Semester Final Reflection Essay

For us, I believe that the biggest struggle with the project was meeting with each other and being able to get what we wanted to get filmed. The aspect of the documentary that makes me most proud is the fact that we made a documentary in 6 weeks with little to no experience when it comes to film making. The aspect I would have changed was our interviews. I believe that having either less questions or better questions could have helped us out. I was personally responsible for being the director of the film and figuring out what we were going to do with the film when we met with each other. To try to promote a healthy group atmosphere, I tried to be a lot more open with my group members’ opinions towards the film. I wish I had some film editing skill so that way we would be able to create a much better documentary. I do believe that I contributed a very fair amount toward our film.

                Overall, this course made me think about films and speeches in a lot more detail than I did before I took this class. This project did not make me think about the campus community that different. I believe that my public speaking ability was increased because I feel more comfortable when it comes to presenting something to a group of people now. I would rather have learned about communication than write four essays any day. I believe the way that you taught the class was very effective. It was a comfortable learning environment and I think that is key when it comes to being able to learn well in a class. To make this class better, I probably would assign more homework and/or spread the points out so we have more opportunities for points in the class. Other than that, I do not think that I would change anything else about the course.

Body Building Story Board

Scene 1: Introduction to the Johnson Center and everything that it features including the weight area, basketball courts, rock climbing wall, and cardio areas.

                Audio: One of us will be in the background talking about the different features.

Scene 2: We will then move into the weight area where most of the bodybuilders are working out and start introducing the people we are going to interview.

                Audio: We will be talking in the background about the different lifts that people do for different muscles and also talking about what our interviewees are currently doing while lifting.

Scene 3: In this scene we will start by observing Haylon, Ryan, Nick, Ibrahim, John, and what they do when they come to the gym each time, and how much time they spend there.

                Audio: In this scene we will start our interviews by having two out of the five bodybuilders talking about why they lift, and what their personal opinions are on the topic of bodybuilding and working out in general.

Scene 4: In this scene, we will be talking to the rest of the bodybuilders, but instead of having them being interviewed, we plan to shoot them in the gym working out and also telling us more about bodybuilding at the Johnson Center.

                Audio: While they are working out, we will have workout music in the background while they are lifting. This music will be suggested by them based off of the music they listen to when they workout.

Scene 5: In this scene, we will be filming some of the food that the bodybuilders eat before and after their workouts, along with the supplements that they take to stay in shape and gain muscle.

                Audio: We will be talking about the different foods and the amounts of proteins and carbohydrates that the body builders take in on a daily basis.

Scene 6: In this scene, we will be talking to the body builders and asking them how bodybuilding and working out affects their everyday lives and how their lives are different as oppose to the average, everyday human

                Audio: Some of the audio in this scene will be interviews while other clips of audio will be music while the body builders are working out.

Scene 7: In this scene, we will be doing a wrap up of the body builders and their lives, and our last shot will be a tracking shot walking backwards out of the Johnson Center as it fades away into black.

                Audio: The last scene will start by us wrapping up the documentary, but then it will go to music and the last shots of the Johnson Center.

Music Video

I chose the song Do Or Die by 30 Seconds To Mars. The longest scene is from 0:43-0:51. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC63HGcsfEg

Born Into Coal

The Born Into Coal documentary was more of a human interest narrative. It focused more on the family and their specific interest, coal. The shot that I wanted to talk about was the shot at the very end of Arianna standing in front of a coal mine with her pageant crown and dress on. I think this was the most effective shot throughout the entire documentary because it gave us a good summary of the narrative, hinting at the pageant and the coal mines. This could definitely be a shot we could recreate, by maybe having a photo of a bodybuilder working out at the gym during his set or something along those lines.

Group Contract

Filming Scheduler/Coordinator Alex
Interview Coordinator Chase
Group Meeting Coordinator Leon
Editing Coordinator Jon
File Storage/Uploading Coordinator Alex
Email/Communication Coordinator Chase
Citations Coordinator Leon
Story/Script Coordinator Jon

Visual Rhetoric

The project that was labeled 'The Last Meal Project' was a lot more compelling than the 'No Seconds' project. 'The Last Meal Project' was laid out and organized a lot better than the other project was  thought. The fact that it gave some facts about the death penalty as well, rather than just showing the pictures of the last meals that some of the inmates chose was a big factor in my decision as well. Also, by showing the faces of the inmates I think that it gives the audience a better opportunity to connect with what the person is trying to get through and the point they are trying to make as well. Giving the audience some facts about the death penalty forces the audience to stop just looking at the pictures of the meals and actually think about the death penalty and what it actually means to not only the person who is being convicted, but the state government who has to issue the death penalty as well. I also believe that the font that 'The Last Meal Project' used was a lot a good font as well as the color that was used because most people think of the color red for blood when talking about people receiving the death penalty. I believe that the first person could have done a little better with the project by throwing some facts about the death penalty in there as well. This would have caught the audience's attention more because if they are just looking at pictures for the entire project they might get bored and side-tracked. Overall, 'The Last Meal Project' was the better project.

Speech Reflection

For my speech, I think one of the major things that I did was that I was nervous when I got up in front of the class and I forgot some of the information that I was going to say. Also, I did not move around a lot in my speech, I seemed to sway back and forth a lot during it. However, I did notice that my eye contact was pretty good and mine tone and volume of my voice was pretty good as well. I honestly did worse than I thought I was going to do, because, like I said, I had forgotten some of the information that I wanted to use in the speech. I believe that I can improve by practicing my speech more to a smaller group of people or even just a couple of my friends, just to get the hang of what I am going to say and get more comfortable talking in front of people. I also need to practice my speech more so that way I do not forget any of the information I want to use. I believe that the grade I have received, a B, was very reasonable for the speech i gave.