Friday, May 7, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Blog Review
1) What is the most surprising thing you learned about yourself, whether it is a new interest or an old interest made new, this semester?
This semester I have grown tremendously as a person. One of the most important things I learned (or re-learned) is to never give up. I took a karate class with a couple of friends as a joke, and it turned out to be a lot more intense than we thought. Several weeks later, after we missed the midterm for the class, we found ourselves in a sticky situation. We had to pass the optional orange belt test (which was a lot more difficult, and our chances of passing were slim). We had fallen considerably behind in the class due to a lot of messing around. So it was either suck it up and take the test to pass the class...or just drop it. I begged and pleaded with my mom to sign the drop slip... but she wouldn't. She told me I had to toughen up and just take the test.
So with 3 days left before the test I met with my T. A and practiced for hours. Test day came, it consisted of a group testing, a solo testing and a paired testing. It was an hour and a half long. Several water bottles and a sweaty shirt later, I was officially and orange belt. Getting through the test as well as my nerves of failing the class all together was the best feeling in the world. I felt so accomplished and like I could do anything. Looking back on it now I'm so glad that my mom would not let me drop the class and take the easy was out. Now I not only know how to defend myself, but I also found a new sense of perseverance and following through with my commitments.
2) Write a short narrative of where you began in Time Arts, the conflicts you faced, and how you resolved them.
When i first walked into this class, i had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what time arts even was. I knew from my friends that it was about manipulating videos. But that is about all I knew. We began experimenting with creating/recording sounds. This was challenging for me because I had never thought of sounds going together other than music. It took me a while to train my ear to listen to the sounds in the world around me, their proximity, and their pitches and tones. I am much more conscious of the sounds around me now.
Another conflict that I faced was functional fixidness. I had trouble thinking outside the box with some of the project because it was something that I had never done before, and I was giving myself my own boundaries when there never really were any to begin with. I learned to help myself get out of these ruts by asking ridiculous questions, and not being so serious. When you relax and have fun, I realized for me is when my best ideas pop into my head.
3) What was the most challenging assignment for you? In what ways did that assignment challenge you? What assignment came most naturally to you? Why?
The most challenging assignment for me was probably the environmental sound project. I was our first project, as well as the first time I have ever done anything with recording sounds. It was very challenging for me to first not create music, but also to show depth within my piece. It taught me how to correctly use the recorder as well as record different depths of sounds to create a feeling of a place.
The assignment that came most naturally to me was my abstract video. I like this one the best because I am a very visual person. I tend to be drawn to more geometric, textured images. I was excited to get away from just using sounds, to actually creating short film clips. I enjoyed using i movie as well because I have previously learned how to use the program. It was fun for me because I didn't have to mess around with trying to learn the program, I could just have fun and play with my images, coordinating them to the sound piece.
4) What concepts from Time Arts can you imagine applying to your future major?
I learned many valuable skills through time arts that I will carry with me, and build upon in my future. One, I now know what kind of learner I am, and what study/teaching methods best suit me. This will help me in the future to understand information the best and quickest way possible. I also learned how to use a video camera, tripod, and audio recorder. Knowing how to work this equipment will help me greatly in creating future projects. Lastly, learning how to back up my computer with time machine, and learning how to use my external hardrive will help me tremendously with my major. If I have my project saved in multiple places, I will not have to worry if my computer crashes, or if something goes wrong.
Extra Credit Question:
5) Have you learned anything about facilitating and participating in a creative group?
The day that our class did the balloon activity, I learned a lot of valuable things about working in a creative group. I learned the importance of breaking down tasks into smaller steps to that everyone in the group understands them. This is important especially when trying complete more complicated tasks. I also learned that it is important to listen to everyone in the group. If a few leaders emerge that's ok, as long as they are open and willing to listen to the ideas of others in the group. It takes a little while for the group members to listen to each other and develop the right mindset to accomplish a task.
However, once a rhythm is established and everyone in the group is listening to eachother and understanding clearly what their peers are saying treamendous ideas can be created that would have never been thought of by one single person. The collaboration over the development of single idea by multiple people illustrates the beauty of teamwork, imagination, and the execution of an idea
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