Project Blog: Invasive Species

http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=449

Summary

During this project, I learned a lot about invasive species, and how they can effect the ecosystem that they invade. This can be anywhere from a very slight, almost un-noticeable disturbance, to an extreme unbalance of the food chain and biodiversity of the eco-system. The invasive species we decided to study is the New Zealand Mud Snail. This is a species that isn't native to a lot of different places. This is due to the fact that the New Zealand Mud Snail travel around the world by clinging onto fishing gear. That means that they can be found pretty much anywhere in the world. They pose a great threat to the world because they can repopulate extremely quickly, taking the food and shelter away for native species. This will give less resources to the native species and eventually be all killed off.

Backwards Looking: What process did you go through to produce this piece?

In this project, we went through a relatively simple process. First we obviously had to do the research about the New Zealand Mud Snails. Next we completed the research and note catcher documents. After this we decided we wanted to make a video, in a "Draw my life" type of style. This was done by making a script, making a representation of the script through drawings on a whiteboard, and having our voice overs of the script. We first filmed the drawings, than did the voice overs, than we edited the clips to go together nicely. This is the process me and my partner went through to create this project

Inwards Looking: What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?

I would say that the video was particularly satisfying to finish. I really liked how well the clips fit together. The music, video, and voice over all matched up very well, and looked very satisfying. This was extremely gratifying due to the fact that the video took us a while to make, so having it done after that amount of time is especially satisfying. I also liked how well the audio and video quality came out, it was a very good definition and the audio was pretty well done in my opinion. This is what I think was especially satisfying of the final product.

Outwards Looking: What grade would you give it? Why?

I would give this project an A as far as grading goes. I say this because we presented the topic well, gave feasible solutions, and put the video together well. We gave numerous facts about the snails, and kept the viewer entertained. We were able to accomplish this by giving analogies and sometimes humorous drawing or ideas that relate to the topic. This overall did a good job at keeping the viewer engaged, while also learning about the problems that this invasive species presents.This is why I think we deserve this grade.

Forward Looking: What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

I would probably change some parts in the audio if I were to re-do this project. I noticed when I looked over it again that sometimes you could here people in the background of the audio making it hard to understand us. I also noticed that there was a moderately loud crinkling noise at one point, making it a bit difficult to understand that line of dialogue. I also noticed that for some people, the video went a bit too fast for them, so it was hard to keep up with the speed we were presenting at. The final thing that I would change is the tone of the video. Sometimes, we presented our ideas in a more, un-serious tone, so that made it seem like the issue wasn't as big of a deal. This was contemplated with the somewhat cheerful background music, even though the topic at hand wasn't necessarily a cheerful one. These are the things I would change if I were to do the project over again.