I learned a lot during this project.

In addition to becoming more familiar with After Effects, I also learned some video techniques such as how to use a green screen (which, looking back, should’ve been blue), and how to pass ideas and their accompanying After Effects files to and from a partner (and fix miscommunications along the way). I learned that low-tech methods of integrating videos can still produce some fairly impressive results.

I also learned that it’s very important to know exactly what your goals/objectives are before you start venturing off into Elaborate Idea Land. We got carried away very early in the project and had to tone it back quite a bit to get back on track. We even started completely over a few times. Although we both would’ve loved to create an elaborate project using all of our multitudes of research, we’re glad we had a relatively doable amount of work in the short amount of time that we had.

We made it work, though. And, along the way, I learned a lot about teamwork and how loyal classmates can be to each other. We’re not just classmates; we’re family. We’ll suffer through long nights and broken After Effects files together. And we’ll grow closer because of our shared experiences. It’s getting sappy, I know, but it’s important for me to finally understand that, as classmates, we’re not competing with each other; we’re in this together.