Media Groupies

On Friday, our class walked (in mob formation) to our school's media center for group meetings where we promptly picked up laptops, plugged in HDMI cables to the laptops, and projected our blogs to a TV for everyone in our group to see. The most beneficial aspect of the meeting was notgetting to use the super-extra-expensive-equipment-that-people-barely-touch (although, that was cool) but rather the valuable conversation that was afforded among my peers. Our groups were carefully organized to include individuals with different project types such as film trailers, documentaries, music videos, and short films. It was interesting to be able to think about the implication of different media types and gain perspective on my own project.

While I had a general direction for my short films I was really missing a solid p
lot and “twist” at the end, so I enlisted my group members for help. After a few minutes of back and forth about Black Mirror and other sci-fi pieces I threw out an idea for the “twist” and plot line. After a few nanosecond of deliberation the group agreed it would be a solid idea. More on that in the next post.

Personally, this group was extremely rewarding in the way of “grounding.” Peers can help to discern how realistic a media goal is, if it’s too cliched, or if it’s even interesting. I loved hearing about and giving input on my groups ideas-- we had everything from a rom-com about pizza to a short film about the power of music and media. This freedom in constructivism is harder to achieve in other subject areas due to rigid curriculum structures. In essence, we are able to learn through building on our own knowledge and connect our new ideas and with pre-existing group experiences to enhance understanding and facilitate the creation of more meaningful and effective ideas. Media is specifically driven by consumers, therefore, peer (consumer) input is especially important in determining the effectiveness of your print or digital media.