Final Reflection

Over the past year, Trinity’s media course has taught me so much, not only through class knowledge but also in experiences that I can carry into future studies and life. I even met my best friend in Melbourne through my media tutorial at Trinity.

In my media creation journey, the project I’m most proud of is AT2, where I designed a movie poster. This assignment allowed me to fully express my creativity and stretch my imagination. In fact, I’d seen this task on social media, shared by previous students on the social media, even before I came to Melbourne. But seems like it was only about recreating movie posters, and I’d been looking forward to it ever since—it sounds so fun! And this years do yourself poster is make me happier, there’s a lot of space for me to do this assessment. As a huge fan of comedy films and TV shows, I was thrilled to take on this project and fill the poster with my favorite actors and directors, which I did. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing; my initial idea was to use AI drawer for some help, but the results weren’t great. Later, inspiration struck, and I used a cabin to separate science and drama students while using the same actor’s image to create a twin effect, giving my poster that real blockbuster comedy vibe. If I could redo it, I’d aim for a cleaner, more polished look, arranging the key elements in a more balanced way to better convey the storyline.

Through my media creation journey at Trinity, I learned a lot of professional knowledge and skills, like three-point lighting for shooting, poster design techniques, and how to distinguish and analyze media content. For example, I can now through analyze a movie poster’s key elements to understand its genre and storyline. I can even identify things like native advertising, and my favorite area, PR, has also helped me better recognize the strategies used by celebrities, and what we have done the press conference on the class was so fun. These skills help me in many aspects of daily life, deepening my understanding of media in today’s media-driven world. I plan to study PR in the future, so this knowledge is especially helpful, and I’ll continue applying and building on it in my studies.

When it comes to personal growth, media has been the subject I’m most grateful for. During AT3, I had a team member who wasn’t contributing but was still trying to boss us around, which sounds frustrating but actually taught me a lot—possibly even more than academic knowledge. Trinity’s supportive tutors taught me how to stay calm in these situations: first, by checking in and understanding the issue from a place of care, and then by communicating with the tutor if needed. In my previous education experience, teachers were more like authoritative figures, but at Trinity, the tutors are kind, respectful, and genuinely supportive, which helped me feel more at home in the Western academic environment. It taught me how to handle similar challenges in the future. I contacted the tutor a bit late this time and didn’t communicate directly with the difficult group member, but next time, I’ll be more proactive and organized in managing such issues.

My understanding of media used to be pretty basic and limited to things like movie posters and social media, as you can see from my 60 second vlog. Now, I understand that media is far more than surface level content; it’s a bridge that connects people, embedded in daily life, and the carrier of all information we notice. Media is an essential part of the world. Studying it has helped me better perceive, distinguish, and understand the media around me, enabling me to respond to media in my life more thoughtfully. This knowledge will stay with me throughout my life, growing with my continued learning and accumulation of experiences. Every media related moment will be shaped by these insights that are now deeply rooted in my mind.

I’m truly grateful to Trinity’s media teachers. This foundation course has given me a solid grounding in media knowledge, helping me adapt to and embrace the Western academic environment while witnessing my growth. As the starting point of my media education, these skills will accompany me in my future media studies and career, and the experiences I gained during my media studies at Trinity will benefit me for whole life.