Again, not much discussion in class this week (unless I was so engrossed in studio time that I didn't hear it, in which case, sorry!). Anyhow, I was trying to get started on compiling my LittleBits KORG MP3 video together during studio time and had to upgrade my Final Cut Pro X because I hadn't done that since I upgraded to El Capitan. So that took a while. Once it was up and running I got started on importing my videos and started putting them together. I didn't get to finish it in class as it would take probably about 3-4 hours to complete. But I can't wait to get the video out asap!
For some discussion and thought:
While I was making my video (or whenever I am in video/photo production), I have this thing where I don't like people watching me while my projects are in production. I don't know what it is but I just don't want people to see how I do it or see the unfinished product. I don't think it is because I don't want people to learn how to do what I do, I would gladly explain it and show the techniques on how to do it but I think I am very self-conscious about showing something that is still a work in progress and is unfinished. If it was meant to be incomplete and a long-term work in progress then that's fine, I guess. But if it has a deadline and I plan to publish the final product, I want people to have fresh eyes for the final product and not ruin it by being exposed to the work in progress. I guess it's like those behind-the-scenes videos. After you watch the actual movie, then watching the behind-the-scenes video would make sense and you would appreciate it more. But before that, I wouldn't release the behind-the-scenes video before or at the same time as the actual movie. Does that make sense? Do any of you have this feeling too? Do you think this is against the typical characteristics of a maker and against the Maker Manifesto? Or do you think this is just a personality thing and is unrelated to the open and sharing culture of the Maker movement?
READING SUMMARY
No readings this week! Woo!
END OF SEMESTER SUMMARY
Well, since this is our last blog entry, I think this warrants a summary reflection of how I felt about this class throughout the entire semester. Before the semester started I had a lot of concepts about what this class was about. Actually I had a lot of concepts about what the term "Makers" and "Makerspaces" meant. I think it was just one of those many SI groups and school organizations that people kept promoting but it really wasn't anything I was interested in so I never really looked into it. I saw many event posts that said this like "Maker Movement", "Find out what a Maker is", "Be a Maker", etc, etc but because there wasn't an initial brief description that caught my eye, I was by default uninterested. When this class was announced, I glanced through the email and thought it sounded interesting but very electronics oriented. Additionally, due to my prejudice from previous exposure, I thought, why do we need a class to make stuff like this and how does it relate to HCI or make me a better UX Designer? I no longer feel a burning sense to find an answer to this question. I think whether the Maker Movement is related to HCI or not is no longer an important question to me. This is because I have been exposed to this new field and I find it so fascinating and have since grown a more conscious and explicit passion for it (I say "explicit" here because I've always had passion to make stuff, I just didn't know that it was a whole movement).
Anyhow, taking this class has introduced to me many other areas in the maker movement. I have learned and picked up a few skills here and there that I would not have if I just continued on my own solitary maker way. I really appreciate that. On my own, I can learn whatever I want to learn but I would not have been pushed to learn something I thought I wasn't interested in. I learned more about fibers, Arduinos, C/C++ programming, Lilypads, paints, LittleBits KORG, 3D Printing, Baking, Fashion & Tech, Squishy Circuits, stencil cutters, board game design, and so much more. Sure, I did it for the points to get an A in this class but at the same time it was so much fun! Not just fun in 'playing' but fun in learning. It was fun to advance in the things I already knew how to do and it was fun learning things outside of my comfort zone, which I wouldn't have done without being awarded points. It just expands the horizon of all the things I can actually do and make on my own. This class has really opened up a whole new world that I actually have already been involved in but just didn't know it yet. So thank you, Professor Kristin. Thank you for showing me this new yet so very familiar world.
Now, my last question is, where can I go from here? Can I make this my career? If yes, what can I do? Is everything non-profit like only organizing and volunteering at Maker Faires? I would like to know where I can find a future career in the Maker Movement.
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XTRA TO SHARE
I didn't discover anything new this week so nothing to share. But feel free to comment below if you found something cool!
I know what you mean about not wanting people to see work in production, and my gut reaction is that it's not opposed to the Maker Manifesto--after all, you're planning to show us your final product, and I know you'd be happy to explain to us how to do it if we wished to emulate you. Besides, despite the grand title attached to that document, I think that we need to perceive the traits enumerated more as guidelines than as dictates.
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