitable reflection of what exactly I learnt throughout my media studio, ‘the digital director’.
The digital director was a class that extended far beyond the digital realm. Initially, I believed I would master my editing, producing and directing skills throughout the semester. Whilst I believe I still improved in these fields, it was the student run project which taught me the importance of maintaining respectable communication, strong direction and a united front within the work environment.
When the concept for ‘sketchy students’ was pitched; a mokumentary style comedy centred around student life, I was under the belief that whilst we had a great class of innovative young creatives; comedy is the hardest field to succeed in. Without a team of professional actors, the story is not easily communicated throughout the entire production. Thus, I pitched an idea to run a solo production alongside sketchy students producing behind the scenes content. I believed this would entice our audience to further engage with the multi dimensional project; as well as showcasing the copious amount of hard work that goes into producing media which is often unseen.
I began filming in week seven and was unfortunately met with several road blocks. As the production of the behind the scenes films was a solo endeavour, I often found myself having to compromise my ideas in favour of larger groups. I soon realised that this would not be a conducive working environment and found my voice.
With the release of the first behind the scenes film being a unquestionable success I gained confidence in my work and began creating the films exactly how I desired. This instilled in me the importance of standing besides ones ideas. As I do not have an extensive history within film production, this has been something I have struggled with throughout my degree.
As the production continued I witnessed several differences in opinions between classmates, this stressed the importance of respecting one another in a work environment. Although I have always exercised this within my personal life, it has never been necessary within my work life. The production exemplified the small discrepancies that can quickly blow out of proportion within the workforce should they not be met with equal care and willingness to resolve the issue at hand.
Ultimately, I found sketchy students to be an equally rewarding and educational project. I thoroughly enjoyed stepping outside my comfort zone and creating content solo. Furthermore, I enjoyed working within the confines of a small group, each member exercising their individual skill set to the best of their ability in order to create the best content possible.