e9 Final

My fourth quarter project was quite the beast. The end goal was to create an imaginary product with a design team, and create graphics, animations, and even a video commercial for it. Overall, it took us about 2 months, I believe. We started out very well in graphic design, where we had the good fortune to be able to come up with our product idea - the Magic Pack. Our graphics were easily created, as you can see:

Our animation that Katie, Nick and I worked out smoothly, as I am quite proficient with SketchUp, after creating a three-story house.  Katie isn't bad either, as she's the one who made the surrounding campsite. Making something appear like a cloth backpack was different, but a welcome challenge:

All was well and good. Until we hit web design. Now, no one in our team could honestly say it's their strong suit, but I, myself in particular, am pretty much lost without a step-by-step tutorial. Which we had, but then we lost it. In the end it all worked out though, after much trial and error, and we managed to cobble together something presentable.

Over the course of production, I did have time to practice new skills, like listening to others, not being bossy, and how to work with difficult people. I also got to exercise my video editing in our YouTube commercial, which we recorded as a group, but edited individually ourselves. This was mine:

After our presentation, we were approached by many of our peers, who told us they had enjoyed ours the most, and it filled me with a sense of pride, but also trepidation, as if I'll have to do even better next time. But then again, I still have much to learn, so I have much to improve.

This whole time spent working was definitely not time wasted, I think. I do believe that I managed my time well, as my team and I were fully prepared to present at the end of fourth quarter. When we finished recording our video a little late, I stayed after school for three hours each day, for three days. I was determined to make a  good commercial I would be proud of, and ultimately, I am. This has brought me to realize that my strength is definitely video and film, and I will continue to grow in that area.

My weakness, though, is without a doubt web design. My solution is to stay as far away from that as possible.

This semester, my favorite parts were definitely creating a 3D house in SketchUp, and filming and editing our commercial for the Magic Pack. However, I would like to change how my group is still slightly awkward together, though that can only be fixed by constant exposure, but I fear that we won't be seeing all of us in e-Comm next year. Next, I will significantly improve my ability to film and edit, and how to incorporate animation into it. I have the next three years to do it.