For this final project, my group and I decided to create a video highlighting the different traditions we have on campus. UW is a diverse community that has deep traditions, so we decided to explore some!

We focused on three traditions: Sk8er Guy, The Union fest, and throwing pinecones into the T-Rex. We managed to get three different interviews and footage of each event.

I enjoyed the project, even though it was one of the harder projects we’ve done. Brainstorming our video shots and setting up were my favorite parts. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the actual shooting of the video clips. I’ve never created a video like this before, so everything was very new to me!

The editing process was not as fun. I thought it would be similar to the audio editing project, so I wasn’t too concerned. I enjoyed editing my audio file and learned a great deal during that process. I thought that information would transfer over easily.

It didn’t. We used Hitfilm Express to edit our video, and it was much different that the Audacity platform used in the audio project. Although I eventually got a hold of it and contributed to the editing process, it was a long road and one I’m not so sure I would like to repeat.

I was disappointed how much I disliked editing the video, because I was looking forward to it all semester. I’ve always been captivated by film and had entertained the thought of creating videos for fun. As a visual learner who is easily distracted, YouTube has been my saving grace in my college classes and hobbies outside of class. I learn everything from calculus to bike mechanics to how to bake a Galaxy Mirror Cake on Youtube. I thought it would be fun to give back to the community by creating my own videos of some sort.

In my future career, creating psychology videos and even self-help videos would be a great way to break into the market. With the world becoming more and more digitalized, books may be lapsing out of use. The internet, video in particular, may start taking its place.

Although I think I will still give video production another chance, I am definitely approaching it with more trepidation than before. Google was phenomenal during this activity and was probably the only reason I finished my portions on time.

I wouldn’t change much about how I approached this project. The truth was I was coming from ground zero, so I’m pretty proud of the work I did accomplish! I wish I could have dedicated more time to it, but between finals and when the interviewees were free to film, we ended up having only a few days for the editing process.

Overall, this was a fun, informational project that will inform how I spend my time in the future.