When I first walked into this class on the first day of the term I thought it would be a series of multiple writing projects that we’d have to complete over the course of the term. Instead I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the course mainly focused on one main project. I am glad that it turned out this way because being a senior and it being my last term at the UO, I felt that by putting all of my energy and enthusiasm into creating one project that I could be really proud of was the best possible thing that this term could offer me. Throughout the next few paragraphs, I will explain some of my challenges and triumphs that I experienced along the way while creating my multimedia piece.

Triumphs:
One of the best things that came of this project is that I got to meet Mike and found out more about his life and the time he has spent at the EMU throughout the years. When it comes down to it, I really enjoy meeting new people and conversing with them and I felt that by doing a project on the EMU, I found out interesting information about a building that I had spent many hours in throughout my years at the the UO and also made a new friend along the way.

Another thing that I am really happy with is how my video footage turned out. When I went into this project, I knew that in order for it to come out the way that I wanted it to, I would want to use a series of two camera angles during the interview process. I decided to go out and buy a new professional video camera and used it on many of the shots throughout the story. The only thing I wish is that I had the money to go out and buy a second one because you can definitely tell which shots were shot with my new camera as opposed to my old one.

Challenges:
While I felt that this project went extremely well from start to finish there still were some definite challenges that I faced along the way. Perhaps the biggest one is that since I bought a new HD camera it wasn’t compatible with Final Cut Pro 7 (which is what I am used to editing in). When I found this out I had to finally splurge and buy FCP X and with a bit of training from one of my friends, I was able to pull through, learn a new program, and produce a piece that I am really proud of.

While learning FCP X was definitely the biggest challenge I faced along the way, I did face a few other small ones. These included: My apartment getting flooded the day before my interview, learning how to operate my new camera, and finally just having a big case of senioritis and wanting the term to be over with.

Overall, I thought that I did a really good job on this project and really did a good job at providing the viewer with not only interesting information on the EMU, but also information (in an autobiographical way) about Mike. By combining the history of the building and the history that Mike had in the building, I feel that this is definitely the strongest piece I have put together here during my time at the university; it’s something that I really am proud of.