In the fifth week, we dove deep into visual communication about the environment, practically, by making our own short videos.
Each group was assigned a different genre — from disaster movies to action-packed detective drama, vlogs, and I think even a soap — and we concluded with a big screening with popcorn and, of course, an in-depth class discussion.
This is among the most fun and useful academic projects I’ve had!
Given that roughly one third of the people (me included) learn best by doing (as opposed to seeing/reading or hearing), and that we are at a disadvantage in the typical classroom setting (where we are meant to sit still, be quiet and just passively absorb visual or auditory information), these kinds of hands-on projects are an absolute necessity to involve these more feeling- and practice-oriented people.
We were not assessed by the quality of our films — after all, we are not in this program to be filmmakers — but rather on our reflections about aspects of communication, both within our film crew and between us/the film and the audience. Now, because this is a formal assignment, I can’t very well spill the beans here… that would be… some weird form of… meta-plagiarism…?
The films will be screened again on the university’s open house and 40-year anniversary celebration… today actually! (Hurry, you might just make it in time!)
