Project Reflection

Today in class we were asked to read two articles and use their content to address our progress. One of these passages was entitled "Practicing." The central idea of this piece was the importance of leaving your comfort zone frequently in order to improve in your skills. After reading this piece we were prompted to reflect on our on practicing done throughout this project. I would say that I have left my comfort zone for a large majority of this project, although I am familiar with writing, film scripts are very foreign. I have made efforts to be working every single day even if through frustration. Although I think my tendency to practice skills required for this project is good, there is certainly room for improvement. Where I think I could improve most is the area of being conscientious in my research. Thus far I have rarely researched beyond my current knowledge. Certainly I watch films and draw from them but there are plenty of things I could know more about that I have yet to research. Things such as the effects of lighting or the purpose of certain shots or framing. So in short, primarily I would say I tend to leave the areas in which I am competent and work in these areas often yet in the areas of research I could be more ambitious.
     The second article we read was about the idea of motivation in your work and the importance of deadlines. It talked a lot about the benefits to putting your name on the line when you need to complete your work in order to motivate you to do so. Although I'm not in the situation mentioned in the article, by way of this blog I am attaching my name to this project, pushing me to produce something of quality to have my name on. On top of that though, my own self derived motivation comes from two things. The first being that I don't like to put out work that I feel could have been improved upon. This has continually pushed me to work harder and frequently than I could be in such a loosely structured project. The second thing that pushes me in this process is I genuinely enjoy the work I am doing. Certainly there are times of frustration but being able to bring my thoughts to film is enough of a reward to keep me going.
        We were asked to select a passage from the article on motivation, a passage that included a method to complete work that we would consider doing ourselves. The recommendation I found to be most practical is as follows, "First divide the work into smaller tasks and set deadlines for every one of them. Then find a tough and reliable person to hold you accountable for meeting each one. Make meeting the deadline - not achieving perfection - the ultimate goal." This is something I could find helpful and am already doing a somewhat diluted version of this practice. I agree that with such a large project it doesn't help to attempt to tackle it as one big task, it is best to break it down to what you can complete week by week.