Capstone Exploration Reflection

1.) What has this week been like for you?

This week has been long and stressful. I finished and presented my capstone on Friday night. I was happy with how the piece turned out and I received some good feedback from peers and faculty. What a relief once the night was over.

2.) If you could change anything in how you did your capstone, what would it be?

Well, like many others I would have liked a bit more time. I felt as if I was very prepared coming into the final week before the presentation but I still found myself crunching to get stuff done at the last minute.

3.) How close is the final outcome to what you originally thought it would be?

I originally wanted to have a LIVE portion where people with questions would be able to call and talk to experts in different fields. This turned out to be too large of a task for one person especially with editing the video, building the website and all the other aspects of the project as well.

4.) If you had one more month to work on the project what would you do?

I would send my current version of the video to the Indiana Woman’s Prison for review. I believe that once they saw the video they would allow me to return and get additional b-roll footage that I think the video is needing. I was not able to get that b-roll due to all the restrictions at the prison.

5.) What advice do you have for me about working on my capstone?

My advice would be to not only choose a topic that you’re into but to choose something that has more meaning besides just entertainment value. I say this because if you crate something that has meaning then you’ll be more motivated to finish it and finish it with quality.

1.) Address the efficacy of the approach we took in this class.

I loved all the time we were given to work on our projects. This was especially appreciated because I was presenting my capstone this semester.

2.) Discuss whether or not the breakdown of the project development was advantageous.

I had already broken down my project so I did not find this as advantageous as I’m sure many that have not done so yet.

3.) Discuss the advanges and/or disadvantages of the student guest speakers for forming your own approach to capstone.

Student guest speakers were a great idea. Hearing from people first hand that have gone through the capstone experience is one of the best ways to prepare ones self for the capstones

4.) Were there any assignments that you thought were particularly helpful? Please elaborate.

5.) Were there any assignments that you thought were particularly useless? Please elaborate.

I’m going to answer questions 4 and 5 together. Because I enlisted in this class during my final semester I believe I had a different experience than other students that are were in there semester before capstone. I did not benefit so as much from the capstone idea and timeline assignments because I had already done those in my independent study. However, I would have loved to have had a class like this the semester before where I would have been awarded credit for doing these things. I did find the guest speakers entertaining and I learned a lot from them. I also enjoyed the peer feedback that I received when we would discuss our projects in our blogs and in class. This helped me refine my project throughout the semester.

N420 Progress Report

1.)  I’m happy to say that my project is about 95% complete. I have my video mostly finished and I just need to make a few small corrections to it before posting it on my webpage. I purchased a domain name and built a website for my video to be launched on. You can view my website at: www.choices2.org. The video will be posted on this page soon. I still may make a few small changes to the webpage but its mostly completed. I still need to update my resume and link it to my page.

2.)  Susan Tennant is my mentor and I’ve been meeting with her every week this semester and we also talk a lot through emails. I show her my progress each week and she provides me with feedback and ideas about what I need to do next or what needs to be fixed.

3.)  I originally was going to have a live event where I would launch the video to the public and then have professionals in the field be available for questions. As I continued to work on this aspect of the production it soon became apparent that this, although a cool idea, was not practical nor very plausible with just me working on it. I decided to focus my attention on making the video the best it could be and I also decided to build a webpage where I could launch the video to the public.

4.)  All I need to do now is make some corrections to the video and then export it for the web. The video needs to be posted on my webpage along with my updated resume. I have a link from the Choices page to my personal portfolio page and I was thinking that I may want to add a bit more to my portfolio as well. I also need to test my video in the large room in the IT building before December 9^th to be sure that it plays correctly. Working on my capstone night presentation would be a good idea as well.

5.)  Producing this piece was a great experience. Working with so many people and different organizations really made it challenging at times but through hard work I believe we were able to produce a strong piece. Even if we’re just able to help a single young adult make better choices or think about their actions before doing them than I consider this endeavor a success.

Timeline

My timeline is basically broken up into two major parts. The first part is filming and editing the ‘Choices: The Long Road Home’ video. The second part is creating the online experience where people will be able to view my video, view other videos on the topic of choices, ask questions/talk with professionals in the field. A few of my major benchmarks are filming the B-roll in about a week, hosting the online event on November 30^th and then the Capstone Event on December 9^th. I built flexibility into my timeline by giving myself a broad period of time for editing the video and also creating the online event. I also plan on having everything finished a week before the November 30^th online event. This will allow me time to make any changes if needed; or if something happens to take longer then expected to complete I have a week of flex built into my schedule.

Project Development Issues

A few time management issues that I’m going to have to work out is dedicating enough time to work on my video along with gathering additional content for the live Facebook page. I also need to design my Facebook page and plan out some sort of agenda as when different pieces of content will be released.

The skills needed in order to complete this project will be filming and editing skills. Project development and planning skills. Time management skills.

Some resources I need is the help of Russ McQuade. He is the host of my video. I also want to contact some other professionals in the field and have them join in on the Facebook page and offer advice and assistance to anyone that needs help. I also need to get the word out about the live awareness day. I need to figure out a way that I can contact schools and other youth organizations to let them know about this event.

Budget is going to consist of tapes for the HD cameras and other supplies of similar matter. I think the biggest part of my budget is going to be the time I need to dedicate to this capstone in order to complete it the way I want. I may be taking a good amount of days off of work in the coming months to work on this project.

Team issues fall back to the assistance of Russ McQuade. I’m using him to open up the video, bridge the video and also close it out. I’ve been getting a lot of help from my capstone teacher Sussan Tennat. She has helped me narrow my scope a bit and realize where the weak parts of my project are. I also hope to get professionals to join the Facebook page and offer assistance.

Another issue that I’ve been contemplating and changing a lot is the amount of time I want the “Choices Awareness Event” (final name pending) Facebook to be live. I originally wanted it to be a weeklong event. But I now realize that a week is completely ridiculous and the amount of content needed to fill a weeklong event would be enormous. I then started thinking 3 or so days would be more realistic… but after talking to my capstone teacher I realize that even 3 days will be too much. I’m now planning on a 24 hour awareness event. Its much more doable and it even has a nice ring to it… “24 hour Choices Awareness Event”.

General Category: VIDEO

Insight Gained

I liked reading the replys I got from my Capstone Ideas post.
I think that I'm definitely leaning toward my number 2 idea as many of my class mates thought that would be the best as well. I also liked the suggestions to keep the page populated with additional content... so it does not become dead. This made me start to think that perhaps a week in-between each video post might be a little too much time. I dont want to loose my audience. Maybe 2 or 3 days would be more ideal.
I'm going to continue to work on getting my idea more fleshed out for how these videos will be distributed.
Thanks to all who commented and viewed my post.

What is a Capstone?

I think to some the capstone is like the grand finale at the end of a firework show (it has to be breath taking) and to others it is just another project. I’m kinda in the middle someplace. I’m not ripping my hair out trying to create some Academy Award winning piece but I’m not approaching this as just a do something funny to get a quick ‘A’ project ether. I decided to take a more serious approach on this project and try to create something that might be able to help someone out there that is struggling in life. This gives my project a higher meaning then just entertainment or amusement. If it helps just one person make a smarter choice then I’ll consider it a success.

I believe that we’re given 2 semesters to work on our capstones because our teachers and the New Media program wants us to have at least one very strong piece that we can place into our portfolios. We’ll have documentation from when the idea was first conceived to the completion of the project.