Digital Media III

Well, how do i sum up this course?
Firstly, i went inot the course wilth only basic understandings in Adobe Photshop, and no experience with Flash or Premiere.
Currently, I can safely say I have a sound basis of understanding of the programs, in completion of the course. It's great to have this knowledge to build on, and it will really aid my presentations and future displays of any media in the course.
It's great to work on an animation, and see it come to life. The animations i'm proudest of are the leaf church animation, and bird flying past the tree animation in our final submission of HISTOIRES PETITE POMME.

It was a challenging course, and my skill levels did hinder the final submission in comparison to the rest of the class, and at times prevented me from starting assignments due to a lack of belief in my own ability. But the lecturers, Josh and Lisa, helped me overcome this, and did a fabulous job at teaching the class.
Problems began with our assignments from day one, with Simon being overseas for the first three assignments. But Camilla and I overcame this, and we eventually got on track.
Throughout the semester, we hads problems with organization, and regular group meetings due to busy schedules and other assignments, which lead to a final dash to complete our final submission in two weeks! But we eventually produced a short animation of what i, and the rest of the group are proud of, and we surprised ourselves with the ability we actully had!
A special mention to Camilla, and her efforts, as she started the course without the luxury of knowing how to use photoshop. Well done! Simon also did extremely well, considering his personal circumstances outside of the course. We were and odd group, none of us standouts with our abilities, so the final animation is great to see. Well done guys.

Organization is a must for this course, although I did not adhere to this all the way through, which lead to almost 4 days of no sleep! As you would imagine, i was not very well, and Josh saw the state of me (i could barely talk), and Lisa got a phone call from a very dazed and confused Jonno. And to think, i drove home!
So out of this, if I have left being able to do basic in animation, and have learnt a valuable lesson about the effect of sleep deprivation on one's health and well being. DO NOT EVER STAY AWAKE FOR 3 DAYS. IT IS NOT PRETTY. Although i did get a few comments on how good my hair looked, considering the circumstances.....bonus points tp the issuers of those comments.

The Lecturers and Tutors.
The course was enhanced by the Lecturers and tutors. Without them, the course would have been totally different!

Lisa was great, and is a credit to the school of design. Her endless willingness to help students out of hours, and her knowledge makes her a great teacher in the making. I am proud to say that we have studied together before, and she is still the most intelligent student i know.

Josh was also outstanding, and has a wealth of knowledge to offer students. He is the most chilled out teacher at the school of design, and really engages with the students in the class. He makes university a fun and engaging place, and i was excited about this subject because of the atmosphere created by both Josh and Lisa.
(I am not writing this as a suck up, and all my words are in honest reflection).

Improvements could be made in a more comprehensive run through of how to use Premiere closer to the date of film submission, as what i learnt did not support a confident use of the program, which proved to throw 12 hours of problems at me prior to submission.
It could also have a more specified pre-requisite description for students who do not know how to use the programs.

But overall, even though I'm not expecting a High destinction for the course, personally i have learnt a wealth of knowledge in animation, digtal media and group work, of which i will be able to build upon in future subjects and assignments.
Thankyou to the lecturers and all of my three blog followers!

Cheers, Jonathon Hyde-Neary.