The Final Project is finished. After a full year of research, writing, and playing (or rather, "seriously playing"), I will be submitting my Final Project to my assigned Thesis Readers tomorrow. I decided to write my Reflection on the last day, in order to allow myself enough time to reflect on the experience as a whole. Rather than repeating myself, I will post my Reflection on here, as it offers me a great sense of closure on the project. Thank you to everyone who read these posts, your support is greatly appreciated!
This Final Project has been one of the most challenging, yet most rewarding experiences of my entire life. Through this entire process, I have learned as much about myself as I have about video games and literacy. I cannot say this project has been easy, but I can say that I have enjoyed researching and writing about my topic consistently. At this point, I would like to take a step back, and reflect on the development of this project, and discuss my journey in detail.
First of all, the required Thesis Colloquium course from the Fall 2011 semester provided me with a great deal of moral support heading into the initial steps of research and writing. The selected books, required posts, and group discussions with my fellow MA candidates provided a great starting point. I felt like I was not alone in the writing process, as a lot of the students shared the same fears and concerns as me, wondering where they could find the time to write while working, or asking what their timeline should look like. The class was almost like a support group, as we discussed what research methods worked best for us. However, nothing could truly prepare me for the amount of work that had to be done.
I had never written anything even remotely close in length to this Final Project throughout my academic career. I believe the longest essay I wrote as an undergrad was just over 30 pages. As I began writing initial chapters during the Colloquium, I found it very useful to express my ideas using the Production Blog simultaneously. My Thesis Adviser and I agreed that a blog would be great to include as a part of the project since it would fit in with the multimedia aspect of the Final Project, but I could never have imagined that this blog would allow me to do so much. I could speak in an informal voice, and did not have to worry about that academic tone. This way, my ideas were organized in such a way that I felt comfortable reading through the posts again, and using the ideas from there in the written portion of the project.
While I ultimately was hoping for more feedback in the comments section of my blog, I unfortunately could not attract willing participants despite posting the link for the blog on my Facebook wall, on my Twitter account, on the Thesis Colloquium Moodle board. While friends, family, and classmates would happily discuss the topic with me in person, I could not convince anyone to join in the online discussion. As for another drawback to the Production Blog, after the first few months, it became cumbersome to have to write the same material twice—once in the draft of my Final Project and again in the blog. By February, the bulk of my research had already been completed, so there was no need to try and flesh my ideas out in the blog. It was at this point that the blog transitioned more into a monthly check-in for myself, where I could express where I felt that I was in the development process. I still found the blog useful, but only as a way to express my thoughts and concerns as I neared closer to the due date.
As for the written portion of this project, I felt that generating content was not a huge issue. I conducted months worth of research, and had a great deal of material to work with. As I wrote more pages though, my ideas began to jumble together—I often would repeat similar ideas or phrases, and my Stages were not nearly as defined in the first few drafts. Through a great deal of revision, and extensive work with both my Thesis Adviser and my personal readers whom I selected, I was able organize my argument from start to finish, without the Stages overlapping one another. The editing and revision process was constant, running all the way up to the day before the project was due. Luckily, I remembered the lessons from the Colloquium that stated how I would constantly nitpick over word choice or grammatical decisions. With this knowledge, I was able to realize the draft I handed in was my best effort, and I am indeed comfortable with handing it in.
As for the DVD component, this portion of the project caused me infinitely more stress than the written thesis. When I first decided on adding a video component when initially wrote the Thesis Proposal, I incorrectly assumed that because there were so many user-submitted videos on YouTube of video game footage, creating a video like this myself would be simple. Selecting games and buying the recording equipment (a Personal Video Recorder or PVR) was simple enough, but the PVR’s recording software that came with it produced a trying experience to say the least. This software did not include a program to upload my videos to a YouTube, did not possess any form of audio control to balance out my recorded audio with the video game footage, and most frustrating of all, the HD video format that the files would record as would not play on all DVD players. For the longest time, I thought that the DVD was doomed, because I could hear audio, but could not see any video whenever I played my first few test DVDs. Only after several conversations with both Best Buy’s Geek Squad and the Hauppauge customer service line was I able to learn that the file format was only readable on newer DVD players such as those found on the Macs at Trinity’s campus. With that knowledge in mind, I handed in copies of the DVD with the HD footage, but informed my readers that I do have lower quality versions of the video if they experience difficulty.
Despite these setbacks, I am still very proud of the DVD, as the gameplay footage assigns a visual/auditory experience. With the exception of Shadow of the Colossus, the selected games all involve quite a bit of reading in order to appreciate the narrative of the game. The intent all along was to incorporate these video games in such a way that the elements of narrativity could be readily on display, and I firmly believe this was accomplished through the sample videos. While I may gripe about minor details (quality of footage, inability to adjust volume within the video), I think the DVD was a great success, and in the end, demonstrates how important it is to stay on the cutting edge of technology. If I had a newer PVR device, many of the issues I experienced would have been easily resolved. Nonetheless, I was able to complete the DVD and turn this project into a truly multimedia affair, one that showed the power of video game narratives through a variety of platforms working together in unison.
In closing, I would like to reiterate how grateful I am to everyone mentioned in the Acknowledgements section, and to apologize to those who were left unnamed that assisted me during this demanding process. Your support has helped me produce a Final Project that I am proud of, and has enabled me to take the last step necessary in receiving my MA in English. I think that even in writing this reflection, I still have not fully grasped what I have accomplished just yet. I believe this project is a strong representation of the skills and knowledge that I have gained over the course of my tenure at Trinity, a period in my life that I have enjoyed thoroughly. I will remember this experience for the rest of my life and look forward to the opportunities that will follow.
