MAKING MEDIA - COURSE REFLECTION

This is my first semester at RMIT University Saigon South and Making Media is definitely my favorite course ever. I positioned myself as a creative person, who enjoys making and editing media so the course really fit my interest. At first, I was very confident because I already have some foundations in photoshop and Adobe Audition, but then I realized that my skills are not enough to give the best result for each assessment. My expectation of the class is to make new friends who have similar interests, learn more software including Adobe Indesign, and upgrade my skills in photoshop too. I never quit any Making Media class this semester and always try my best for every project.

What I like most about the class is that I have the opportunity to join a team and together we create outstanding performances. I still remember the first day when Mai Khanh, my close friend, and I were looking for two other members to form a group and we found Hien Linh and Minh Duyen. During the first assessment, the podcast, I was assigned to edit the podcast and it was fun. I have used Audacity and Audition before for my music video so I didn’t have to re-learn those again. The process was fast because everyone in the team finished the task early so that I could edit the podcast right after we had recorded. Even though I had other deadlines for PR Foundations and Intro to Advertising courses, I still managed the podcast well. I found myself relieved when receiving compliments from the lecturer.

After receiving the HD mark for the first assessment, I started to feel anxious for the second one because it required a brand new software I have never ever used before, Adobe Indesign. Moreover, our team didn't have enough heat like the first assessment so I felt even more depressed. As the only boy on the team, I think that I should bring more energy and joy to the team to hype everyone back to work. Emotions and mental health is a difficult topic so the process of finding content and visual arts was also a struggle a little bit. In this project, I was assigned to design the magazine with other members. When designing, I want everything to be consistent and overall harmonious so I asked them to let me design the magazine alone. The two weeks before the submission was a nightmare, I got lost in Indesign with layouts, colors, again and again. However, I still enjoyed doing this magazine because I had a chance to immerse myself in what I enjoyed the most, graphic design. Thanks to Linh, she helped me with the based-layout so that I could design easier.

In general, I have met all of my expectations after 12 weeks, and I am very proud of myself for what I have done so far. Making Media taught me how to work effectively as a group and get deep into producing a professional project. From small things like page numbers, fonts, and background noise, the instructions were very clear. Through the course, I now identify what my strengths and weaknesses are. What I am lacking right now is the writing skills but unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to improve them during the course. In the future, I think I will still be in charge of design and I am confident enough to do well as I have gained more experience after completing this course. Moreover, I will try my best to improve my writing with the help of my Making media mates.

#MakingMedia #Reflection