Mainstream Media

I enjoyed this experience of collaborating and creating media. Michelle and I decided to choose the topic of mainstream media, which we both found interesting to research and collaborate on. We both decided that an animated video would be the best form of media to use, and both agreed that our project should focus on mainstream media around the globe. There were several things that I enjoyed about working with a partner in comparison to an individual project. As this was a project that contained a digital animation focusing on mainstream media around the world, I found the different set of background knowledge and skills each of us possessed helped us to create a more well-rounded and complete project than if I were to complete it on my own. Michelle and I were able to bounce ideas off of each other and create a video to which we both contributed valuable information. This helped the brainstorming process go much more quickly than if this was a solo project and also helped us to come up with a well-supported topic. The experience of collaborating was also positive as it helped me to stay on track with completing this project knowing that I had a specific portion of the project due at a certain time. When it comes to skillsets, Michelle was more knowledgeable in creating animations and videos than I was, and she helped create a much more detailed video than I would have on my own. We were also able to split up the research between ourselves and gather much more information in the same amount of time. Another thing that I enjoyed about this collaboration was the fact that we were able to optimize and discuss each other’s portions of the project. This allowed us both to get an outside perspective on our input so the final product would be the best version. One thing I found interesting about this assignment was that it is a fully online group assignment. I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to be in group projects for classes that are 100% online with no in-person meetings or consistent zoom meetings and am more used to in-person group projects. I found this method of collaboration to be easy and efficient as we were able to contribute to the same documents and platforms simultaneously. From my experiences with group projects in the past, I can say that collaboration can either be a good or bad thing when working under the pressure of a deadline. Often times I feel as though the more group members in a group, the more difficult it is to coordinate timing and responsibilities between group members. This project however differed as having a partner greatly reduced the stress of working under a deadline. We were able to easily communicate and complete our own portions of the project in a timely and efficient manner, and produced a creative final product. Overall I enjoyed this project and found my experience of collaborating with a partner to be a positive and beneficial experience.