Victoria Reynolds

For this class, I have created two Instagram stories. For this objective, I think it’s important for me to touch base on how I did on the first Instagram story I created with a partner. I have a lot of trouble working in groups when it comes to projects or presentations because I am a naturally soft-spoken person and would rather have more individual freedom when creating a project. My partner and I were to write up a series of questions to ask a professor (one we were assigned) and to create an interview story using Instagram. For the original version, my partner and I rushed in putting this together because of outside constraints in meetings and filming time. Through the peer review, we got good feedback on what people wished to see or to change as well as what worked really well. Collaborating is hard for me to do, but this project allowed for me to be more open when it comes to brainstorming ideas or trying different things. I like how the final version came out and used what I learned from the experience of the first one to help me create a vision for the second one.

For this course objective, I have learned how to create digital media targeting a particular audience. Throughout the course, we have had different examples on what to look for and what to think about when designing a prototype. A presentation in class helped me understand the importance of using different off-centered angles in photography through the Rule of Thirds. We had six different aspects that we learned about, but this Rule has stuck with me when I think about how I am creating and designing stories. For my second instagram story, the prompt was to interview a major or minor in the WRTC program and ask a series of questions. I interviewed my roommate out of convenience since we lived together and she also happens to be a WRTC minor. In comparison to the first Instagram story I created with a partner, I felt I worked better on this one in terms of shots, angles, stickers, information, and visuals. This interview also felt more casual than the initial one where we were interviewing professors in the program. I don’t think I would’ve achieved what I did in my second story if I didn’t do a trial-run with the first one.

At the beginning of this class, I was nervous about doing things on my own because when it comes to digital media, it isn’t my strong point. I’ve never been one to say I’m not creative, because to an extent, everybody is and can be. Given my lack of confidence toward the beginning of the course, I think that showed in my work. I was also intimidated by seeing what my peers were constructing and how mine could never compare. For example, I wasn’t confident in creating my first ever StoryMap. I understood the assignment, but I wasn’t thinking broadly enough or creatively enough to make it something I could be proud of. I did what was asked of me. I have since learned that it doesn’t have to “perfect” or “standard” when it comes to this class. It’s okay to fail over and over again as long as I continue to learn and grow from it. Through my other works, particularly my second Instagram story and Remix assignment, I have seen my confidence show through my work more.

Through a prompted assignment, we were asked to find a story through a website called StoryCorps and pick one, listen to it and watch it, then right a quick summary of it. For mine, I picked a story highlighting differing politic views coming together and treating each other with kindness. The story was told through a recording and had one picture as the background with a quote from the transcript overtop the player. Thinking back on these small projects, it really gave me a new perspective on how to tell stories. And this platform allows for people to upload stories in the most original form: by telling it. With small assignments like this and when we were asked to find an IGTV channel and report our findings. These platforms are small, but astounding, mediums to tell stories through and I never really thought outside of a book or magazine or written works for such things. The basics of my knowledge on storytelling have been challenged in this class.

For this learning objective, I feel my remix assignment has been my most creative work since starting this class. The purpose of the assignment was the take a paper I wrote for academia and “remix” it by incorporating media into it or even taking away certain parts of the paper and replacing it with media. By doing this, I think it helps emphasize a lot of my talking points from the original essay by replacing parts with media or allowing for media to coincide with the story to help get a better visual of the story. Reading through my finished, edited version, I realize how important it can be to take a written work and visualize it through a digital storytelling platform. The paper could still be good on its own, but for certain works I think it helps to strengthen the message of the paper.