Future Advice

One piece of advice to future students of this course is to START YOUR PROJECTS EARLY. Sometimes my videos did not turn out how I had originally planned once I began making them, and this usually required additional filming after the focus for the project shifted. You want to allow enough time to get all the shots you want as well as to edit your video well. 

Film twice the amount of b-roll footage you think you actually need. It will ensure a more interesting piece as well as allow for more flexibility when putting the video together. 

Get a good idea of the shots you need before you go out and start shooting.

Module Three Critique

For my critique, I chose to watch Sarah Lim’s Module 3 piece. I thought that the video started strongly. I liked the introductory narration and thought it was timed well with the music. It provided many shots that helped support the argument she was trying to make. However, one thing that I thought was distracting was including clips with some form of music in them while layering the additional music track over it. Furthermore, although there was a great variety of clips, I felt things seemed to drag on during the middle of the video, and some things were repeated more than necessary, such as multiple shots of food. Lastly, I did like how she brought her narration back in at the end of the video to parallel the beginning and reinforce her argument.

Group Questions

Questions I have so far regarding my video project:

Should I incorporate personal narration, including my This I Believe statement?

How effective would relying on interviews for much of the video be?

Should I include myself in the video?

Would “acting” detract from the effectiveness of the video, or should there be more candid documentation?

Would a strong piece need to include some kind of narrative, or could I just include general ideas and point of view?

What would it be like without any actual characters?

 

Fear

A negative thing can produce positive results. Example: fear. Fear is a motivator. Whenever I have to give a presentation, I put a great deal of effort into it not only because I want to do well, but also out of fear of not making a good showing, of losing credibility, or just plain making a fool of myself. In general, the media often just oozes with negativity. The media often either highlights the occurrence of negative events, or in the case of advertising, for example, plays off of the idea of being in a state of want, in a place of needed something and not already being complete and fulfilled. In addition, in any cases requiring persuasion, often fear is involved in order to stir an audience towards action

This I Believe [recording]

Project Outline

The goal of my next video project is to express my beliefs regarding the possibilities regarding making the decision to live one’s life purposefully. I hope to show not only how I acquired the belief that living purposefully is important, but also how I think I am able to do that in my own life. In addition, I will most likely compare and contrast between what I view to be living purposefully and proactively with living passively and reactively.

Everything is an Argument

I don’t feel that an argument can be any “text” that expresses a point of view in the explicit sense, but I do believe that a text could have implied arguments. For example, the embossed leather cover of a prayer book could suggest the importance of the book and of prayer to the owner. A health warning on a package of cigarettes is an explicit argument against using the cigarettes. A Rolex watch is an argument for the wealth and sophistication of the person wearing it. 

I have recently informed my girlfriend of my current job situation. This is an argument, since it led to revealing the truth.

I have convinced my parents why I should pursue entrepreneurship. This was persuasion, since I had to change their beliefs.

I have explored the idea of working abroad. This was an argument, since I was exploring the costs and benefits of pursuing this option.

I have made the decision to get formal training in photography. This was both an argument and persuasion, since I had perviously been against taking classes, but realized it may be helpful to do so.

I have sporadically practiced meditation. This is both an argument and persuasion with myself, since it is both a practice of discovering and convincing.

 

 

Advertising

One purchase I made recently was Heineken beer. Although I’ve purchased it previously, I did especially like their advertising. The advertisements did resonate with me to a good degree, since the characteristics of the main character are something that I can identify with and aspire to. This also ties into my beliefs of being that kind of person and enjoying life.

Another recent purchase I made was my first pair of Sperry Top-Siders. I wanted to buy a pair since I am very big on personal style, and although these shoes are very common, I liked the look and the versatility I would have in pairing it with other clothes. Their advertising resonates with me since Sperrys are essentially the boat shoe brand, and as an avid sailor, I like to signify that with some of my personal belongings. Its marketing appeals to my beliefs in the sense of its casual yet sophisticated lifestyle and image.

A third purchase I made recently is the Canon 7D. As an aspiring professional photographer, I was impressed by the 7D’s capabilities and wanted to upgrade to a good camera as to not be limited in what kind of shots I could capture. The advertising didn’t necessarily resonate with me since I was mainly concerned with the technical aspects of the camera; I was already aware of what the results could be of taking good pictures. Similarly, the marketing didn’t really appeal to my beliefs, since I was more concerned with what specifically it could do for me.

Research

Research involves investigating a subject in order to learn more about it. At this point, I can see myself researching production and editing techniques, yet when it comes to research based on the content of my project I am unsure. When evaluating the credibility of a source it helps if the source has experience with your subject. As a basic example, a doctor would be a credible source talking about medical issues. Also, it needs to be believable. For example, if the director of the university dining halls gave an account as to how wonderful the food is, while the students flat out admitted it was terrible, the students would have more credibility in this case. In contrast from researching for a paper, research for a video project may often involve more first hand accounts and references as opposed to research in something such as a scholarly journal. Also, for a video you may often be looking more for a narrative as opposed to factual information.

This I Believe

I believe in living purposefully, not reactively. Although I haven’t decided yet, I’m not quite sure if watching video after recommended video of cats doing funny things on YouTube everyday is part of my own definition of living purposefully, although maybe it is for others. If you asked me what I thought my purpose in life was, or what is the purpose of anyone’s life, life in general, I wouldn’t quite know what to tell you, although I have tried to research it on Wikipedia.

When I was younger, much like many other kids my age, I’m sure, I always asked my parents for things – more things. I always needed more things. A couple notable things come to mind – Nintendo 64 and cable TV. As a kid, all my friends had Nintendo 64 and they all had cable TV at their house, and man, did that make them cool. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Their houses were the places to hang out. In my own naive opinion, my house was boring and had literally nothing to do. Even as years went on, PlayStation 2 came out, Xbox, you name it, and I’m pretty sure I asked my parents for just about every gaming system ever made, maybe except for Atari, but only because I completely missed the boat on that one and had no clue what that even was for awhile. Needless to say, my parents declined every request, plead, and logical argument I could throw at them, and to this day, I couldn’t be more thankful. You may be asking: what ever did you do with all that free time during your childhood when you could have been playing video games or watching TV like a normal person? You poor thing, how did you survive? The answer? I got some hobbies. I got some interests. I chose to do things because they felt rewarding to me, not just to take up time. While I admit that there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with video games or TV, the essential absence of them from my childhood, especially with my friends being way cooler than me because of them, forced me to analyze my dilemma, which led to taking a better look at the opportunities out there just waiting for me.

Something that I often tell people is that I never get bored. Ever. And I feel that’s because I always try to see opportunity – opportunity for growth, opportunity to work on a skill, work on a hobby, or just sit and appreciate the world around me. I don’t like to wait. I believe in action, in choosing – you always have a choice. I believe in having a zesty, passionate, adventurous life…because I want to. Like I said, I don’t know what my purpose is, but that isn’t going to stop me from living like I do. This I believe.