J2150 was a very challenging class, but one that I believe is important to take. It is a kind of crash course in the essentials of multimedia journalism, as we learned about shooting video, recording audio, and taking photos. I had limited experience with shooting video before this class, and was a complete beginner in recording audio and taking well-shot, focused photos.
This class was useful because I learned how to work the Nikon D7000 and understand what makes a good picture, how to take one, and how to use photoshop. The same goes for learning how to shoot a sequence in video, and editing in premiere. Even though I want to go into digital/print journalism and be a writer, these are still important skills to have. It is good to have at least a little bit of a background in everything, and I never know when I could be put on the spot to go out and shoot a video or take pictures. I feel much more comfortable operating a camera/video camera now.
However, I do think there is a fair amount of room for improvement with this class. I know this semester was the first time the class had operated with three different teachers instead of just one, but the structure of the class was a bit of a mess. There wasn’t a set syllabus for a majority of the class which made it kind of awkward to always understand what was supposed to be going on in the class. Along with that, I thought that maybe we could have gotten a little more instruction on how to operate the equipment. The photo and audio sections did an excellent job of breaking down how to use the equipment, but I felt that I was kind of left hanging with video. On the other hand, video is said to be the hardest aspect of the class and it may be hard to teach a lot of it, it may just be learn by trying.
Ultimately my favorite part of the class was having Travis and Shane as teachers. I thought they were both really interesting and clearly passionate about what they were teaching. Having passionate teachers always makes me more eager to be in the class and be motivated.
Dru Berry 