I felt extremely proud of our project, and especially the way the three of us worked together. I really can’t say it enough. I’ve had more experience working collaboratively in the past seven months than probably the previous five years combined, and have been surprised (or maybe I should say enlightened) by how difficult it can be to come together on an idea and its execution. We’re all creatives and we each bring completely unique perspectives to the table, and I think it’s harder for some people to share control than it is for others. It sometimes happens that one person will bulldoze and the rest of the group will follow suit in the interest of maintaining consistency throughout the project. There are one or two people I would not make the choice to work with again because ultimately I felt the project would’ve been improved by deeper collaboration within the group. This isn’t really a complaint so much as a reflection- I’ve learned a lot about how to work with different personality types, and when (and how) to assert myself versus when to prioritize getting along with everyone.
Then there have been the groups, only one or two, where it felt that not everybody was pulling their weight, and the rest of us were forced to pick up the slack, or wait around nervously for one person to deliver on their part, not feeling confident that they’d actually deliver. I don’t actually know which is less enjoyable of the two.
I preface with all of that just to juxtapose how easy and harmonious it was to work with Emily Schuman and Emily Taylor. I consistently felt that the three of us were open to hearing and building on each other’s ideas, and because of that we made this hilarious video that felt consistent and complex (as complex as a 2 minute video about plastic cockroach Survivor can be, anyway). It was also just really fun. We worked diligently on building the sets, and planning and executing the shots, and then occasionally I’d be dangling a plastic cockroach on a fishing wire over the trash can and be struck by the hilarity of what was happening. When the project was first announced I felt nervous about not being able to pull my weight. I can be a slow learner and am pretty comfortable with the fact that I just work really slowly. When it comes to working alone I’ve accepted these facts, even if they’re not my favorite things about myself- but it can be scary to feel responsible for the success of a group. But we each brought our different strengths to the making of the video and I think we all had a significant contribution.
10/10 would do this again.