Website Official

Professional. Accomplished. Winner.

This is the consummation of how I feel having made my own website, full of my own works in a portfolio that is a reflection of all my best talents. Being able to submit this along with my resume to employers when seeking a new job will be extremely gratifying form of self promotion, because the existence of the website is self promotion in and of itself. I will also be able to use this website to brag to my family and friends that I escaped this semester relatively unscathed with a lot of work to show for it!

The various social media projects that we have done in this class tie in with this project very well. The process of building a website from the ground up (with lots of help, thank goodness!) has given me a newfound appreciation for website developers as well as app developers, who are constantly working out bugs within their sites or programs. While the upkeep of a personal social media account differs in content as with the upkeep of a website, the idea is still the same. As my portfolio changes and grows and improves, I will be able to add new information and content to my site, much in the way that my perspectives on current events will be changing and therefore will be reported on social media. Additionally, I was able to use the iMovie project as a part of my portfolio. Getting to display my accomplishments in a public place feels really good. While normally I am not one to brag, this doesn’t feel like bragging. It’s just showing and letting people be aware of my accomplishments.

An updated social media presence ties in with an updated website. As time goes on, perhaps I will find the inspiration to link my social media accounts with my website. At this moment, my twitter account isn’t very professional. Since I use my social media quite recreationally, there are many pictures of dogs and silly jokes that I post that while they are certainly not inappropriate, it also is not appropriate for an employer. It toes the line.

The overall experience of designing the website was quite gratifying, and I am inclined to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience! Though extremely frustrating at times, the ability to create something out of nothing, and to change a the HTML or CSS and have the thing that you wanted to happen actually happen… one of the best feelings in the world. While getting into the program of Dreamweaver was daunting, to say the least, once you got a hang of the quirks of the program and figured out how that button affected that feature, you were golden. Being thrown into the program initially felt like when you are in a foreign country and can’t read any of the directions and you get lost because all of the signs are in German. But once you learn that flugenflagen means airport, you can always get to the airport. Once you learn that you need to use carrots, you can always open and close carrots.

Puzzle Pieces

Imagine that you are putting together a puzzle. The puzzle is extremely complicated with lots of pieces. You are simultaneously painting the image that is on these puzzle pieces. Also, you are DJ-ing a bumping playlist whilst painting the puzzle’s image and putting together the puzzle pieces.

You are editing a video.

The experience of imagining, creating, collaborating, shooting, and editing a video (especially a group project video) to completion can be an extremely taxing and tedious process. While it feels very satisfying to complete and put the puzzle pieces of all the different elements together, the process itself can be aggravating, to say the least.

Video is similar to interpersonal communication. You can witness it in real time, and see real people demonstrate any given topic of communication. Photographs and writing are effective communication tools, but video can combine both of these elements to create a more cohesive and powerful vision. More people can connect and relate to video content because it is easier to demonstrate and, therefore, pick up on and read various social cues. For example, it is usually easier to infer context if you watch a thirty second video about a person’s life as opposed to viewing thirty photographs. The video content tells a lot about the subject. While a picture is worth a thousand words, one must consider how many frames per second, or pictures per second, create a video? Videos are an effective communication tool because people can absorb the information with greater ease than just pictures, or just words. The powerful vision that writing and photographs work together to create enable the viewer to understand and draw information from the video.

Before the video process can begin, writing plays an essential role in the planning of a video. The video must have purpose. Writing down scripts and outlines is a good way to plot out the video and determine what shots are necessary to obtain. Film as a medium gives the creator the unique ability to approach a topic from literally any angle; the creator can provide visual aids to help understand abstract concepts. Brainstorming with the group was an awesome and collaborative process. We communicated very well both over messaging and in person.

Shooting and coming up with shots that infer your video’s concept effectively can be a difficult process. Working by yourself on a project does usually mean a more streamlined vision, but working collectively with group members can broaden your film’s horizons and improve the overall quality. After shooting comes editing the clips brought together by the group members under the unifying topic or theme. This is the most arduous portion. Working with a group whose visions were aligned so nicely made the shooting process much easier on all of us. We knew what shots we needed to get, and the shots we got all reflected parts of our lives. Breaking up the concept of the Politics of Womanhood between four informed and empowered women was amazing. We all examined different parts of our life that had the power to be shaped by misogyny. While for some of us, that was the way that younger siblings could be taught to embrace the gender norms of what girls and boys should play with, or what kind of stories they should read. Others, how our personal relationships can turn sour when undermined by traditional gender roles and how that plays into the identity of womanhood. Others still, how being yourself, bold and empowered, can work against you in the real world when you go to apply for jobs. These visions all seem very different, but they worked together to create a wide lens-view of what it means to be a woman, and the politics that are now attached to it.

Editing is the most important part of the process. If you have amazing footage, but it’s edited together poorly, the message of your video won’t be nearly as powerful or effective. On the other hand, if you have not-so-great footage, but it’s edited together well, the video still can pack quite a punch. That being said, there needs to be a certain rhythm and continuity throughout the editing that brings everything together. Each editor will have their own version of what that rhythm is. Trimming each clip, finding the right place to pan in or out, or to choose a new shot to work with, getting a solid transition that furthers the video and is aesthetically pleasing are all parts of editing. Then there comes finding music that fits, determining the tone of the video and how people will perceive it. Finding shots that look good is one thing. The soundtrack of a video is something that people will hear but only take into their brain subconsciously. It’s easy to think about what certain imagery means. It’s another to analyze how a camera angle or a music change alters the perception of the video.

That being said, and taking into consideration all of the aspects of this project that made it difficult and annoying and stressful, I love puzzles. And painting. And DJ-ing a bumping playlist. And doing all of those things at the same time. Putting together a video is so satisfying. It’s creating something from nothing; you get to imagine whatever theme or message you want and share it with the world, through a platform that reaches the most audiences.

The self-portrait experience was a similar vibe. Getting to record my day and think about the different things that I wanted to show to reflect myself through film made me really happy. It made it easy to find the many wonderful things that I have to be thankful for in my life.

Overall, working on this iMovie project was very satisfying. My group was amazing and we really worked together very well. Despite the many challenges and complications some group members faced while editing, at the end of the day the video came together with stellar results and an important message. See for yourself!