On the Road

Assignment/Activity Title—            On The Road                                                                          Year—2014

Skill—Working in groups, writing, editing                                                                                                Portfolio Category—Media and Communications

            This assignment may have been one of the most challenging and frustrating things I’ve had to accomplish at CAP.  It is for my ability to complete it (with the help of my group mates of course) and get a high grade that I am so proud of it.  This assignment taught me about how to edit a film quickly and effectively, and also taught me how to work with oversized and ineffective groups last-minute.  For On the Road, we interviewed a former woman Air Force pilot.  For a few reasons, putting together a smooth documentary was difficult.  She had suffered a stroke and had been treated for cancer twice and due to this, she was inarticulate, off-topic, and difficult to understand.  For this reason, sorting through the footage of the interview took a much longer time than it did most other groups.  In addition, our group was two people larger than the average group.  This meant that five people were stuffed into one editing suite, and the conversations between group members often made it difficult to concentrate and get work done.  Lastly, there were many snow days during the time when we were supposed to be editing the project.  After we got back from one of the snow breaks, with little more than two weeks to edit almost the entirety of the film, we realized that we had to get down to business. 

It was during this process that I learned a lot about working under stressful circumstances and editing quickly and proficiently.  A few group members and I realized that it was unrealistic to expect that our group work productively in one room staring at the same computer.  We decided to have rotating shifts of people in outside rooms, doing other work for the project.  This expedited the editing process greatly.  Also, since we didn’t have time to write a script, we had to write our narration quickly and on-the-spot.  By doing this, I was able to learn how to convey the importance of what our subject had done in quick narrative bursts that were aimed at affecting the viewer.  As we often had disagreements to the precise wording and phrasing of our narration, I had to work on compromising with my group members—something I have always found it difficult to do.  Since I had a lot to do with the outline and message of the film, I had to communicate my vision effectively so that other group members were able to do work that had continuity with the rest of the project.  In addition, I had to listen and respect the vision of others.  This project also drastically improved my editing process, as it was the fastest I have ever edited anything.  The media skills I learned by doing narration and collecting archival footage and quickly editing as I went will be invaluable in future media projects.  And the interpersonal communications skills I developed by working under stress will be essential in the basic human interactions I will have for the rest of my life.