When
Professor Pabico announced, the class was going to be assigned group projects
the classroom became quiet. The thought of
having to meet with others outside of class already left a dry feeling in the
room. To make it even worse, group members were assigned, not picked. Everyone
has had their fair share of bad experiences regarding group projects so the
enthusiasm was pretty low. Everyone was
completely over the project before it even started. Each group would be
responsible for creating a video on iMovie conveying the theme assigned. No one
was sure what the new group project would entail but there was nothing that
could be done now. The politics group consisted of Deja, Tiara, Meghan, and
Amelia, students who they had only known only through class. “Stay positive,
think positive” repeated in my head multiple times. Any negative presumptions
were proven wrong and this was one of the best group projects any of the
members had been in.
The theme
assigned to my group was politics. The only thing that comes to mind is the
democrat and republican party. The first day when groups were assigned, two
members were absent so it was agreed the communication would be made through
GroupMe, a group chat app. The group decided that the video shouldn’t be about
boring politics, it was time to think outside of the box. The theme should be relevant,
interesting, and abstract. “The Politics of Womanhood in the 21st
century” was the final decision. Since March is Women’s History Month, it
seemed fitting to discuss the various struggles women face despite their race.
Each member of the group brought something different in the vision for the
video which ultimately led to its success. There are many aspects that fall
into being woman in today’s society: having a career, starting a family, or
even traveling. The approach was to show how gender roles dictate society and
the prejudice behavior that occurs in the work force. From the baby’s time in
its mother’s womb, it is assigned a gender role once the sex is determined.
With that being said, girls and boys are expected to look and behave a particular
based on their gender. Woman are expected to act “girly” and do feminine things
instead of talk about cars and sports. Women of color are particularly targeted
to wear their hair in a certain fashion to obtain a job position. The only way
to communicate this message is through video, to bring those ideas to life. These
are situations that occur every day and it’s imperative to see the examples
vividly to fully understand the theme.
The
self-portrait experience was frustrating yet fun at the same time. Deja’s
self-portrait showed getting ready to go on a job interview and she has to
decide whether to wear natural hair or put her wig on. The initial problem for
the self-portrait was trying to convey the two different hair styles and how it
affects an upcoming job interview. There was no tripod available so the camera
had to be held by hand. There were multiple scenes shot until it was perfected.
Not to mention the shots that were captured were filmed in the wrong format,
rather than filming the scenes in landscape, they were portrait. Some members
had to redo their scenes as well to make the theme stronger altogether. The
simple things being used in the video is important so the audience can connect
the symbols. Once the shots were made, it was time for everyone to display
their parts of the video so the iMovie can be made. The biggest issue
concerning the project itself was trying to meet up with fellow group members. The
week before Spring Break, the northeast had a major snow storm that swept
through Buffalo and left many people stuck at home. Students and faculty were
affected by this massive storm to the point the school cancelled classes in the
middle of the week. No one can control inclement weather so because of the
storm everyone’s plans to meet up to go over the project were postponed. Since
the storm happened the week before Spring Break there was no possible way to
meet up because everyone was traveling over the break. The snow storm was an
extreme inconvenience for all the group members so it was decided that the
project would be completed once class resumed after Spring break. Once everyone
returned back from the break, it was time to put everyone’s personal videos
together. Since Meghan was not going to be in class the day of presentation, it
was imperative to make sure that all four members were caught up with their
footage so Amelia can edit the iMovie. Amelia had the most experience using
iMovie from previous classes and experience which made the editing process
easier. The Deja and Tiara worked on their personal videos in class while
Amelia and Meghan worked on beginning the entire project together. By the end
of class, all of the group members had their self-portrait videos completed and
only needed to shoot one more scene to complete everything. It was agreed to
utilize the next class to record the final scene and splice the videos together.
The final
scene that needed to be recorded was the interview that showed Deja and Tiara applied
for the same position however they didn’t get it due to their hairstyles. They
thought it would be extremely difficult to find a guy last minute as an extra.
While filming in the library, the girls came across Fad (Fahad) an
international student with a bright personality. He had no issue being featured
in the film and had the excitement to match it. The group was able to film the
last scene and edit it into their video by the end of class. Everyone’s work
ethic was at an all-time high which is why the production of this project was
so painless despite the obstacles that was out of our control. Any issues or concerns
that were had, were discussed and planned accordingly. In the beginning of the semester,
Amelia did her WikiHow topic on “How To Survive Group Projects” ironically. The
WikiHow page was not needed thankfully, and this project proved that four women
can work successfully together and create magic!
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