I can't believe that I am nearly at the end of my first year at University. I want to do a kind of summery of the whole experience , but so much has happened that I'm having trouble organising my thoughts into any sort of coherent form.
I guess the big question , for me, is 'do I feel I've learnt anything?'
In short - Yes.
Did I learn in the way I expected to?
In short - No.
I discovered that all the information/advice/instruction you need to develop and progress in your chosen subjects, is there for the taking. But any idea I had of attending 'classes' or 'lectures' and having all this info/advice/instruction spoon fed to me was - for the most part - quickly blown out of the water. Lectures and seminars there were - and I did get some useful idea's/info out of them - but mostly, they raised further questions, or a desire for more knowledge/instruction. So, I learned quickly to get off my bum, and go find someone who could help and ask (or some might say 'pester' !) them .
Maybe age and experience is another advantage here - if I didn't know, I had no hesitation right from the start in actively seeking out whatever it was I needed. I don't know if that's confidence that comes with age - or just the fact that at my age, I know I can't afford not to grab every chance going and didn't really care if I 'showed my ignorance' by revealing how little I knew (and still don't know !). I also don't know if, had I come into this style of education many moons back, after the very different teaching you receive in school/college, if I would have even realised that this was what you have to do. I don't think I would have had the confidence to so actively seek the information/instruction needed, even if I had realised.
Has this way of learning been a bad thing?
Its occasionally been frustrating, but now I am really considering it, maybe I've learnt and progressed far more with this method of learning than I would have done had the style of 'teaching' been more like the 'spoon feeding' I was expecting - I don't know. But I am happy with what I've learnt and I do feel I have progressed, and there is a certain level of satisfaction in thinking that I've worked harder for it than I maybe expected too at the beginning.
On this subject, one of the best things about this year has been the enthusiasm and willingness of all that I've approached, to give the advice and information and feedback and instruction that I've wanted. The Hub terrified me at first - now (especially after the marathon stint editing our short film) - its like a second home . Simon, Dave R and Dave K have been helpful beyond belief - and patient, and mostly very good at hiding the 'Oh no, not you again' looks (only joking guys :) ). I never would have thought, thinking back to the one 'lesson' we had in final cut right back at the beginning, that I would ever master it - but thanks to Si, and the two Dave's, I'm actually getting to grips with it, and finding it far easier than I expected, and I am really starting to love the editing side of the film work . And since Dave R's lectures and lessons on film camera's and film techniques, I know my ability and knowledge there has increased a 1000 fold - though I still have a way to go.
Colin has been an absolute diamond in the photo studio, always ready to spare the time and effort to help with lighting, or back drops or anything at all 'photographically' needed. He is also on hand in the hub, to give feedback - and has even been kind enough to 'star' in one of our film projects - so thank you 'Mr Nasty', lol.
The sessions in the screening room, with Stewart and Marisse , have introduced me to some photographers, films and film makers that were totally new to me, and I do see the value in looking at, and critiquing the work of others - I know that the sessions we did looking at Hitchcock (amongst others) and the use of lighting to create mood and atmosphere were very much in my mind when we were making the short film. However, I do confess that a lot of the animation stuff we saw, when combined with the room conditions (dark, often stuffy and too warm, not too comfortable seats) sometimes meant I didn't feel I gained much. But then, I guess the gamers/animators would maybe feel the same about the film/photography stuff that they had to sit through? I did enjoy the sessions when we looked at the work fellow students had produced - seeing the different approaches and design solutions makes you think that bit harder when you come to working on the next piece, and I felt often that sessions like this broadened my views, and enabled me to learn not only from the tutors, but also my fellow students .
In fact, the amount I've learnt from fellow students, during group projects, is another avenue of learning that I hadn't considered before starting this course. This kind of falls into two sections - firstly, I've picked up photographic and filming tips, from fellow students, and I hope I've been able to pass some on too. And secondly, working in groups - particularly in an 'environment where we are all learning new skills, has meant that abilities in cooperation and communication have improved. This form of learning has also been enhanced recently , by being given the opportunity to work with students from different years, through sessions and projects organised by Dave R - its not only been instructional, its been fun !
And then there is what I've learnt from the actual modules we have completed.
In terms of film, I started from zero knowledge - and I was very nervous about tackling any projects involving this, in the first module. I remember going to the hub, in the first couple of weeks, for a demo session on using FinalCut, with Simon - and at the end, putting my hand up and confessing that I hadn't understood more than a third of what he had said. Using the camera to film for the first time, wasn't so bad - and guess who found out that she could run down a corridor, with a camera on a dolly, filming - backwards ! And not do too bad a job of it, either. The editing was a whole other board game, and it wasn't till the second module that I really even attempted to use final cut. Now, when I look at the last two film units, from the third module, I am slightly gobsmacked at how much I have learnt, and how much I can do by comparison. I am also really surprised by how much I have grown to enjoy the film side of it all - whilst photography still is the biggest attraction for me, I will be very reluctant - at least at this stage, - to give up the film side altogether, especially (believe it or not) the editing - even sound editing! I really want to learn more, and am looking forward to increasing my skills and knowledge in this field - and I am desperate to really get to grips with using Aftereffects ! Each film module has increased my knowledge, sometimes by a small amount, and sometimes by a huge amount. I can track my progression by looking at the work I've done over the last 8 months, and in each film I feel I've done more, done something new, and progressed.
And the photography - I do think that my technical skills, particularly in studio work, have really been increased over the last 8 months. I have far greater knowledge of what I need to do with my camera in order to get the picture I want, and I am far more confident and far better about getting the lighting right. I'd like to push the studio side of photography a lot more, do more sessions in there and really find out what I can accomplish in that setting .
The style of the pictures I take has changed too, though that's harder to define. I think I am finding different ways to look at the subjects I shoot, and a lot of the time now, I find that I am taking more note of the smaller details around me, experimenting more, and a lot of the pictures I take are perhaps slightly more abstract/impressionistic. In those that remain very representational, the improvement in my framing and composition, as well as in my technical knowledge of using the camera, is evident to my eyes, at least - and has been commented on by others, though I feel I still have a long way to go. I've become more critical of what I produce, and although I am satisfied with fewer of my photographs, of those I am happy with, I think the standard is better . Although I am not sure I appreciated this so clearly at the time of doing each photography unit, I do feel that the tasks set have brought about these changes and improvements - for example, I remain uncomfortable, to a certain extent, with street photography - but there is no doubt that this unit helped. I had to learn to take photographs in a situation where I felt under a certain amount of pressure - but still pay attention to framing, composition, & lighting. And the things I learnt in the earlier units, like photographing 'skin's' have increased my attention to detail, and encouraged me to often approach photographing something from a different angle than I would have tried before.
Any negatives things?
Yes, a couple .
Briefs given have sometimes been ambiguous and confusing. The 'Innovation' project was an example of this. There was some confusion made by the actual wording of the brief, as to what was required, particularly from the essay - and yes, myself and a fellow group member did take the time and effort to try and clarify this, and thought that we had - only to find out later, that other students had been given different clarification, which led to real frustration, as the differences in clarification only came to light at the point when the work was being handed in.
I find myself annoyed sometimes by the lack of - and sometimes the general state of - equipment, in both film and photography. In the short film, we had booked the sound recording equipment, over a week in advance - but on going to collect it, another group of students hadn't returned it - presumably they had run over with their filming - and it left us high and dry, and created a massive amount of additional work in post production, because there was no other equipment spare. With presumably 3 years worth of students, with several groups in each year working on different projects, surely more equipment is needed? Because of problems with camera's not being available, myself and two other members of the group felt we had to invest in our own camcorders - the quality isn't as good, but when you are faced with just a week, maybe, to complete a film project, even half a days wait, whilst you wait for a camera to become available, affects the quality of what you can produce - makes it more rushed. And it can be argued that this means you have to do more, be more creative, and therefore learn more in post production - but I'll argue back that it gives you less time to learn and be creative at the point of filming.
The fact that once you start post production in the hub, you are tied to the one mac, because there is no networking , is an absolute pain. There were days when the work I was trying to do was constantly interrupted by people who had their work on the same mac, and they needed to access it - and by the same token, there have been days when I have had to interrupt other peoples work for the same reason.
Broken tripods are a pain, too .There have been several instances when there have not been enough lights - because the lights have to be shared with students , doing say stop motion animation , in another studio - and the backdrop in the photo studio really needs to be wider and taller - there are a few times where the size of the backdrop has created problems and limited the work I was trying to do.
It looks like the new building at Plas Coch campus will address some of these issues faced by film students - but I have been disappointed that in terms of photography, I have only been able to find out that there is a photoshop facility for e journalism, and a fantastic printer there, for photography students, amongst others. And that's it - nothing else for snappers like me.
Overall, for me, though, this last year has made a big difference, with far more falling on the positive side than the negative.
I feel I've been really lucky with the 3 students in my year that I have tackled most of the group projects with - all 4 of us have similar approaches in terms of how we tackle the work, in the level of effort and dedication we have, and in our enjoyment of what we are doing. I've learnt a lot from all of them.
I've discovered a new interest, and enjoyment, in film - and even though I think photography will be my main focus, what I've learnt in film has affected my photography in a positive way.
And 8 months on, I am absolutely certain that I made the right choice in returning to full time education, I feel I've learnt and progressed, and that I really am on the right path in terms of what I want to do professionally in the future.
I'm really looking forward to the next year :)
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