anablog4capstone

[anablog4capstone]

Reflection Post

What were your thoughts about your research topic going into the first week of the semester?

My first thoughts going into the semester were that I had a lot to get done and I guess I was also a little naive when it came to the kind of work I was getting into. Last semester I was so sure about a lot of things and I wasn’t expecting all the hardships I would go through personally working on this project. I really enjoyed my research topic though and I feel like I remember telling myself that this is what I’ve been focusing on all semester, so I started off a little rocky. Even looking at my old tumblr posts I can feel how strongly I wanted things to work out.

What are your thoughts now about your research topic and your project/practicum?

Now thinking about my project I really want to laugh. That might be kind of odd to say but there is just so much love that I put into this. I really have all these amazing memories with the people I met because of it. They shared stories with me outside of the interviews and helped me remember why I was making these videos at all. This project is something I am truly grateful for and it makes me happy to have out there now. It is a reflection of me, my peers, my professors and even my family. All the love, support and encouragement from them made this project possible.

What did you learn about yourself as a creative through this journey?

I learned a lot about myself and how I managed my own time. At first I was kind of worried about a lot of things like handling all my classes on top of this big project, but as time went on, I felt a lot more comfortable doing it on my own. I think I was used to being on a tighter schedule for single 5 minute videos at school but these were bigger productions and a lot more time consuming. I feel like I got a grip on how I wanted to create my videos and how the end product would look like.

What did you learn about the creative and production process?

I learned that since I was dependent on interviews, I really needed to have grace for schedules besides my own. When doing interviews and creating a plan before you go out to film sometimes these are going to contradict each other. I had to update some of my wordings and edit out or create new lines in my script. Also finding the right moments for b-roll and whatever each person says can also change directions of the video. I think just overall, I’ve really grown as a person and so many things have happened this semester that added to

What advice would you give new senior capstone students?

I would tell them to just take a moment for yourself sometimes. I know this is stressful and demanding so it’s okay to cry or to choose to be alone for a while. Mental health is extremely important and while yes, you do have this big project to focus on, hurting yourself will not make it easier for you. When you look back on this project you don’t want to remember the bad parts of the process but the good ones. Remember that you can talk to someone about whatever you are going through, you are not alone. Even being in the capstone class, I would say most people in your class are stressed and worried too, but you all have each other. I recommend sharing emails or discord information to talk to others who are in the same boat. That can definitely help you not feel so overwhelmed.

Where to now

I guess now, I can’t really say for sure where I’ll be but I'm hoping to stay in media production and just focus on my camera. My favorite part of learning was always the people I got to meet and their stories that stuck with me.

Thank you all for being part of my journey. I can’t wait to see what the future looks like, bye!

[anablog4capstone]

Last Update!!!

This is my last update for my capstone project as I've posted my final episodes!! Part 4 was posted on April 30 and I just posted my 5th part tonight. These were as I said before, were extremely difficult to edit and I put so much care into each second of my videos. HOWEVER, I am excited to be able to say my series is on YouTube and I finished all 5 parts. As our professor Sharla said though, nothing is ever really completed and I totally agree. As information and things change, there will always be something new, something different and something you wish to fix. With creative media and art, there are so many ways to break yourself apart especially over the smallest things because the attention to details are so important.

Working on episode 4 was tricky since one of my interviews preferred to not be on camera, it gave me reason to start creating their own avatar they were happy with and creating those expressions. I completed the interview during spring break so I worked with her on what the colors would be on the character. With my other interviewee, because of how busy she was, the interview almost didn't happen. Luckily though, we were able to make it work and so it took me almost a week to edit the full interview.

Same with my professor, he was so busy I was worried the interview would be cutting it close to my due date and it wouldn't happen. I nearly cried trying to put everything together, but now I feel like I can cry tears of joy and not stress.

My participants were very kind and willing to talk which made the interview process a lot of fun. Although I did have to cut out some of our conversations, they were all extremely insightful and wonderful to talk to. I appreciated their time and effort for helping me out and being part of my journey.

My next post will be my reflection responses and video!!!

[anablog4capstone]

Almost there!!

Here is the official third episode!! The 4th episode is going to be published at 8 am today and then I can do my final 5th video. My 4th episode, as I previously stated took so long to edit and compile but I'm really happy with the end result. Same with all my other episodes, I'm looking forward to publishing episode 5. For this post I'll specifically talk about episode three and how I finished it.

Some hiccups I had were finding people for this portion and finding the right clips to use. I wanted to make sure I used various other films from Godzilla to showcase how different each iteration is from Japan and the US, but I also wanted to show how in every version, Godzilla is still top of the food chain. That took me so much longer than I'd like to admit. However, I loved having Moeka and Tiari in this portion as they helped me to understand both Fast and the Furious and Godzilla in Japan/growing up. I thought it was really interesting how Godzilla is more of a character now than a post war symbol.

After doing all these edits you would think it would get easier for me and IT HAS BEEN but when I first started I was struggling to edit interviews by cutting out pauses, "uhm" and "likes." It was also really interesting to review what each person was telling me and sharing. All these interviews actually helped me to decide the end result of each episode and I felt like my research from my paper also helped me to get the main idea out. This has been the most joyously stressful month I've ever had. Anyway, time to get back to work!!

[anablog4capstone]

Update: Marco!! Polo!!

I've uploaded my second video to my channel and had been working endlessly on video three. I've set that part to release in the morning so I can make this update. Working on part 3 was so exhausting. Each episode in my series is planned out but finding the right footage to go along is always the hard part. What may be a 12 minute video for you, is months of my work being put into video format. I've honestly started to drink coffee now from all of this. Anyway, I am hoping to get out my 4th video as soon as possible. Video 4 was probably my hardest video to compile and edit, however, video 3 was a lot of small things I needed to fix especially with audio. I hope each of my videos offers something new to anyone who is watching them, after all that was my goal all along :)

[anablog4capstone]

Here is my first video that is finally published in my series. I uploaded it on Monday but I finally thought I’d add it to my tumblr page to share with everyone. I’m in the process of uploading my second video now which will publish in the later morning. Editing has been a major hassle for me and my eyes are burning. (Joking…kind of) Another tumblr post from our capstone class said it was shrimp time which I thought was really funny. Editing does kind of feel that way.

I’ll do another update after my second video publishes so I can also share my third video updates as well. My capstone is also a dual capstone since I’m also trying to get my Asian Certificate, which is why I needed Japanese speakers to talk about Japan and the West. That was perfect for video 3 which is about Godzilla and The Fast and Furious. Currently editing that video now and will be publishing that one very soon!!

[anablog4capstone]

Here we go! Time is ticking

Okay so updates from last time, I've gotten almost all of my interviews done just three more to go and I have officially uploaded my trailer to my channel. You can check it out below!

Besides that I have been editing and trying to solidify interviews. I have my interview with one of my professors (finally) on this upcoming Tuesday. They had been out of the country and badly sick until now so I had to keep waiting for them. With that being done I should be able to post and upload two videos in the upcoming week and then two more after that. Which makes me very happy to finally be able to think about publishing stuff. I also had some other interviewees who did not come through for their portions so I've had to cut down on content or delete their piece entirely. As things happen, I need to be constantly maintaining myself more than ever as the semester comes closer and closer to the end. I am feeling the stress for sure but it also feels kind of fun to work on this whole project. I'll update again very soon!!

[anablog4capstone]

Updates People, Updates

So compared to my last check in, life got really bad and really crazy. With Spring Break in motion, I was able to almost completely catch up and start feeling better where I am at. My fourth video involved Kawaii Kon, which I currently have filmed but are editing as of now. I do need to fill in two interviews but it's been okay so far. I also am working on voice overs and fixing my other scripts that I had written.

I'm feeling a lot more positively about the work I am doing and where I want to be at. Editing has been tiring but it feels really nice to get something to see. I did do what I said I wanted to finish was to be out of the pre-production phase. I am half out of it and half in it since I am revising and re-working my own ideas as time changes. To finally get into production though feels amazing however, it doesn't change the fact that a lot of work needs to get done.

For some reason, I am struck with bad luck and I almost broke my toe which has been a setback but also an excuse to sit down and get work done. My mindset has shifted a lot since we first started and at one point I was feeling very low. It caused my whole project and school life to plummet but I have to keep going.

I'm looking forward to my next update and where I will be in terms of editing videos and doing the rest of my interviews. I want to finish at least one video by the next two weeks and have most of my interviews done so I can keep editing the rest. Voice over work and b-roll are things I have been working on since the start of capstone, but I'm glad I'll finally be able to use it

[anablog4capstone]

Update #2 - Work Week!!

These past two weeks have been very productive. I mentioned in my last update about my SD card but I also ended up getting a different camera. My Canon camera was too big to carry around for b-roll so I got a mirrorless vlog camera to be a lot more travel friendly. I do need to update my workback plan however to reflect what I'm doing. I actually had another reflection post that somehow got deleted (unfortunately) which talked about my plans for Kawaii Kon. I managed to find people to interview who have confirmed they will be going. One is cosplayer, one is someone who goes for fun and one will be someone who works there. I haven't found someone who works there yet, but I know a few people who might work there this year. (I'm still waiting for them to get back to me.)

There was also a coffee talk with Tokai on Wednesday February 12 and my Japanese teacher had a conference with Japanese high school students for us to attend. However I was unable to go to the second one but I’m hoping for another event in the future. I also realized there is a Japanese Tea Ceremony club that I could interview as well and they meet on Tuesdays which would give me the perfect opportunity to film them and interview. One of my other professors invited me to join their class this upcoming week because the Tokai students will be participating. It could also give me a chance to connect with them and ask them for interviews.

With interviews though, I’m still coming up with proper questions because of how I’m going to edit my parts. I plan to gather all my footage for specific videos but I also want to ask those clear questions that relate to my topic. For example I noticed that I could do three separate interviews at one time if I ask the proper questions. I don’t want to waste their time by asking for more interview days when I could just get it done in one. This is why I have been stressing over the importance of my questions. I also know that when doing an interview there will be things I can’t prepare for which is why I need my plan.

Another thing I did was tweak my first script because I realized I wanted to have culture and history in my first episode. I feel like this makes more sense to add them in together before I move on to the pop culture parts of my videos. For example, below was a fortune my friend got when she went back home to Japan. She told me how she visited the temple for the new year and got her fortune. It made me remember that we have the Byodo-in Temple here in Hawaii where people and tourists go to. I know some people who go to that temple for specific reasons which gave me another idea for interviews or b-roll. Its significance was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. It’s also a replica of the Byodo-in Temple from Uji Japan.

Overall these two weeks have been very social and proactive but I’m trying my best!!!

[anablog4capstone]

Update #1 - What have I been doing? What has been happening since the start of the semester? Great Questions

^^ Me doing tons of homework and reading emails

Okay so first of all, I have been working on a lot of things. I wasn’t expecting to be this busy with other homework which hasn’t been the best. I think I’ve got the hang of things now where I’ll be able to manage my time better. Not where I wanted to be but we thrive and vibe to get where we need to.

I've started working on my scripts for these five videos as well as making my lists for my interviewers. I was going to send an email asking my interviewers to interview already when I realized...I don't have all my questions set up yet. Embarrassing I know. BUT DON'T FREAK OUT JUST YET, I told myself. After a stressful phone call on Friday (I'm joking, it was very productive and helpful), I was able to put a foot forward and finalize an interview, a Tokai event and prepare for a coffee talk on campus.

These next two weeks will definitely be production weeks. Since I am behind from where I wanted to be, I need to speed up my process a bit. My camera will be ready for filming since I did buy a new SD card this week (thank you 256 GB SD card). I also have two interviews lined up. I just need to make sure I have all my questions before I go out there and film. Unfortunately though, one of my professors has a few requirements before I can interview at all. Luckily I had prepared for him to say that since I know there is always more I can learn from. I left some room to make sure I could do more research before our interview (since I had a feeling he would ask me to watch or read something.)

I also attended the MTV/Paramount talk and the Ralph Lauren one, which helped me to prepare a bit more for setbacks and unplanned moments. Surprisingly, the hosts were very encouraging and gave me more optimism for my project this semester!

Here are some pictures of what I’ve been doing. I also created my folder for all my pieces of the project.

[anablog4capstone]

Hi everyone my name is Ayanna but most of the time I go by Ana :) Welcome to my page 🤭

My capstone project is a five part series on Japanese Culture presented in Western/U.S. media with music, movies and cartoons/anime. Also bringing historical aspects and interviews from West O’ahu professors, students and people who make content based on Japan.

From last semester I actually really liked Alexis Decker’s project and delivery. She made a social media account combing AI art and her own art. I thought the concept was interesting and her drawings were already really cool. I enjoyed how honest her Tumblr page was and seeing her whole thought process. It gave me inspiration for my own project and what I’d like to showcase.