what Ive learnt in the course so far:

where I’m going from here, both in course and beyond
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
well being

its a turn of phrase that is off the curriculum, particularly at end of semester as the overload peaks and the synapses reach critical mass. The entry above the dotted lines here was, as Rupert stated in his trackback, somewhat minimalist. In a way it acted as a metaphor for the burnout I had reached by the submission date for the Media Contexts blogs.

And though I had plenty I could have said, I really had nothing positive to contribute to the conversation at that point. Which is to say, I needed to stop, find clarity and find my clear perspective.

Media Contexts presented the opportunity for a dialogue to start within the group. In hindsight this did not meet my expectations, giving me reason to consider whether my expectations were unreasonable.

Dawkins pointed out: “The adversarial approach to truth isn’t necessarily always the best one. On the contrary, when two people disagree strongly, a great deal of time may be wasted. It’s been well said that when two opposite points of view are advocated with equal vigor, the truth does not necessarily lie mid-way between them. And in the same way, when two people agree about something, it’s just possible that the reason they agree is that they’re both right. There’s also I suppose the hope that in a dialogue of this sort each speaker may manage to achieve a joint understanding with the other one, better than he would have done on his own.”
http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge53.html

Expectations…
I think a Masters course must challenge the participants to ever higher levels of to inquiry. Given the content is centred on Media Production, excellent resources are available with which to stimulate the debate. I believe that the MC seminars would benefit from an inclusion of relevant video/film and audio clips: challenging, topical, insightful. Most media production students have a Visual-Spatial orientation and the opportunity to provide such stimulus should be embraced.

I have decided to persevere with the MMP program is based upon my substantial dislike of giving up on anything. I think the first semester could have been much better, but I know the production phases of semester 2 and 3 will be far more accomodating for my personal goals and challenges.

And Beyond…
Right now I am focusing on making my short films and growing with my daughter and partner . Somewhere in the ether of my future lies a destiny that my actions NOW will lead me toward. So for now its eyes on the track. As Bresson intimated about the role of criticism,

Master precision. Be a precision instrument myself.
(Notes on the Cinematographer, p. 3)

for notes on Notes to a Cinamatographer