(P.S. it is best viewed in HD)
Video Report
Team Members
Beau Dunlop - 42735025
Larissa Cleary - 42845858
Thomas Williams - 42909465
The challenges of this group assessment
Group assignments can be beneficial as they allow for the collation of multiple ideas to develop what will ultimately be a more successful result than that of an individual. Despite this however, there are many challenges faced in participating in group assignments.
Group assessments rely on fair allocation of tasks to ensure participation that is as close to equal as possible. This is often impossible as the person allocated to edit may take longer to do their work then the person who drafts the idea for example. Another challenge is creating an idea that will be practical and achievable. In drafting a film for foods starting with r, we had to ensure that we would all have access to a recipe and there would be no overlaps. The latter point relies on the overcoming of another challenge in regards to group assessments - communication.
Group assessments rely on fair allocation of tasks to ensure participation that is as close to equal as possible. This is often impossible as the person allocated to edit may take longer to do their work then the person who drafts the idea for example. Another challenge is creating an idea that will be practical and achievable. In drafting a film for foods starting with r, we had to ensure that we would all have access to a recipe and there would be no overlaps. The latter point relies on the overcoming of another challenge in regards to group assessments - communication.
With only the one practical meeting per week, it was important for a group assignment, that communication continued outside class to ensure there were no obstacles and everyone was on track and contributing. Losing a member early on, meant that we kept the rest of our group in close contact via a Facebook independent group and were able to plan what we needed to maximise our time in class.
The process of creating the video
In creating our video we went through a number of processes: brainstorming, writing/delegating, filming, consolidating, editing and uploading. While some processes took greater amounts of time and effort than others, each was valuable as a component of the holistic creative process.
Our group brainstorming sessions took place in prac classes, as well as via group messages on Facebook. Both were effective methods, however it is clear to us that face-to-face communication remains much more efficient. We knew from the outset that we wanted our video to be quirky, because our blog theme is relatively tame. We originally thought about doing a ‘Ready Steady Cook’ style video involving interviewing people about Rhubarb, which we believed people didn’t know enough about. However, we decided that this idea was a bit too limited, and we decided to make a strange silent-film-esque video which featured some foods that start with the letter R.
We agreed to video ourselves at home, in our own kitchens, with certain delegated foods. This footage was then all consolidated (sent via email) onto Thomas’ computer, as he has some experience in using iMovie.
Thomas then used iMovie to edit our individual clips, and put them together with transitions and backing music. All footage was played at 300% speed, and its audio lines were muted to allow for this music. A black & white filter was also applied to create the classical silent-film aesthetic. The music used is a song called ‘1 Ghosts I’ by Nine Inch Nails. We chose this track because it is licensed as creative commons, and because it very much suited the atmosphere we were hoping to achieve.
Once the video had been viewed by all group members, and once some minors adjustments to timing and framing had been made, the video was uploaded to YouTube via iMovie’s YouTube sharing feature. We are all very pleased with the final result, as strange as it is to see our faces on YouTube.
How the video relates to our blog
The video showcases some foods seen in in our blog. However, like our blog, it does this is a quirky way. Firstly rice is prepared to cook in a rice cooker. Secondly instant ramen is shown being prepared and cooked in a microwave. The toast scene was also incorporated as a random comedy element at the end of the video.
Our blog is in its nature; sporadic, random and somewhat comical in the selection of foods beginning with a random letter. The serious nature of the blog lies in the recipes provided in the idea that a group of "Foodies" could gather and be inspired by unique recipes including vodka redskins.
For this element of the blog, we were able to transfer these skills into the idea of a cooking show however given the time frame we thought the comical and random nature of our blog would be best highlighted in the film, rather than the seriousness of the cooking.
