COMM 3201.006

I think that there was a huge amount of learning and change that took place between our first and third productions. Production One was a lot of just figuring out how to use the equipment and properly filling our roles. Once we were a little more comfortable with those basics, we were able to open up and be more creative in our approach to the scene in Production Three. Some improvements I especially saw were much better lighting designs, camera movements, playing around with the set and props, and using more of the technical features on the switcher.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this class was the teamwork aspect and getting to know other people in the class well. I also saw this grow as the productions went on, where we learned to trust each other more with the group work and learn how our roles could complement each other. That made the class really fun.

The advice that I would give to someone just beginning 3201 is to dive right in. I think that in order to create a good project, you have to get along well with your group. That means having fun with it, while still being responsible because it is a lot of work. Speaking of which, I guess I'd just like to thank everyone in our class for working really hard on all of our productions. Different people have their own strengths, but I really felt like everyone was committed to the work we were doing, whether it was knowing their lines or going along with a weird camera movement or whatever. So thanks for a great class, everyone, I had a lot of fun with you all.

Wow, it's been an interesting semester. If I had to say the one thing that we've approved on the most throughout the semester is lighting. We had so much trouble the first production with not having enough lighting or not having the lighting properly angled. I definitely think the lighting for all three groups turned out much better for production 3 than any of the previous productions.

If I could give any advice to future 3201ers it would be, don't feel overwhelmed. At the beginning of the semester, you're going to think this class is going to be so hard and so much work, but once you get to your first production, you start having a lot of fun and it doesn't really feel like work anymore.

As for my fellow classmates . . . I've had a lot of fun working with all of you this semester. We had some pretty awesome productions and I think everyone did a great job working together to get them all done!

First and foremost, I want to thank all of you for a wonderful semester of learning and trying new things together!

We were able to grow in the classroom by learning new concepts pertaining to video production, but we grew even more during studio time. By putting our visions into action, we learned more than could ever be possible in a lecture.

As we spent more time in the studio and in the classroom learning, our understanding of concepts grew as well, which showed progressively in each of our three production projects. Our ability to learn from the mistakes we made early in our first production was an important and necessary step to prepare us for making the next step. There were clear improvements made in quality of production as well as the inclusion of dynamic elements within those productions.

Teamwork was also a very important element during productions in this course. Each and every person I worked with in this course pulled their weight and it was a truly awesome experience to work with such great people. Of course, our collaboration and work strategies improved progressively from the first production moving forward.

Thank you to my fellow 3201-ers for such an awesome semester! You were all wonderful to work with and get to know over this semester. Good luck to all of you, and please do not hesitate to say hello if we cross paths around campus!

Well friends, it's been fun. I suppose now that we're at the end of this class, we should look back at the things we've done and compare them to where we are now. The first thing that comes to my mind is the use of gels. It seemed as though, at the start of the semester, we were using them simply because they were available and they looked cool instead of actually having an intended purpose for them, as we did later in the semester. That being said it also seemed like the lighting designs as a whole improved from beginning to end; at the beginning you could barely see anyone whereas at the end, everyone was adequately lit and not covered in shadow like a poorly done horror film. In addition, it seemed as though we all worked better as the semester moved on. I don't know what it was, but it seemed like every thing improved as the semester went on. The switcher effects were better used and done on time, sound was better incorporated into the scenes and the blocking became more intricate. But somehow, every time something was changed, we always rose to the challenge.

For anyone coming into the class next year, I would simply say, let things be and have fun with it. That's the only way to do well in the class, by simply having fun with the projects and the class

It has been a pleasure working with you all, and I wish you the best.

There was a great improvement from the first production to the third. The quality of lighting, the creativity, and the sound and set designs really came out once people felt more comfortable with what they were doing. I couldn't help but notice how hectic preproduction was for the first project and how relaxed it was for the third. Everyone seemed so comfortable and prepared because they had been through it before.

In all of my production teams I thought that everyone wanted to work together and did a great job. I always felt that people were doing the best they could.

I would tell anyone who is just beginning in 3201 to just have fun with it, be creative, and don't worry if you feel you don't know what you are doing, because, really, no one knows what they are doing at the beginning. Everyone learns it together. I would also say that this is a class where you get some real hands on experience and that made it more fun than any of my other classes.

To my fellow 3201ers I would say that I really enjoyed working with all of you, seriously everyone was wonderful, fun and creative. I think learning from people who have different backgrounds and interests is incredibly valuable.

I think our productions have improved dramatically in a number of ways since our first ones. Chief among all of them is lighting. From what I can tell, bad lighting is a total rookie mistake that everyone makes. I mean, lighting was an issue with literally every first production. They all turned out darker than anyone had anticipated them being, and you could barely see the talent and set. By the end, our sets were well lit, and if it was dark it was because we meant it to be dark. The other way we improved was with both primary and secondary movement. Movement in our first productions seemed poor. Talent would block either to slow or fast, and camera operators would be choppy when moving the cameras. By the final productions, everyone seemed to have had movement down.

As far as working as a production team. I feel like everyone synced very well from the very beginning. Sure, there was that awkward phase where we were all getting to know each other, but I don't think that affected the way we worked together on the first productions. In other classes, I've felt like my classmates and I never got to the point where everyone was "on a team," even at the end, and our work always suffered for it. Here, it's like we were all a team since the very beginning. I think we can attribute this to the fun subject matter involved in the course. I mean, we get to create and shoot our very own productions! It's not like other classes where we all have to sit down and do a bunch of boring crap that no one actually wants to do. I feel like everyone who was in this class wanted to be in this class, and that's what made our production teams so strong.

To anyone just starting out in COMM 3201, I would tell them to savor every moment in this course. It may be one of the only courses you take in your college career that you'll actually enjoy. It may seem like a lot of work just looking at the syllabus, but in the end it was nothing. Stick with it, don't drop it, and have some fun. (Oh yea, and the tests are open-note, so take lots of notes).

To my fellow 3201-ers. I wish I wasn't graduating and could join those of you moving on to 3204! One of the techs was telling me about it and it sounds like tons of fun. Alas, I had to grow up and graduate. Maybe we'll work together on the outside! Who knows?

Over the course of the semester, I feel as though I learned so much about media production. I came into this class not knowing anything and was just hoping to get by. By the end of the semester, I had a great base knowledge of what it takes to make a production and wanted to take the projects to the next level. Looking back at production 1, I see a few shots that were too wide and getting more in-frame than what was wanted, and lighting that was a little sub-par. In our last production, we have good lighting and I think you can see all the extra details we put into play because we were much more comfortable as a whole class with working the sound, switcher board, and the cameras. One thing I found to happen much more towards the end of the semester was our ability to work together to brainstorm new ways to use our knowledge of the effects of camera shots and sound to make our productions better. People were a lot more comfortable throwing out ideas, knowing they would be considered and not immediately shot down by anyone.

Starting out this semester, I heard that this class was a lot of work. I think that although it did take some extra work outside of class, I was able to see everyone's extra effort come together in the productions and it made it all worth it. One thing I would tell a new 3201 student would be to be prepared to practice. Use the studio time and book studio time to run through the operations so that you can make the most out of the filming day. The biggest help we had was creating a plan so that we knew exactly what we should be doing and when.

It was a really fun semester and I learned so much from both this class and everyone in it. I'm glad I took this class and I hope everyone has a great summer!

I seriously can't believe the dramatic change between our first production and last productions. It went by so fast but we learned so much! The main thing I think has improved the most is how comfortable we are with each other and with studio E. Nothing brings a class closer than a tiny class room and being forced into studio time outside of class. ;) But I can see how the talent seems to be more comfortable with each other and being in front of the cameras.

Another thing I've noticed is how the things that we worried about in pre-production for production 1 were not even on our radar during pre-production project 2. We figured out what works best and used our time wisely with the talent and camera operators because we knew that whatever we didn't do, mostly lighting and audio, could be done during outside studio time.

I for one am not a fan of group work, especially in college where everyone has a completely different schedule, but everyone seemed so flexible and willing to catch each other up if we did miss anything.

My advice for anyone taking this class is, don't be afraid to step up. I, personally, want to be an actual film director, so of course I didn't hesitate to be in charge of the first production, and I wish I could have been the director for every production after that. Don't be afraid to try new things also because that could spark a hidden interest in you that you didn't know was there.

My fellow 3201-ers: It's been so great! I loved getting to know and work with all of you, all of you are so talented! Thank you for the great unity of the class and please, please, please say hi to me if you see me around campus ;)

Have a great summer everyone!

From the first production to the last one, I have learned a lot about not only the production process but also myself. I think my work definitely improved from the first to the last production because I became more comfortable with the different roles, equipment, and terms that were used in the class. From being more familiar with pre-production day to being prepared on the production day and working with my groups to complete our production, it was all a great learning experience. On the first production, I was nervous because my script was picked and I did not think it was done very well. It was my first time ever doing anything like this, plus on top of all that I had the pressure of being talent for one of the other groups. In the end everything worked out well, our production went smoothly and my talent role also went smoothly (even though I realized that being talent is not my ideal role). This allowed the class to be more enjoyable for me and I though the semester went by quickly because of the fun we were having as well and all of the other productions went well too. Advice to someone starting in 3201 that I have is just be creative and don't be afraid to put yourself out there. In your own mind you may not think it is a good idea but others might like it or build off of it and have a successful plan. Also if you get something wrong the first time, there is always a chance to fix it in the next take. Have fun!

I have learned so much about the world of Production this semester; I cannot believe it is already over! I think that my Production projects have really improved when comparing Production one and three. I think my camera shots got a lot more visually interesting. In Production one, we did not do a lot of camera movement, but then in Production three we executed a half circle truck in one of the shots. This movement in Production three showed we were a lot more comfortable with the cameras and wanted to take some shots to the next level; whereas in Production one we didn't have that kind of confidence. I also think another improvement from Production one to Production three was that the set was a lot better lit. Our Production one was a little dark and I feel like by our third one we started to understand the importance of a well lit set and were able to execute that and make sure everything was properly lit.

I feel like there was a big shift and improvement in my jobs from Production one to Production three. In Production one I was the AC and was really focused on just the sound aspect of the Production. Then in Production three I moved up to the Director role in the production. I held a lot more responsibility and vision within the production and feel that it would have been to intimidating to do the first one, but I am glad I got the experience it in the third one. I also feel like overall, I had a lot of good experience working in all of my production groups. I feel like comparing between Production one and three the biggest difference is that in the first one people were a little uneasy about their visions and ideas because they did not really know how it would look on camera. By the time Production three happened people were a lot more open and confident in their ideas and collaborated well to create an overall mood and feel for our production.

Some advice I would like to give to someone beginning 3201 would be don't be afraid to make a mistake or ask questions. Most everyone in the class has never done a production class like this or worked in a studio and you are all in the same boat. Another piece of advice would be the importance of securing studio time outside of class. Make sure to do it early and follow through with it because it helps to tie up the loose ends of your production.

Finally, to my instructor and fellow classmates I want to say thanks for a great semester! I loved getting to know you all and had a blast! Have a great summer everyone!