Free Project: Reflection

This project as a whole has been a fun challenge for me. In previous projects disregarding photography, I've always done writing, and as such, the technical skills and knowledge of the project are mostly based in that. However, with this project, I am challenging myself to do a podcast, and one that isn't too complex. Its a good way to not only understand how audio equipment works as well as how basic podcasting is, but also a way for me to explore a subject I've been interested in for a while, which is the Taiwanese New Wave.

I particularly chose this topic because I've always find it hard to talk about the movement as a whole. The New Wave's films and filmmakers are my inspirations to filmmaking and in part made me feel rejuvenated to pursue the art. I felt that researching it deeper and talking about it in a small but perfect canvas of a 5 minute podcast may work. In the end, I did learn a lot about the movement and what it meant to me, such as how their films have such an attachment to real life conditions and society of Taiwan with a very humanistic portrayal. I do hope that me talking about this subject can interest other people to try exploring the Taiwanese New Wave.

During the creation of the project, I learned a lot of new technical knowledge. Firstly, I learned about the equipment used for it and how to use it, in which it was the first time I used an audio interface and a professional mic. Setting up the equipment, experimenting with it, recording and editing it by myself is a very fun experience as well. I learned a lot of new terms, such as mono, stereo, microphone polar patterns, reverb, and so many others. I also learned about how uploading the podcast to platforms like Spotify and RSS is very easy.

Looking back, I felt that I could have finished this project faster and better, because I felt that it took too much time for me to work on it. Considering the original plan in which the project was supposed to be finished by the 25th, I was late by almost two weeks. It may be that I was underestimating it too much while juggling with other tests, but I was often not focused or motivated enough. All of these projects did give me a lesson that time management is important, and although your plans may not be perfect, its important to get the job done. Podcasting is really fun, and I felt that personally, this made me interested in doing video essays, talking about films of course. 

The knowledge and lessons I gained here, particularly regarding audio equipment and editing knowledge, as well as about time management will be very useful in media production in the future. Sound design is one of the most essential part of a film, and to understand it more in this project will mean that I too will understand it when making films.