Learning by doing

Grace, a FIUTS intern, and communications student share her experience working on the 2013 CulturalFest video.

Ryan and Grace

Over the last six weeks, FIUTS interns Grace Huang (Taiwan) and Ryan Brill (USA) have been working tirelessly on the 2013 CulturalFest video, which was seen for the first time by over 600 people at the CulturalFest Music & Dance Showcase last Friday. The video, which you can watch below, shows students and hosts sharing their personal experiences with FIUTS programs. In this guest blog post, Grace shares her insights into the experience of working on the video.

It may sound interesting: As a communications student, I had not had a chance to produce a video before I started working at FIUTS. The process of filming and post-production took approximately six weeks.

UW has great technical support. Most of the equipment we checked out came from the communications department. But at the beginning of the filming process, my partner Ryan and I were lost! It was challenging because we had not had such experience before.

It is always good to have someone to give advice. We went to the Master of Communication in Digital Media Program and the Department of Communication to seek help. We made decisions on what camera we wanted to check out and what programs we want to use for editing. The post-production was the most difficult part because it takes a lot of time to create a narrative in order to complete the video as a story. Every time we had different thoughts, we would try to communicate before we started working.

Open communication and respect are the keys to success. We work very well with each other. As a result, the promotional video is successful. When I look back, I enjoyed every moment of anxiety and happiness in those six weeks.

Every day is a lesson and every little step is an excitement. We are completely self-taught and we are proud of ourselves. Thanks, FIUTS, for giving me this opportunity. The video project not only connects me with people all over the world but also reinforces my determination to work in the media field in the future.