CROSSING THE FINISH LINE

Crossing the finish line at 4:35 AM.

Here is a synopsis of what I learned in Digital Storytelling for my final reflection.

Before taking digital storytelling:

• I had no social media.

• I had never made or edited any kind of video.

• I had never used a camera outside of my phone.

• l had never touched a memory card.

• I had never used a microphone outside of performing in theatre.

• I had never designed layout for an article.

• I had never filmed in public.

• I had never interviewed a stranger.

• I didn't think much about AI or its potential uses.

• I didn't know what media literacy was, let alone think it was important.

Safe to say, this class felt like drowning, every. single. day.

And I could not be prouder of myself for how far I've come.

Here is a small collage of pictures of my set I took at almost every filming this semester!

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  Early morning Filming for Editing Lab

  

  All the Equipment for my first solo shoot I acted in!

  

  Learning to Interview strangers is hard... unless you're Ellison Floyd

  

  My Documentary Interview Setup! Those mic handoffs though....

  

  Definitely my hardest shoot- my PSA

  

  My first willing interviewee!

  

  My set:)

  

  My photo essay!

  NOW:

  • I am so confident on Premier Pro, that I have been the sole editor on film projects in other classes (Hallo Deutcheklasse!)

  • I have filmed 2 major projects with Vixia HF R500, not to mention flown 2 film drones: DGI Mavic 4 Pro, and DGI Mavic Mini.

  • I have learned so much about the nature of digital filing (mainly from storing things wrong, losing my shots, and then losing MY SHIT. Now I have a 2TB storage device and a 512 GB thumb drive I work off of.

  • I have used all nature of microphones, including the Vixia mics, Rhode mics, Lavalieres, etc.

  • Instead of wearing a mic someone else was handling for me, I had to manage rapid exchanges between 8 interviewees between dances while filming for my contra documentary.

  • I didn't know how AI worked (does anyone?), but I am very interested in the politics of who owns it and what they stand to gain by creating disinformation or spreading misinformation.

  •  I am FAR better at spotting AI content after our exercise on finding AI in the wild, in fact I've had to point it out to my relatives at family functions when they've expressed anxiety about seeing tons of videos of children getting almost attacked by wild animals in their backyard.

  • I have stopped making prententious statements about not having social media. Refraining is something I'm actively choosing to do for as long as I can, but I am no longer wearing my lack of media literacy like a crown.

  • I learned very quickly that when laying out articles, fancy fonts and bright colors weren't gonna cut it, so I dove into the world of editorial layout and fell in love.

  
  

  But MOST IMPORTANTLY....

  I had to advocate for myself and the equipment I needed for my projects, stand my ground institutions where I had little flexibility, reach out to ask perfect strangers for advice, time, or interviews- none of which I was comfortable doing before.

  Often the nature of my projects lead to people being skeptical, sometimes even rude, but I was so excited about what I had the potential to produce, I didn't take it personally. In fact, I was so excited about these projects, I took these encounters as opportunities to practice pitching projects.

Everything inside this portfolio reminds me of just how grateful I am for all the Digital Storytelling class has forced me to grow! Was it uncomfortable? Yes! Was I drowning? Yes?

Was it worth it? YES!