BLOG POST 5: THE END

Before I get started with my reflections on my presentation and this project as a whole, let me post the version of my animation uploaded to YouTube.

Okay. Let's start with my presentation. I'm not going to lie, but I was kind of disappointed with how it turned out. A few things went wrong:

- The presentation was not the most recent version, where a few edits and a missing picture were added
- As far as I can tell, every single joke fell flat
- The music from the animation was playing from the computer's internal speakers, not the external speakers (for this reason watching the video embedded here might be a better experience)
- My timing for many parts was far from perfect

Am I very upset with how it turned out? Not really. Here are a few things that I thought went well:

- My main point was relatively clear
- The power-point itself looked quite nice
- The animation was well received

So, I'm going to grade my own presentation.

1. Final product: 9.5/10 (Although I have not "mastered" the art, I think I have done the best I can with this specific project)
2. Delivery: 3/5 (Timing was off, "jokes" weren't funny, awkward improvised lines... those who were there can probably remember some)
3. Preparation: 4/5 (Power-point was nice, but had a missing picture that some might have interpreted as a deliberate joke)
4. Process: 4/5 (Described three specific methods of animation and also my thoughts)
5. Main point: 4.5/5 (I thought I made this quite clear and wrapped it up nicely with "divide and conquer". Still could have been more polished)

That all comes out to a 25/30. I think I could have done better with this, but like many other students said, I can learn from my mistakes. There is nothing I can do to change what is done, but I can try my best to make the next time better.

***

Now, my presentation experience doesn't change my thoughts about the project in general. Like I said in my presentation, I had a great time making the video and sharing bits and pieces of it before showcasing the final product. I was able to explore different techniques for making stop motion, and the response I saw today after playing the video was very gratifying.

I don't think I will attempt stop motion again in the near future, as so much work must be put into a single video. Nevertheless, if an opportunity comes along, I will have a better idea of what stop motion really is.

After my presentation, I gave our original introduction to the genius project some more thought. Let's go back to the three main concepts of the genius project.

1. Autonomy
2. Mastery
3. Purpose

I think I have achieved two of these three things. I have achieved autonomy, as I was able to freely explore my own creative instincts. I was able to utilize my resources to literally set my ideas in motion. I found a greater purpose in my project, and that was learning how to break down large tasks into smaller hurdles that I can overcome individually.

What about mastery? I think Brett said this impeccably in his presentation, and that mastery is something one strives for but never reaches. What truly is mastery, then? If it cannot be achieved, then how do we define it? I have no solid answer to those questions.

However, recall Malcolm Gladwell and his book Outliers. He and other thinkers said that 10,000 hours is generally a reasonable time for an individual to achieve mastery of something. My response is that 10,000 is too concrete of a number to describe something as abstract as mastery.

I'm going to use something from a subject area I'm more familiar with to show my point. Here's a video with Janos Starker, a "master" cellist whose technique has been described as near perfection, talking about the concept of never-ending self-improvement. The first minute-and-a-half are of him teaching a student in a masterclass, but he speaks for a while after that portion.

An individual's level relative to the elusive idea of perfection cannot be measured, but an individual's level relative to where it was before can be measured. This is another point presenters have made throughout this past week; instead of trying to be better than something or someone else, try to be better than yourself from the past. That is the most direct and effective method for self-improvement.

***

In conclusion, as I step away from this roller-coaster ride of a project, I feel neither a sense of disappointment nor a feeling of elation. In my mind there now exists a deeper understanding of improvement and how mastery is really quite impossible.

In that sense, my genius project worked quite wonderfully.