2016-2017 has been very exciting and very busy. One of the biggest qualities I would give to it would be the feeling of living in two different worlds. As I have worked out my double major in Electrical Engineering and the Digital Media Collaborative, it feels as if I have spent half my time focused on studying physics and math, and the other on writing and filmmaking. I have fortunately had many experiences in each that have broadened my understanding of the world and myself over this year. Here are some that didn't make it into my portfolio.
A big project I made for myself over my first semester in college was creating a narrative fiction radio show, Live From Bunker Nine. The show followed a post-apocalyptic radio station giving weekly updates to a small town. Every week I would write a half hour script around thirty pages long and rehearse the show with friends. On Sunday mornings we would perform live on Bearcast Radio.
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Over the semester I had a lot of fun writing and performing live. I also learned how much work goes into writing such a lengthy script every week. I often didn't have as much time as I wanted for edits or more complicated story arcs. But this helped me learn how much I enjoyed writing comedy and was good practice for the fast paced feature filmwriting course I took the next semester. If I ever have the time and opportunity to tackle writing another radio series, I will definitely take it.
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Over the course of the year I was involved in many projects with the student EMedia group Bearcast. One of the big year long projects I worked on was the planning of the annual music festival, Live On Short Vine.
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Over the semester I got to design a variety of fliers and other content to market the event. This was different than the graphic design I did in the past because it was a collaboration with other graphic designers. Throughout the process I learned that while I enjoyed graphic design for an organization, I wouldn't interest me as a career.
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In the end the festival was big success and very fun to attend!
Lastly, I got to work on multiple student film projects over the year. My goal is to direct at least one short film over this summer and helping other students was a very good experience. Because I have had few Digital Media Collaborative courses I needed the opportunity for on-set experience with other film majors. It also let me network with other filmmakers and find people interested in taking part in my film.
Coming out of this amazing year, I am looking forward to the next. Having had to balance Engineering and Film has been exciting but difficult. I haven't been able to spend as much time making movies or exploring Engineering concepts as I'd like to.
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I spent a big part of this year organizing my schedule and planning out a double major. So far I have spent my time as either a full time engineering student or a full time double major. This fall I have planned a semester of all DMC courses so that I can see what it is like to be only a film student. A major goal I have for next year is to compare being a DMC major to a double major and consider which I value more for the rest of my college career.