After watching Caitlin's film, I was really proud of her, because I know how much she hates computers. No patience with them. I took some video of her playing, but apparently she couldn't get it to work, so she took the audio from it instead. It was really nice of her to mention my film work in the final movie, especially since it didn't exactly make it to the final movie...
Being around Caits so much, I know how much she likes the harmonica, so when she found out about this assignment, she was excited that there was something pushing her to learn it. She's been learning about a song a week, which is good for a beginner, at least I think so. Watching her movie, I was impressed with how much information she fit into such a short time. She was able to explain who gave her the harmonica, (patrick), the musicians she looked up to, and the steps she took to get started. I know that she was upset that she couldn't figure out how to get music in the background, since she loves music, but despite the lack of music, her narration was entertaining. I know that she worked really hard on this assignment, and the result was quite good.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Thursday, March 8, 2007
And I forgot to add...
my original narrative took nine minutes to read, so I had to severely edit...
And I forgot to add...
my original narrative took nine minutes to read, so I had to severely edit...
Down With Reification
Phew. Done, done, done. I can't remember the last time I felt this challenged and out of my element. After hours of work, I still feel amazed that there is only a six minute movie. I feel like there should be something more comparable to a Star Wars movie. Above all else, this project made me respect the individuals who make movies for a living...I simply don't have the patience.
The "labor" involved in the making of the movie was tremendous. To start, I knew nothing about computers. And I don't say that in a joking way, I truly mean that I didn't even know how to crop photo images or even work with something as advanced (again, NOT joking) as movie-maker. There were problems, am I'm sure many of my peers faced, such as computer freezes, (which I had 5 of without being able to save changes, doh!) problems converting my version to fit a mac (which was a bad idea, and ended up actually deleting my "first" version of my final project), converting my audio to mp3, (which I gave up on after 2 hours), having my gabcast file too scratchy to hear (even after trying to clean it up in audacity), being unable to convert my digital camera's version of video into the proper file for Window's movie-maker, etc...but I digress, what was important was the fact that I still got it done, despite the hold-ups. I put a lot of effort into the elements I could master, such as audio through a borrowed microphone, and pictures. Mostly I was happy that I did it almost entirely myself. I had a bit of help from a friend who filmed my harmonica playing, though I was only able to convert the audio. Basically, the project probably could have been easier if I would have let my computer literate friends help me, but I wanted the project to be mine, so instead, I went through endless trial and error attempts.
Whe thinking about what I wanted to convey to my audience, I thought about people that wanted to learn an instrument, but felt that they couldn't for some reason or another. I mentioned these reasons in my narrative, such as fear, the inability to read music, the feeling that it was too late in life to start learning something like an instrument, the time constraints of a college student, and so on and so forth. I never mentioned specifically that this was the affinity group I dediated my work to, so forgive me, but I tried to make this movie applicable to people outside of the Advanced Comp. realm. I constantly explained my problems and the mental processes that I used to fight through them. This connected to Gee's thoughts on a new literacy. I was learning something outside of my semiotic domain, furthermore, it didn't come easily, so I had to really work at the instrument. In the section where I get carried away with the thoughts of a career in Harmonica playing, with special accessories and my own tour bus, I was dealing with the Identity Principle of Gee's book. I was playing with identity, creating a fantasy about what I would do. Eventually, I slowed the process of daydreaming as I reflected on the reality of my identity, and how I would first have to learn the instrument, then begin to try to live out the dream. I have do understand my potential identity in baby steps, starting with my understanding of the instrument. In the end, I focussed on the progression of my learning and my hopeful future with the harmonica, not to mention a recorded performance of my first-learned song.
So hopefully that answers a few questions about my journey of the making of the video. I still don't feel like the product conveys the work, but I put all the knowledge I had into it, and despite my lack of computer skills, I worked to improve my abilities enough to complete the project.
The "labor" involved in the making of the movie was tremendous. To start, I knew nothing about computers. And I don't say that in a joking way, I truly mean that I didn't even know how to crop photo images or even work with something as advanced (again, NOT joking) as movie-maker. There were problems, am I'm sure many of my peers faced, such as computer freezes, (which I had 5 of without being able to save changes, doh!) problems converting my version to fit a mac (which was a bad idea, and ended up actually deleting my "first" version of my final project), converting my audio to mp3, (which I gave up on after 2 hours), having my gabcast file too scratchy to hear (even after trying to clean it up in audacity), being unable to convert my digital camera's version of video into the proper file for Window's movie-maker, etc...but I digress, what was important was the fact that I still got it done, despite the hold-ups. I put a lot of effort into the elements I could master, such as audio through a borrowed microphone, and pictures. Mostly I was happy that I did it almost entirely myself. I had a bit of help from a friend who filmed my harmonica playing, though I was only able to convert the audio. Basically, the project probably could have been easier if I would have let my computer literate friends help me, but I wanted the project to be mine, so instead, I went through endless trial and error attempts.
Whe thinking about what I wanted to convey to my audience, I thought about people that wanted to learn an instrument, but felt that they couldn't for some reason or another. I mentioned these reasons in my narrative, such as fear, the inability to read music, the feeling that it was too late in life to start learning something like an instrument, the time constraints of a college student, and so on and so forth. I never mentioned specifically that this was the affinity group I dediated my work to, so forgive me, but I tried to make this movie applicable to people outside of the Advanced Comp. realm. I constantly explained my problems and the mental processes that I used to fight through them. This connected to Gee's thoughts on a new literacy. I was learning something outside of my semiotic domain, furthermore, it didn't come easily, so I had to really work at the instrument. In the section where I get carried away with the thoughts of a career in Harmonica playing, with special accessories and my own tour bus, I was dealing with the Identity Principle of Gee's book. I was playing with identity, creating a fantasy about what I would do. Eventually, I slowed the process of daydreaming as I reflected on the reality of my identity, and how I would first have to learn the instrument, then begin to try to live out the dream. I have do understand my potential identity in baby steps, starting with my understanding of the instrument. In the end, I focussed on the progression of my learning and my hopeful future with the harmonica, not to mention a recorded performance of my first-learned song.
So hopefully that answers a few questions about my journey of the making of the video. I still don't feel like the product conveys the work, but I put all the knowledge I had into it, and despite my lack of computer skills, I worked to improve my abilities enough to complete the project.
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