Media Production can be a stressful major, especially with technology involved. Clearly technology is big thing in the world and has become something that upcoming generations are addicted to. It is constantly evolving and becoming better versions of itself. There is always something new coming out – new software , new updates, new features, new everything. The thing with technology is that because it is always changing, a person’s way of learning is too. Because media production relies heavily on technology, there are always complications and difficulties. Here are the struggles that come with being in this major.
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Getting the programs to work with you. Sometimes programs like Avid, ProTools, and Final Cut have a hard time finding files or importing them.
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Importing: If you are able to select the files you want to import, it might take a few minutes for all of the files to load and become viewable. However, it is exporting footage or audio that takes longer
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Exporting: Exporting the files is excruciating. Depending on the length of the footage and the amount of filters, effects, or tracks added, it could take hours to successfully export it.
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Failure during exporting stage: When you have spent hours waiting or the file to finally export and you see the loading bar reach 98%. A minute later, it reaches 99% and poof, a notification pops up on the screen saying that the video was unable to be successfully exported. That has happened to numerous people in this major and the level of stress increases rapidly.
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Freeze: Whenever editing an interview in ProTools or editing video footage in Avid, sometimes the program freezes up out of nowhere and you usually have to force quit the program. Now, force quitting the program doesn’t sound so horrible but the bad part is when the work has not been saved. Notice how whenever you have gotten a significant amount of work done, the program decides to freeze or your computer starts to randomly restart.
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New software: Learning how to use new versions or softwares can be hard for some. Once you are comfortable using a certain software, it is not easy learning and adapting to something new.
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Equipment: Besides the programs on the computer, there is also different equipment used like audio recorders, wireless lavaliers, handheld microphones, usb microphones, digital cameras, lighting kits, and tripods. With equipment, there is usually something that goes wrong with it after a while: the audio recorders can die out in the middle of an interview, the camera can die in the middle of recording, the lighting kits can start heating up, etc.
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Weight: The equipment can also be pretty heavy, especially when you’re only 5’1 and have to walk around with a 4 foot tripod and equipment that looks like briefcase.
Even though there are many difficulties that come with being a media production major, there are also positive things that come out of it. The ability to create something other people will watch or listen to is amazing, especially when you think about all the people around the world who will see it. Whether it is a short film, radio documentary, trailer, or even an interview, the process is spectacular. Creativity is key and being able to show others what you do is a great feeling.