Week 5 Final Reflection
I really enjoyed working on this project and collaborating with my team members. I had never created a video before prior to our Week 2 assignment, so I was a little apprehensive. As our group members posted comments to our collaborative document, I realized that I was not alone… that we would all learn together.
Our group had five members: Looai Mansor, Jasmine Goodly, Jana Dugas, Melva Brown, and myself. We communicated through various methods, i.e., e-mail, telephone conference calls, and our Google Doc. The majority of our ideas and role discussions took place on the collaborative Google Doc, with each member recording their thoughts in different colors. We began with e-mail communications and then Looai Mansor started us out with the collaboration document in Google Docs.
Looai also had the original suggestion of working on a public service announcement about recycling. Group members suggested a few ideas, but we did settle on the idea of a PSA about recycling. Looai outlined the tasks and our group began to volunteer for roles. All of us brainstormed about the elements that the script should contain.
As a city employee, I had access to some recycling materials and a recycle campaign CD from the American Beverage Association (ABA) with jingles intended to be used for radio ads. The ABA encouraged the free use of the jingles to educate the public about the benefits of recycling. I got the idea for a “rap” script from one of the radio ads. We actually wound up using part of the radio ad as background music for our credits. I assumed the role of writer and came up with a script intended to be “rapped” by the students in Jasmine’s class. The script that I wrote was very lengthy. I knew that it would have to be edited to make it fit the time requirement, but felt that it was better to provide too much information rather than not enough. I also provided links to free music clips and free video clips to use along with our filmed shots. Looai provided a draft of the project proposal. I put together the first project proposal document from the actual assignment and e-mailed it to everyone. Looai placed it into the Google document for everyone to add to.
Jasmine was our videographer, and her students were the actors. Jasmine prepared the shot list for the Week 3 assignment, and began to practice the script with her students. After rehearsing for several days, Jasmine began filming the students.
Jana volunteered to take care of the copyright part of the assignment and began compiling the resources and copyright information. She also volunteered to do narration for any slides or still shots. We used material from the American Beverage Association including the idea for the rap and the music for the credits. I wrote the script from facts gathered from researching websites, including Pulltabs for Charity, The American Beverage Association, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and Why Recycle.
Melva had a death in her family so we were unable to speak with her at the start of the project. We proposed that Melva could assist with any or all parts of the project as she was able to join in. Melva was able to join us later and offered suggestions regarding script, filming, music, and editing.
Looai, Jasmine, and Jana did the editing for the video after suggestions from the group. I provided the final script and the storyboard. Looai posted the video to YouTube, and Jana and Jasmine e-mailed revised production plans to the group.
The group worked very well together. We had a little confusion about the due date for the project, and then a little stress about completing it in time when we realized that we only had until Friday night.
The PSA could be improved with a little more time for editing. The introduction could have used a film clip of a landfill with voice over narration in addition to the slides with facts. All in all, it was a great first effort from a group of people who have never met and who had little experience with this type of project.
