September 2018 - Reflection♡ 02/10/2018 Throughout the first month of doing media studies, I have thoroughly enjoyed it and have grown a determined interest towards the subject. However, this doesn't mean that I have not struggled during some aspects. This month, we have mainly focused on online, social and participatory media. We have looked at creators who produce content for a target audience through YouTube, such as Zoella. I found analyzing her work and the way she represents herself quite easy considering I watch YouTube videos quite often. When we considered Zoella's content in terms of Reception Theory, I struggled a bit since I couldn't get around the concept of Reception Theory.
Once I read over the dominant and oppositional articles and asked for help, I kind of understood the theory but I understood it the best by using an example to describe the theory. I used the movie that became a hit for all the wrong reasons, 'The Room' and by looking at how the movie failed in terms of it's goal but succeeded for different reasons, I made myself understand reception theory.
Furthermore, we have also conducted 2-3 small photography sessions which also helped me in understanding how to use a DSLR since I have no experience with professional cameras whatsoever. The first set of photos that we took were based on perspective and being able to use different angles in order to frame your pictures correctly. We also worked on making sure there was no interference with our photos such as clutter, rubbish, people walking past, etc. We then went on to take pictures that created a persona of who we are as people which was really fun because we got to express ourselves through photography.
The most recent thing that we've done and are still currently working on is our vlogs. The first vlog that I made was a collage of clips from my summer in England and Turkey. I only added clips but not any voice overs which was one of the pieces of feedback that I received from my peer. I knew my vlog wasn't great and definitely needed improvement but the peer marking made me feel better since my peers thought that my vlog was very engaging and interesting but they also thought that adding voice, slowing it down and adding pictures would make it even better.
I have now completed my vlog. I have used and acted on 2 out of 3 pieces of peer feedback that I received. Firstly. I slowed down my vlog just a little bit to a point where it isn't too obvious, making it seem a bit awkward, but just to a point where the viewer can understand what is going on. As well as this, to make all the clips and pictures more distinct and clear, I used different animations/transitions to make it more interesting rather than each clip/picture just simply fading away. Overall, I am pretty happy with my vlog. Emaan