The Five Guarantees
From the start, the e-Communication academy emphasized five different skills that the courses are designed to help you improve upon. They are: technical skills, communication, collaboration, leadership, and project management. A lot of these skills are things that I have always struggled with, but this course has definitely been useful in pushing me to improve myself in these areas.
Technical skills is probably the one skill I've always been good at. Like a lot of my peers, I grew up with technology such as computers and smartphones so I'm very accustomed to using them. Before joining e-comm, I was already practicing filming and editing videos on my phone, so I was at least decent at technical skills. E-comm was still very beneficial in this area because it taught me all sorts of new things, like how to use a DSLR camera, how to color grade, how to use lighting properly, and how to use Adobe Premiere. I learned these skills through Mrs. Smith's lessons, guest speakers, tutorials, and obviously practice.
Communication and collaboration are all about working together and being upfront with each other on group projects. Sometimes this is hard for me because I'm not extroverted. E-comm has been great with improving these skills because video production requires you to be able to work with others, just like many jobs will later in life. When you work on so many video projects with others, you are guaranteed to make mistakes. But the more mistakes you make, the more you have to learn from. I remember back in Sophomore video class, everyone was a lot worse when it came to communicating with each other and collaborating, but now me and my other classmates realize the importance of it.
The last two e-comm guarantees are leadership and project management. These skills are all about planning and taking initiative. E-comm has taught me about project management because there are many different steps when creating a video, so you need to plan accordingly and manage your time if you want to get it done. Leadership is quite important when you're doing project management. If nobody in a group is a leader, the project won't get done on time. I've learned that if no one else will take the lead, it's important that I do.
Favorite Video Projects
I've Seen Footage is one of my favorite videos for many reasons. The video was very fun to work on and the filming process was more relaxed than a lot of the other projects I've worked on. It was good getting to work with Jack, Dominic, Mason, and Mario before the school year was abruptly ended because they are a great group to work with. I think it turned out pretty good too and it was nominated for emagine which is a plus.
Simply Complex was the first video project I did in Entertainment Video. It's one of my favorite videos because it was a good introduction to the class, and it's the first video I worked on with my friend Ryan Moore, who I continued to work with for many other videos. It's not the highest quality video, but it was a good learning experience where we experimented with different angles and shots.
My PSA for texting and driving is probably the highest quality video I worked on. I think everybody in the group did an excellent job with their roles and I'm super happy with how it turned out. This video was also pretty relaxed and not stressful because we got everything done in a timely manner.
Conclusion
Overall, this was an amazing class to take and I am very glad that I did. I met some good friends because of Entertainment Video. I got to work on some projects that I am quite proud of. I learned so many new things about filmmaking in general. My biggest regret this year was doing online school. I liked it at first, but it grew stale and demotivating over time and I feel that I would've had more fun in person. A goal I have for myself outside of high school is to always stay creative and push myself to learn new things. Last thing I'd like to say is that Mrs. Smith has been one of the best teachers, and I'm very thankful for her genuine positivity and encouragement, especially during the last year. Thank you Mrs. Smith for everything you've done for your students!
