Ruth Rosales Final Blog #8

Final Blog #8: Reflect on what this project and experience has given you in your life and art. Choose three or more of the following to discuss in your blog: how it has effected you personally, how it has increased your understanding and awareness of the community, how it has made you more sensitive to the needs of the community you are serving, how it has increased your leadership or collaborative skills, how it has effected the way you understand art and video production in relation to others, how it has increased you professional skills.

This project has given me more of an understanding of film as an art and the various styles one can take when creating a film. By changing the filming styles, one can change the dynamics of  the video as a whole (ex: handheld vs locked shots, interview vs verite). I feel like this is something you see throughout the video as we roll through interviews.

 Personally, i have become more aware of the community we are working with, interacting with, and portraying through our film. By working with this group, my sensitivity towards this community has increased in more ways than can be mentioned. Prior to this project, I had been exposed to the challenges that these individuals face, but actually working with them helped me make personal connections with the students that has made my work all the while more meaningful.

 Moreover, working in a team has helped me develop collaborative skills as everyone in our group was at different levels of experience with filmmaking, so there was always the adjusting and emphasizing of skills and development of new ones which was fun. Also, getting a chance to edit and learn from Ali (in terms of audio) has really helped me develop my skills because i was very weak in the audio department. All in all, this whole project was a great learning experience.