Well it is the end of the toolkit chapter, and words could not describe how grateful I am for taking both courses. In less than a year I have learned the basics of photography, audio, video and flash, and I feel that I am more than ready to take on these tasks in the real world.
For the past few years, I have been experimenting with video while working on the media committee of a Kuwaiti student organization, but most of the videos I made were informative and didn’t involve any story—the camera was always on a person speaking, and the editing was very minimal. I have to say, though, that back then I thought I was doing a great a job.
The first day we experimented with the camera in class, however, changed that thought right a way. The 5-shot technique along with the 10 second rule of shooting opened my eyes to that art of video and film. I have already made two videos that I am really proud of, and I am pretty sure that I will continue producing more video projects.
There is no doubt the experience and knowledge gained during the last two semesters were great, but I’m asking myself these days: what’s next? I hope the school offers more courses of this sort with more advanced software and more challenging projects, but I have the feeling that will not happen soon. But since I am going to be teaching courses of this sort when I graduate, I think the best plan for me is to continue familiarizing myself with what I learned so far and try not to forget the material.
Yes, and please try to figure out how you will teach these skills effectively in Kuwait. You can see that it’s not all about the equipment, but rather, the way you think about the story.
Anyone can point a camera at a public official and press the red button. You don’t need journalism training to do that alone.