In the Name of Nationalism 🏁

Have you ever wondered how your country became the way it is today? Well I have, and in this unit I was given the opportunity to find out. As soon as spring break was over, a new unit had begun for us PLP students. This unit was all about Nationalism. You’re probably thinking ‘What the heck is Nationalism?’. That was exactly what I was wondering as well. To find out the answer to that question, as well as the answer to our driving question (How has Nationalism’s influence shaped the global structure?) we were told to research. In this blog post, you will journey through my struggles through out this project, and my final product and eventual success. 

First things first. To start off this project, our teachers gave us specific countries to research. We had to make up our own questions of the 5 Ws and an H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How?). Then we had to research and gather information so that we could answer those questions. Finally, we were told to use the information we had gathered and transform it into an educational YouTube video. My country that I had to research was India. This was quite difficult, since there wasn’t as many resources available as there was for the European countries. I think that this was a good challenge for me, because this pushed my ability to research even further. I was taught how to tell if this was a reliable source, and how to source it properly in my script, images, and video. I gained new skills that will be useful to me in the future and those skills helped me out a lot in this project. The notes that I took, as well as the sources, and my questions can be seen through this link.

Now that I had all of the information that I needed, it was time to start the grueling process of planning, filming, and editing my YouTube video. The first step to this process was writing the script. I used my notes as a reference when writing my script. I think that the most challenging part of writing the script was finding a way to incorporate the cause and consequences of this event, without having to make it too obvious. At first I struggled with it, but as I kept writing my script it started flowing together as part of the historical explanation.  Once I had my script, it wasn’t that hard to get started with the video. My script can be seen through this link.

 The filming was the easiest part of this creation process.  All I had to do was set up my phone on a tripod and film myself reading off the script. Since there weren’t many shot of myself talking to the camera, the filming was finished pretty quickly. The longest and most difficult part of this entire process was editing. Most of my video was a voiceover with media to support the information, so that made the editing process even longer. I had to match the timing of each image with the voice over, and I had to add in the camera shot that I had filmed previously into their proper order. Then I had to source all of my media, add in the background music, and make the transitions so that my video would look smoother. The editing process probably took me around 5 hours. Next time, when editing an informational YouTube video, I would manage my time better so that I could split up the editing into 2-3 days. And finally, after all of the blood, sweat, and tears (especially the tears) that was put into this work, I had my final product. My video can be seen below. 

There were many struggles and challenges throughout this project, the biggest part being my time management skills. I think that next time, I won’t be as lazy and procrastinate because that just makes it harder on myself. And even though there were many struggles, I gained some useful skills that can help me later on. This project gave me a chance to improve and practice my editing skills, which I think has improved since the beginning of the year. I also learned how to properly source my work. This skill will be particularly useful for me in University. Overall, I learned and grew on many skills and overcame new challenges. Now that this unit is finally over, I am ready for a new one. Bring it on PLP!