Help Me Write a Rant About My Group

[dreaded_beast]

I'm in a group that's almost finished with our final project for the semester.

Basically, it's a video production class.

The group consists of me and 2 other members.

We have to evaluate one another, although the other 2 members are probably going to give me a bad evaluation due to my absence for some meetings.

They ranted to our teacher, and now I feel that I have to defend myself.

This is an e-mail I'm writing, let me know if it's too whiny or incoherent.

I'd like a chance to air my own grievances.

My points are as follows:

1. During the nightclub shoot, John shows up drunk, then they both leave me outside to film the exterior by myself. The plan was for both of them to go inside and attempt to bring someone out to interview. However, I'm out there waiting for 20-30 minutes, when I'm approached by security and told to leave. I believe they were going to accuse me of trespassing. I carried all the equipment to the nightclub and called them on the phone to tell them that I can't shoot anymore and that security was kicking me out. The guys tell me that if they leave the club, that they can't get back in. So they elected to stay at the club while I carried all the equipment back by myself.

2. During the shoot at University, were not able to get the interviews we were looking for, although we did get some footage that we could use. However, John was upset that all three of us had to be there if all that we did was take some establishing shots of the area. He suggested that if subsequent shoots did not require everyone to be there and if it could be done with less people, then not everyone should be required to go. I believe he should not have made this statement, which lead me to believe that they were capable of handling the prior shoot in Downtown and that there was no resentment for me not attending.

3. There were 2 more shoots scheduled after the Downtown shoot, a return trip to Downtown and a Singing Contest. These 2 shoots I did by myself, which I did so because of John's earlier statement. In addition, I had to procure a DVCAM and then master the footage to SVHS in order for us to use the edit bay. My first absence in class was because I was doing the Downtown shoot. My second absence in class was because I was mastering the footage from the DVCAM to the SVHS.
The reason the guys didn't attend the University shoot is because they were logging footage, but they didn't attend the Singing Contest because one of them had work and because of John's earlier statement that less people should be required to be on a shoot. If that is how they feel, I believe they should not be as harsh regarding my absence during the first Waikiki shoot. In addition, the reason I couldn't attend the second Downtown shoot was because of work, the same reason that they both gave for not attending the Singing shoot and other meetings. If work is a valid reason for not being able to attend, then I believe they my absence due to work is valid as well.

4. This past Monday, our final day to edit, neither of them showed. I arrived at the lab, but remembered that it was not open on Mondays because the entrance was locked. John told me that we could use the lab on Monday, so I called him to let him know that I was unsure about whether or not it was open, but I would wait to find out. Luckily, someone came and opened the lab. I called John back and left a voice-message saying the lab was open and that he could come down. Lance had work, which leads me back to if that is a valid reason to miss a meeting, considering how that is a reason I missed a past meeting and that they are holding it against me. John did not show up, leaving me to finish up the editing.

5. I approached you earlier this semester about my feelings of being isolated within the group and took your advice. I attempted to assert myself by presenting more ideas and by being more vocal. However, I believe on average, they would only consider 1 out of 4 ideas I presented. They would be quick to find faults with my suggestions and not really compromise with my ideas. When it came to their suggestions and ideas on the other hand, they were quick to agree with one another, and rarely disputed. It felt as if the project was centered around what they wanted to put into it and that their preference was that my ideas not be used. Unfortunately, I did not bring this to their attention until at the end of the project, but by the same token, they did not bring to my attention how they felt about my perceived attitude and absence until the end of the project as well.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Looks fine to me. It's not whiny at all. You have a significant grammatical error at the beginning of point 2 (it should be "During the shoot at the University, we were not able ..."), but other than that, it's ok.

 

[WayneLigon]

Not a bad thing at all. If nothing else, it's a good CMY letter in case the others have differing stories.

Working in a group can be interesting. I was in two major work groups in college.

One for a systems analysis class. We met regularly, parceled out work assignments, had to find a way to do the graphs and such in a professional manner since the machine that usually did those was broken. We had regular breakfasts together, etc. We got an A for the project and even got applause when we got up to give our presentations.

Group two, as the current saying goes... not so much. I never saw the rest of the members after the first few weeks, and the professor basically said that since all the modules had minimal interaction with each other, that he would grade us seperately. I got a B+ on my part and was done with the course. Three months later - after I've graduated - one of the women we hadn't seen since the start of the project calls me up and tells me I need to come help her with her part. That was the only time I've ever just started laughing at someone.