LEAP 2 project
Colleen Donahue
COM 250
LEAP 2 Reflection
10 April 2020
The process when creating this LEAP project was very different from LEAP 1. LEAP 1 turned out to be a very fun assignment because I got to research and make a creative project on an influencer I look up to. I knew LEAP 2 was going to be a more difficult project to complete because neither Chase, not myself, are very tech savvy, which is a skill that was much needed for a project such as this. The first struggle Chase and I came upon was finding a website that was easy to navigate to create an animated film. We tried various websites before we finally found one that worked and we were able create our animation and that was Animaker. It wasn’t difficult to decide on a topic that we wanted to do because propaganda is something that can be used in various different ways. Propaganda is a widely known topic, but not many people know the different ways and extremes it can be used to get a message across. We chose to use propaganda as our main topic while incorporating sexual assault awareness due to the fact that it is sexual assault awareness month. We wanted to choose a rather heavy topic such as sexual abuse because often times, not enough is done for victims of sexual abuse and so building a message about the important of its awareness, through propaganda, was very important to us. Though I personally had some struggles with the technology aspect of this project, I also like to think of it as a good thing in a sense because it forced me to make myself better and more comfortable with such an important skill, such as efficiency in technology. Another highlight was getting the opportunity to work with a partner. Oftentimes, I don’t like working with a partner or in a group on a project worth so much, but working with a partner for this project made me warm up to the idea of working with someone else. Working with Chase was beneficial for me because I got to hear her different ideas and views on propaganda and when I had an issue with making my part of the animation, it was nice to have a partner to be able to lean on and talk through the issues and frustrations we were facing while making this animation. Another part of this project I enjoyed was helping voice awareness towards a cause that matters and needs more attention/awareness towards it, which is sexual assault. I feel as though having a propaganda message about sexual assault awareness coming from two college-aged women means so much more than if it were to come from some big marketing company, or something of that nature. We touched upon a heavy subject that can sometimes get backlash, especially in today’s day and age. Since we chose propaganda, we knew we needed to incorporate big headings that would attract a viewers attention, so that they would want to keep watching. It was a bit difficult to make this video flow like an actual video rather than looking like a PowerPoint. With all that said, working with Chase on this project was enlightening and enjoyable and I’m so proud of the work we produced.
The process of revising Chase and my original video was an eye-opening experience. Our original idea of tackling propaganda and linking it back to sexual awareness, due to the fact it was sexual awareness month, proved to be more complex than we had anticipated and didn't work out in our favor. In addition to having technical difficulties with our final video, not fully understanding just how to make our video flow well, and after reading our returned rubric, we decided to change our topic to media addiction. In our new video, we chose to voice record our information rather than use an electronic voice...which proved to not work as well as we thought it was going to. With all the progression on COVID-19 and self-isolation rules, Chase and I weren't able to do this project in the same home, like we were for our previous video. Because of that, we split up the work so that I did the research and wrote the script and Chase did the voice recording and made the animation, evenly splitting up the work even though we were on opposite coasts. The process of revision is always an interesting process and I really am thankful for the opportunity to revise our LEAP 2 project because our first submission did not accurately display our academic ability. By choosing a new topic, media addiction, we were able to use more information that we learned in this course and incorporate it to strengthen our project. This project and the opportunity to revise it made me realize how much work goes into media videos and how difficult it can be to accurately explain a topic so hotly debated in today's world.
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