We sat in silence, with nothing but muddled thoughts and the four walls that have kept us entertained – or rather, drained – in the past three hours. We had been sitting in that room for far too long, tired and uninspired. It felt like we were going nowhere; that all our ideas had been concocted in vain and for reasons unknown.

Today, I look back and realise just how far we’ve come.

I walked into this studio thinking that we would simply be making YouTube videos (or stuff like that) but ah, how I was greatly mistaken. In fact, as expressed in this blog post, I look back and know that this studio had begun to make me think about online video more broadly than just what can be found on YouTube. It was something I thought about even as I worked on a completely different course.

Since we were told to come up with additional reflections every week (which I have compiled into a category here) I came to be more aware of what I experienced, not just in my “e-surroundings”, but in my daily interactions as well. I found it easier to pick up or remember certain things, be it from what my classmates presented, or what I encountered in the media sphere, or when I was simply spending time with friends. I also blogged about what I read or the things we watched in class.

I did not do much blogging at the beginning of the semester – that, I would have to admit. However, as I scrolled through my blog, I noticed how much more active I had become over the past few weeks. I treat that realisation as a learning curve in itself, that the more I get myself into something, the more excited I get about it, and the more motivated I am to share my experiences with those around me. I found this most apparent in my posts about our prototype progress. Being aware of this progressive change helped me to strive towards being a media practitioner with initiative, motivation and enthusiasm.

It was through blogging that I was able to construct my thoughts a little better. I could see things from different perspectives, and even thought of different ways that I might help my readers better understand what I wanted to say. Like in my first assessment, I came up with a mind map as I was thinking of points for my case study. The more we progressed into the weeks, the more I realised how writing things down or drawing on paper not only gave me a foundation which I could work from, but at a glance also simplifies things for other readers.

I remember presenting my findings from Project One to the studio, and watched as my fellow classmates did the same with the types of online video practices that they found appealing to them. It was from them, that I began to see the potential of online video, and how much I had been missing out on. I knew of the existence of documentaries, computer game excerpts, comedy shorts, and interactive videos – the Web 2.0 was teeming with them. I enjoyed them, yes, but never did I take the time to break them all down, or to look at them from different perspectives. To be in an environment where there are different types of students, and seeing how each of them resonate with ideas on online video, is something I am grateful for.

I remember being a little unsure about Project Two, not knowing what was expected out of our work. For a moment I even regretted that we chose video reviews to explore for the rest of the semester (though that brief thought was soon eradicated). Not only were we having difficulties coming up with ideas for our sketches, but we even saw three hours of work go down the drain.

There was a day in the studio, when Seth talked about how we should create as many sketches as we can, and how each one of them is meant to be something that is quick and disposable. Upon hearing that, I realised just how focused Jia Jia and I were on perfecting it, that we had thought of ideas too far-fetched, and that we had to pull ourselves back on track. It was only then that we started to come up with ideas for more instantly, and we became less afraid of creating something that was wrong, because it is in the mistakes and criticism that we learn.

These aided our presentations as well, in the sense that we were beginning to construct them better, from start to finish, getting points across in a quick yet effective manner. In our presentation for Project Three, before proposing it to the panel, we shared our ideas first with our classmates. It was then that Seth suggested we talk about how we progressed from tech-reviews to these café travel reviews. I appreciate comments like that, because it is a reminder to pay more attention to detail; to structure proposals in ways that are easily understood not just by the people who have journeyed with us, but by those who have yet to know about it.

As I was looking through what I had blogged about over the past twelve weeks in the studio, primarily for the purpose of this portfolio task, I came to notice how some of my older reflections have feedbacked into recent sketches and iterations. For instance, as I realised the importance of background music from one of my classmate’s presentations, we also came up with our first sketch leading to our prototype guided by that realisation. And as I reflected on the importance of GIFs in this post, we in turn discovered Cinemagraph and ended up using that for our final prototype.

People tend to think that it’s all about the big things – the bigger, the better. Well, perhaps to a certain extent. But in this context, it is far from true. We began the semester with the work of another in our hands, and today, we have made for ourselves something we can take ownership of and are proud to call ours. One of the best things about learning something new is having the ability not only to practice it, but to receive something out of it. It’s not about the big things – it’s about the little steps taken towards it; the journey.

OTHER BLOG POSTS:
Project Three: Draft of our probe
Three things of interest
Reflection: ‘Generation Like’

*Note: To ease reading, I have compiled my entire studio experience within five different categories. You may view these categories at the top of this page.