Since I have entered the Digital Learning Center half a year ago, I have grown very much in some areas. My technology skills have rapidly increased. My first video I made for the DLC was very basic, with small phrases, narration, pictures transitioning in and out, and occasionally loud, abrupt music here and there. But since then, I have been able to effectively incorporate images taken from Google and shapes made directly from Keynote, incorporate appropriate music throughout, and make each slide come to life, and make it seem like a movie animation rather than a slideshow presentation. I have also changed my perspective of technology skills and content in pieces of work. Back when I started, I would have probably believed that most animations were impressive and show lots of skill. Now I have a more critical mind at technology and videos, especially ones created by me. I also learned to Google my questions, and that Miss Bailin doesn’t like to be asked too many questions.
I’m proud of nearly all of my projects. My welcome video was a great start and the older DLC students thought it was a very impressive start. I also liked my start of Keynote “animations” in the Lorax video. The refrain in my opinion is annoying and may haunt me forever, but at least now I’m stuck in their brains. My Glog was very cool, as my RBOC book cover and Gettysburg brochure. I also liked the professional look of my Stephen Douglas ad campaign, and the creativity of my original Stephen Crane video.
I think that my most challenging project was my group redo of the Stephen Crane video. At the time, the class was also working on our Lincoln-Douglas Debates, and I was mainly focused on the debate because my partners weren’t exactly as focused as the others. The group never really came together on that project, and it ended with a total disaster. I should have known it would be hard to do, because some of my peers even warned me that it‘s hard work making an impressive movie trailer. I guess that was good advice that I just didn’t take, and I ended up rushing to finish at the last minute.
My favorite projects were probably my most recently finished, The Red Badge of Courage scenes. The descriptive and metaphoric passages gave me more creativity than the other projects, and were not as structured as other projects. Also in my opinion, the RBOC scenes were my best work yet because of their epic nature. I think they were epic because I chose two of the most epic scenes in the book, the scene where the youth finds a dead man in the forest, and the final scene where the youth dies.
I hope in the second semester I will be able to master all the tools and effects on Keynote and iMovie. I expect that next semester there will be many challenges and hardships, but I will be ready.
I hope.
