I thought that creating an avatar was fun and I would use it in the classroom for fun. It wouldn’t be interactive but I think that one sided students would enjoy seeing it and having that tell them the days activities. There are tons of possibilities with avatars. While reading a story you could make an avatar look like a character in the book and have them ask students questions about the book that they are to write an answer to and turn in. I think that the main learning though should be coming from a human teacher directed activity rather than a computer. I think that while incorporating more and more technology into the classroom may be fun, I still like to find useful information from text books.
While doing research for this course, I stumbled upon the book The Lolita Effect. I had heard of it before but never took the time to read any of it. I thought that it was a really good book with a lot of good information. The book references the Kaiser Foundation, which we had to study at the beginning of the course. I think that this was a great resource.
I think that the articles were interesting reads but they weren’t really surprising. No matter with a human or an “artificially intelligent avatar able to dynamically converse with learners” Students will push the limits and see what they can get away with. If conversing with a computer, they probably wont learn much unless they are taking their learning seriously and actually enjoy the subject matter. I remember visiting someplace that had an interactive computer person and guys I was with asked some of the same inappropriate questions. I think that there is a line you should just not cross in the classroom learning environment. Sometimes there can be too much technology and I think taking away that human to human interaction is not the way to go.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Post #7
Assignment #1: Photoshop Lesson-Ideal Self-Portraits
Intended Grade level(s): 11th – 12th grade
Time: Two weeks, 50 minutes per day
Primary Focus:
To introduce students to Photoshop and get their creative juices flowing. Spark creative thinking. Getting them thinking about the future and where they would want to be or what they would want to be doing.
I would ask where students got their images and why they chose them. I would connect it to visual culture and the effect the media has on us.
Learning Objectives:
I would hope students will become familiar with the tools available in Photoshop. Students should know the basics of Photoshop and be able to create various artworks after completing this unit.
Featured Artists:
Quick overview of roman art and the Idealized form into surrealism and Self-portraiture. Artworks: Doryphoros. Artists: Albrecht Durer, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali.
Unit Summary:
After introducing the course and its objectives, I will introduce the class’s first assignment. Students will then draw a sketch in their sketch books of their ideas. Day 2 students will watch a Photoshop video introducing the tools and how to use them. Students will be sitting at their computers with black screens while watching the video. When the selected portion of the video is complete, teacher will demo tools quickly and remaining time will be given for students to experiment with tools. Day 3 will start off a review of the previous days tools learned and then go on to the next set of tools in the video, followed by experiment time for the students. Day 4 will be the same as day 3. Day five students will be given a digital camera demo and practice uploading images. Students will then work on one image to manipulate or fix using the Photoshop tools they have learned. Day 6-9, will be work days for students to complete their ideal self-portrait with projects to be printed on day 9. Day 10 will be the wrap up of the lesson. Class will consist of a discussion of the artwork, images chosen and why, and a connection to mass media and its influence as something to keep in mind over the course of the class.
Accessories:
Photoshop “how-to” video, Worksheet on overview of the tools, digital cameras, computers with Photoshop software, and scanner (if needed).
Product summary:
Students will create a self-portrait of their Ideal self, including but not limited to a picture of themselves, where they would want to be and what they would be wearing.
Students will write a one-page reflection on their created work and explain why they did what they did.
Students will print artwork in an 8 x 10 picture package, fill out the self-assessment/rubric, and turn in along with one-page reflection.
Intended Grade level(s): 11th – 12th grade
Time: Two weeks, 50 minutes per day
Primary Focus:
To introduce students to Photoshop and get their creative juices flowing. Spark creative thinking. Getting them thinking about the future and where they would want to be or what they would want to be doing.
I would ask where students got their images and why they chose them. I would connect it to visual culture and the effect the media has on us.
Learning Objectives:
I would hope students will become familiar with the tools available in Photoshop. Students should know the basics of Photoshop and be able to create various artworks after completing this unit.
Featured Artists:
Quick overview of roman art and the Idealized form into surrealism and Self-portraiture. Artworks: Doryphoros. Artists: Albrecht Durer, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali.
Unit Summary:
After introducing the course and its objectives, I will introduce the class’s first assignment. Students will then draw a sketch in their sketch books of their ideas. Day 2 students will watch a Photoshop video introducing the tools and how to use them. Students will be sitting at their computers with black screens while watching the video. When the selected portion of the video is complete, teacher will demo tools quickly and remaining time will be given for students to experiment with tools. Day 3 will start off a review of the previous days tools learned and then go on to the next set of tools in the video, followed by experiment time for the students. Day 4 will be the same as day 3. Day five students will be given a digital camera demo and practice uploading images. Students will then work on one image to manipulate or fix using the Photoshop tools they have learned. Day 6-9, will be work days for students to complete their ideal self-portrait with projects to be printed on day 9. Day 10 will be the wrap up of the lesson. Class will consist of a discussion of the artwork, images chosen and why, and a connection to mass media and its influence as something to keep in mind over the course of the class.
Accessories:
Photoshop “how-to” video, Worksheet on overview of the tools, digital cameras, computers with Photoshop software, and scanner (if needed).
Product summary:
Students will create a self-portrait of their Ideal self, including but not limited to a picture of themselves, where they would want to be and what they would be wearing.
Students will write a one-page reflection on their created work and explain why they did what they did.
Students will print artwork in an 8 x 10 picture package, fill out the self-assessment/rubric, and turn in along with one-page reflection.
Assessment:
Students will fill out a self-assessment and write a one-page paper reflecting on their artwork. Students will write about what they put in their artwork and why they did. When all projects are printed, students will post the in the classroom for a brief class share and critique of works.
Sample Rubric for Project
Assignment #2: Stop-motion Animation Unit Sketch
Intended Grade Level(s): 11th-12th grade
Time: Two weeks (minimum), 50 minutes per day, mid to end of the semester
Primary Focus:
The purpose of this unit is to expose students to a unique type of animation that they could do. Incorporating technology in the art classroom / teaching media arts is very important. The assignments theme would focus on change/ making a difference/impact on the world or what change means to them. Keeping morals and values in mind, students can create powerful works of art. The interdisciplinary connections that would be made through this unit would be the media arts connecting with math. Students need to realize how to count out how may shots are needed and how far they can move for each shot.
Learning Objectives:
Students will learn the basics of creating a stop-motion animation.
Students will learn how to operate a camera with tripod.
Students will experiment with the new learned technology.
Students will learn how to work collaboratively.
Featured Artists: Tim Burton, PES, and various Commercial Artists.
Unit Summary:
Toward the end of the semester, students will begin their stop motion animation projects. Students are to focus their project on a theme of change. Day 1-2 students will watch examples of stop-motion animation and the making of. Day 3-4 students will receive a step-by-step of how-to-create their stop-motion animation. Day 5 Students will work on their story board with their 3-4 group members. Day 6-9 students will shoot and edit their animations, finishing them by the end of Day 9. Day 10 students will share their animations with the class along with their thoughts on the process of animation and what they thought of the assignment.
Accessories:
Camera, tripod, Computer with correct software (I.e. Photoshop, QuickTime, imovie/movie maker), and various props for animation.
Product Summary:
Students will create a 2 minute stop-motion animation video following the theme of change.
Assessment:
Students will write a reflection about the process of making their video. While shooting and editing their video, they will be taking notes on the process and how they think the final piece turned out. Students will share their video with the class. This will be followed by a group critique. Students will also fill out a self-assessment listing whether or not they think they did their best work, cooperated with their group members, and equally contributed to the project.
Great Resources I liked:
Website: Center For Media Literacy - Lesson Plans - Has great articles, as well as lesson plans on teaching media literacy for grades k-12.
Book: The Lolita Effect: the media sexualization of young girls and what we can do about it by Meenakshi Gigi Durham - Has lots of great information and makes a lot of good points.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Post #6
Assignment #1: Creating a Television News Broadcast
Purpose of Assignment: to teach high school students about news broadcasting and an introduction to media bias.
Time: One week, 50 min class periods
Procedure:
Purpose of Assignment: to teach high school students about news broadcasting and an introduction to media bias.
Time: One week, 50 min class periods
Procedure:
- To start off, I would poll students on how many watch the news and what kinds of things are being discussed in the news today. I would then show a few clips of local newscasts from various stations. Students will be advised to listen carefully to the news cast and keep track of the descriptor words. Then I would start a class discussion of the issues going on in the school and begin going over their assignment.
- Students will work in groups and come up with there own news story about a school event. (Class will have brainstormed topics together in my intro to assignment to pick from and Groups will be chosen by the teacher). Students will be advised to include the 5 W’s in there news story.
- Students will work collaboratively gathering information and interviewing people (recording interviews) as they like for their story.
- Students will script their news broadcast, record it, and edit it as desired.(students will have already been exposed to the software and other tools available for video production).
- Students will then share their broadcasts with the class and share its strengths/ weaknesses.
- Afterwards there will be a class discussion of each groups broadcast and if it was bias or not. As a class, we would look at the FAIR sites questions for detecting bias. Each group would then evaluate their work and think about if they covered the story from different viewpoints and shared the story in a unbiased way.
- Students homework will be to write a short reflection on the assignment. The paper should reflect on the making of their news broadcast, whether or not they showed it in a non-biased way, and what they could have done differently to make it better or report in a non-biased way.
Rationale:
I think it is kind of hard to think of what kind of assignments I would have students do related to news and my content area. Teaching Art these days is usually more traditional with some incorporation of media arts/technology. I think that since most students are exposed to so much media that they should realize that much of the information they might see might be biased.
One night while listening to the news, there was a story about a girl and her boyfriend that went missing after a night out. Apparently the girl had never ever gotten in trouble or didn’t do drugs and this night she experimented with CRYSTAL METH. And anytime they said that word it was clearly emphasized that they were on CRYSTAL METH. If I could find this story it would be a great story to show about bias and descriptor words. This story was very one-sided and exaggerated, thus a great example of TV news showing what they want.
Also. I would only show a few news clips of example stories and see what the students themselves come up with for stories and how they show it. I would then go into how the news can be bias and see if any groups broadcast their story in a bias way.
Assignment #2: Caricature of Person in the Media
Purpose of Assignment: to teach high school students about stereotyping and bias in the media.
Time: One week, 50 min class periods
Procedure:
- In connection/continuation of the previous assignment, I would have students brainstorm the types of stereotyping and bias we see in the media. As a class, we will go over different types of stereotyping and images of those stereotypes we may see in the media, like in magazines, TV shows, and advertisements.
- As another class activity, I would have students look at the design of the local newspaper: its content and layout. We would then examine political cartoons that are found in the paper and go over a little history of political cartoons. Also we will discuss political cartoons in terms of their techniques employed, the exaggeration of features, the visual portrayal of issue, the parodying of language and social practices, and portrayal of certain attitude or stance.
- Students assignment will be to create there own caricature of a news anchor that they have watched, a politician that was recently in the news, or a stereotyped person.
- Students will then share there works with the class and their reason/inspiration for their chose of character.
Rationale:
Students are bombarded with so many different views of different people, many of which are stereotypical. I think students need that constant reminder that everyone is different. While there may be people out there like the ones depicted in the media, that one represents a very small portion of those people. Students also need to realize that when listening to reports on a politician they may be biased towards a particular party and sometimes you may not always recognize that. We need to constantly teach students to critically analyze what they see and hear in the media.
Teaching News vs "Fake News"
When thinking about news vs. "fake news" many can tell the difference between the two, but the younger audience more often sees the "fake." When talking to students about this topic, I would show clips from various "fake news" newscasts. Many are meant to be comical and show satire. I would emphasize that satire in this form is similar to that in literature. It is an art form and a form of expression or reaction to something. When these issues are put on the comic chopping block, it can shine new light on the issue for some people...a viewpoint they may not have seen before. I would then start a class discussion about their thoughts of the issue of news vs "fake news."
The next activity might be similar to my assignment #2 above. Students can look at political comics and how they are similar to "fake news" broadcasts. I would then have students create there own political comics focusing more on a school base rather than a public base with it still being school appropriate, allowing students to be creative and have a little fun with the project.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Post #5
Part One:
Channel 5 Eyewitness News Veiwing Log
I have to say that I really enjoyed watching and tracking how much of each contect is shown on the news. Having done it, I noticed how much time commercials really take up and the transitions during the news broadcast. I found it amazing that little time was spent on each content area and you only hear peices of the story each night you watch the news. Channel 5 has a fansy transition slide thing they show when they switch to a different broadcaster for a different story. They also took sometime in the beginning of the news cast to advertise 5 news online.
Part Two:
Teaching critical analysis of the news:
I think to start off a subject like this I would show some media examples. What came to my mind was to listen to John Mayer's song Waiting on the World to Change. Next I would show a short clip from Mr. Deeds where they show the rescue of the woman and cats from the burning building and the news story of the rescue. I think that would be a good jumping off point. I would then have them brainstorm of events that they went to that the news may have left details out of.
As for student assignment, I think that I would have them do something similar as we did here. This is a great way to get students to realize what content is being shown and how much of it we the public are actually getting. Commercals take up a long time in that short half hour news broadcast and students should time it out to see how much time that really takes up. To close I think I would have a discussion on what their thoughts are on the topic and what they think might benefit the News if it were lawfully made to change its ways.
Channel 5 Eyewitness News Veiwing Log
I have to say that I really enjoyed watching and tracking how much of each contect is shown on the news. Having done it, I noticed how much time commercials really take up and the transitions during the news broadcast. I found it amazing that little time was spent on each content area and you only hear peices of the story each night you watch the news. Channel 5 has a fansy transition slide thing they show when they switch to a different broadcaster for a different story. They also took sometime in the beginning of the news cast to advertise 5 news online.
Part Two:
Teaching critical analysis of the news:
I think to start off a subject like this I would show some media examples. What came to my mind was to listen to John Mayer's song Waiting on the World to Change. Next I would show a short clip from Mr. Deeds where they show the rescue of the woman and cats from the burning building and the news story of the rescue. I think that would be a good jumping off point. I would then have them brainstorm of events that they went to that the news may have left details out of.
As for student assignment, I think that I would have them do something similar as we did here. This is a great way to get students to realize what content is being shown and how much of it we the public are actually getting. Commercals take up a long time in that short half hour news broadcast and students should time it out to see how much time that really takes up. To close I think I would have a discussion on what their thoughts are on the topic and what they think might benefit the News if it were lawfully made to change its ways.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Post #4
Part One: Phenomena
I must say I had a really difficult time picking something that is portrayed in the media. There are many things in the media that are portrayed in the stereotypical way. Nothing is really shown how the average person sees life everyday. I don’t think any show is really true to life. It would probably not be that interesting if it were. There are a lot of films that are based on a true story but how often do they not add twists in the story to make it more interesting?
Phenomena: Relationships
I chose the phenomena of relationships in the Media. I think that this is a very important topic and one that should be advocated for more--advocating the promotion of healthy, happy relationships and marriage and the importance of being faithful, trustworthy, true, and loyal to your partner.
Most popular shows that air during Primetime television promote promiscuity, infidelity, cheating, and non-commitment to a relationship. More often we are seeing less happily married couples and more cheating, adultery, and unhappy, unstable relationships in the media.
Prime example: Two and a Half Men. The main character prides himself on being single and sleeping with a different woman every night. His brother is divorced and has to live with him. Many jokes are made about marriage being bad and not worth it.
The Grey’s Anatomy series started off with the main character having a relationship with a married man. Not only does she have complicated love life but so does most of the staff at the hospital as well (almost everyone!!) The show has a recurrent theme of infidelity.
House is another example. Dr. House is a person that has a deep distrust of human beings and their motives and lacks the skills to keep up personal relationships.
Family guy…does have a married couple but it spends most of its time pushing the limits of decency with heavy sexual innuendo and sexual themes. The Simpsons and King of the Hill also have married couples but aren’t exactly the most kid-friendly of programs.
In films, it doesn’t seem to be as bad with all the films that generally have a happy ending with people getting married or back together, etc.
Magazines on the other hand can be just as bad and the TV shows. Many popular magazine like to advertise who is together and who has just broken up, etc.
More and more I think that the media is portraying Marriage as Not Sacred, unimportant, or shouldn’t be taken seriously. It’s ok to cheat, lie, and be unfaithful.
Part Two: Research
Like violence and profanity, infidelity, promiscuity, and non-commitment should not be promoted in media…but sadly it is.
The Facts: The divorce rate in America is 50%--Meaning 50% of those who get married each year will eventually get divorced! The CDC reports that the percentage of marriages each year has generally been gradually declining in almost every state since 1990.
When studying on how to fix a problem, often times the key thing is prevention. And the key thing to prevention is early education. Example:
- To help with declining literacy among low income children…head start and preschool programs.
- To help with Americas drug problem…DARE, teaching young children the harmful effects of drugs.
What if we actually started modeling healthy relationships in the media?
Its not only young children that are effected. If an adolescents continues to see it on the big screen, small screen, and in everyday life…they don’t have much of a chance at all in having a healthy relationships themselves.
One of the best ways to teach children is to model the behavior yourself. You need to show them how to brush teeth, comb hair, tie shoes…and have healthy relationships. I’m not saying that airing shows that promote marriage will suddenly increase marriage rates and make children want to get married in the future but it can’t hurt their view of it.
A special report by the Parents Television Council (PTC) found that across the broadcast networks, verbal references to non-marital sex outnumbered references to sex in the context of marriage by nearly 3 to 1; and scenes depicting or implying sex between non-married partners outnumbered scenes depicting or implying sex between married partners by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1 (PTC, 2008).
WATCH ME!!! - Video Examples From Marriage Study - (wait for it to load or download it)
After doing research, I found that the PTC website was the most insightful. They post ratings for TV, Movies, Albums, Video Games, and Cartoons. They are mostly rated by the content of sex, violence, and profanity.
Another report I found interesting was PTC Ratings for the Top 20 Most Popular TV Shows - 2008. In the report, it says “Not all children ages 2-17 watch age appropriate programs, according to Nielsen Media Research. Television shows that might sound innocent enough, such as Family Guy or American Dad, push the limits of decency with sexual innuendo and adult themes…It is interesting to note that every series on the “Most Suitable” list, and all but one of the series on the “Questionably Suitable” list are reality or game shows” (PTC, 2008). The Following are some of the Ratings:
Suitable: Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Football, Deal or No Deal, American Idol
Questionably suitable: The Simpsons- the bumbling father figure and disrespectful attitudes displayed by the children – those elements are still present, and still problematic. On the plus side, the series depicts a loving if somewhat dysfunctional family, and episodes often contain a moral or a message.
Not suitable: House, Grey’s, Heroes, CSI, and Family guy (being the worst)
PTC also did a report on the Family Hour. “Traditionally known as the Family Hour, the first hour of prime time was once a place for programming the whole family could enjoy. Television broadcasters, exercising their corporate responsibility to act in the public interest, reserved adult-themed shows for later in the evening when the youngest viewers were likely to be asleep. In recent years, however, the broadcast networks have pushed more and more adult-oriented programming to the early hours of the evening” (PTC, 2007). This report studied how often violent, profane, or sexual content appeared during that “Family hour.” Some of their findings were surprising and their video chip of examples was quite interesting as well (you should check it out). It really makes you stop and think about it, since a lot of children are watching this stuff every night and coming into school for us to teach them “how to be good citizens.”
Part Three: Compare & Contrast
While marriage may be thought of as taking the final leap…the old ball and chain, there are many people in this world who have been married to the same person for over a half their lives. Not all relationships/marriages are doomed to fail and NOT everyone cheats on their partners. The world may be growing in the number of blended families but that doesn’t mean we should start thinking that marriage is bad. Some relationships do not work out. We all get burned. But we need to get up and get over those bumps in the road and move on. Many times things don’t always work out our first times around. So, we need to keep a positive attitude and promote that positive attitude to the youth we influence everyday whether we pay attention to it or not. They are watching constantly and although everyone may not have the same opinion about it we should be promoting positive and healthy relationships with children.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Post #3
Part One: Scene from a Film
WALL-E
The scene I chose starts with the door to WALL-E‘s garage opening with little visibility due to the sand storm. The whole scene has many different camera shots (too many to write in every time there is a change!), dim lighting, and little music until WALL-E turns on his video. There is very few words spoken and most expressions are sighs, yells, and little noises.
You hear the sound of the door opening and the wind blowing. Wall-e leads Eve in and the door shuts. At first you only see Eve’s eyes, she sneezes (because robots sneeze from dust storms), then WALL-E turns on the lights and eve is amazed at all of his things she sees. The shot starts with a mid shot of Eve, zooms in/pans going behind Eve, then turns and tilts showing the wall of the garage and then WALL-E on the other side of the garage finishing plugging in the lights. WALL-E then says Tah-da! The shot looks back at Eve from behind WALL-E and WALL-E waves her to come forward. The next shot looks at Eve from behind a shelf in the garage as she looks at everything on the shelf.
Next is the shot if the Cockroach running into his Twinkie and popping his head out!
Eve then comes upon the big bass fish on the wall (the camera zooms out) and the fish starts singing. Eve whips out her gun. The shot move to WALL-E. WALL-E jumps and yells, rolls over to her and pulls her away then goes to her other side pushes her away and point to her gun to put it away. WALL-E then begins to show her his collection of human artifacts, first with a hand egg beater. While WALL-E rolls to get another item to show her Eve breaks it, puts it on the shelf, and WALL-E comes back with bubble wrap. He shows her how to pop them. She takes it and precedes to pop them all. Next WALL-E gives her a light bulb that she lights up. He is surprised and takes it back and wonders why it doesn’t light up for him. He gives it back, she lights it up again, and then puts it on the shelf while WALL-E finds something else.
WALL-E hands Eve a Rubik’s cube. The shot then follows WALL-E grabbing his tape from the toaster, taking Eve out of the picture, WALL-E rolls back and Eve had solved it. WALL-E is surprised again, takes the cube, and puts the tape in her hand. She unwinds it while WALL-E is looking at the cube. He looks over throws his arms up, throwing the cube, and yells. He quickly takes it away and tries to fix it. He then rolls over and tries to play it. He watches the screen and makes a sad sigh. The shot moves to the screen, the movie comes on and he gets excited. The shot then goes to Eve and WALL-E. WALL-E looks at Eve and points with both arms to the screen. Eve “ooohs” and gets closer to the screen while recording it with her blue scanner. WALL-E then rolls away to get his disc he had just found and dances like on the movie playing. Eve tries to copy but bangs hard on the floor instead. WALL-E stops her and showed her another move of spinning. Eve spins super fast and knocks WALL-E in the wall and he gets a little broken…and has to put in a new eye.
Then Eve finds a lighter and lights it. WALL-E “aahs.” They stare at the flame and then the music from the movie is slow, soft, and romantic in the background. WALL-E then turns and stares at Eve. They show the movie and the people singing to each other. WALL-E stares at Eve’s hand and shaking, he tries to reach for it. She pulls away and he turns away. Then she notices the movie and the people are now holding hands in it. Then WALL-E gets an idea and knows what to show her next! Excitedly, he shows her the plant he found. This activates her prime directive: She takes the plant into a special containment capsule within her body and goes into hibernation mode. WALL-E freaks out a little.
I think that the purpose of techniques was to really get the viewer entranced and involved in the movie. They used little dialog between the main characters but were still able to tell a wonderful story through gestures and short expressions. The movie’s overall purpose was to be simple while still getting across an important message and telling a wonderful story while doing so.
Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1o42BhiRq0
Part Two: How I plan to teach Film/editing techniques
I chose this film to pick a scene from because it is very well done and can be used to teach a younger group of students as well as older.
This film has the purpose of sending the message to kids to keep the earth clean and that it is important to exercise. Children may not always get that message when seeing the film, so it would be very helpful to talk about that in school.
Although my clip doesn’t show those things is does show some things that are becoming out-dated and I think that is good to show students that in case they may have never been exposed to those kinds of things before.
I think that the old-time movie that was shown in the movie is great to expose students to. Both young and old. Those types of films were so much more real and had little to no special effects and little violence. I wish movies like that were still made but since they are not it is good to expose students to that. It was a different kind of movie that was produced in that time, but a great one.
With teaching film/editing techniques, I believe that I would start with teaching the vocabulary. Most students have seen a film and could probably understand what they mean from there description. I then would go into looking at various clips and showing example of the vocabulary.
I would next go into the different types of film making, i.e. live action, animation, stop-motion animation. Showing examples of each. If the technology is available, I would then go into a project where they would create their own short film. Going over the different software, how to use a digital camera or video camera, uploading, what to do once you’ve gotten that far (editing photos/putting things together), and finalizing tools (adding music and credits. If the technology wasn’t available I think I would have students write a paper similar to part one of this assignment and analyze a scene from the movie. Making sure they are keeping track of every detail and their thoughts on why it was done that way. It is a great way to make students realize how much time and effort is put into making just one scene from a film.
Part Three: Shot-by-shot analysis of a commercial
WALL-E
The scene I chose starts with the door to WALL-E‘s garage opening with little visibility due to the sand storm. The whole scene has many different camera shots (too many to write in every time there is a change!), dim lighting, and little music until WALL-E turns on his video. There is very few words spoken and most expressions are sighs, yells, and little noises.
You hear the sound of the door opening and the wind blowing. Wall-e leads Eve in and the door shuts. At first you only see Eve’s eyes, she sneezes (because robots sneeze from dust storms), then WALL-E turns on the lights and eve is amazed at all of his things she sees. The shot starts with a mid shot of Eve, zooms in/pans going behind Eve, then turns and tilts showing the wall of the garage and then WALL-E on the other side of the garage finishing plugging in the lights. WALL-E then says Tah-da! The shot looks back at Eve from behind WALL-E and WALL-E waves her to come forward. The next shot looks at Eve from behind a shelf in the garage as she looks at everything on the shelf.
Next is the shot if the Cockroach running into his Twinkie and popping his head out!
Eve then comes upon the big bass fish on the wall (the camera zooms out) and the fish starts singing. Eve whips out her gun. The shot move to WALL-E. WALL-E jumps and yells, rolls over to her and pulls her away then goes to her other side pushes her away and point to her gun to put it away. WALL-E then begins to show her his collection of human artifacts, first with a hand egg beater. While WALL-E rolls to get another item to show her Eve breaks it, puts it on the shelf, and WALL-E comes back with bubble wrap. He shows her how to pop them. She takes it and precedes to pop them all. Next WALL-E gives her a light bulb that she lights up. He is surprised and takes it back and wonders why it doesn’t light up for him. He gives it back, she lights it up again, and then puts it on the shelf while WALL-E finds something else.
WALL-E hands Eve a Rubik’s cube. The shot then follows WALL-E grabbing his tape from the toaster, taking Eve out of the picture, WALL-E rolls back and Eve had solved it. WALL-E is surprised again, takes the cube, and puts the tape in her hand. She unwinds it while WALL-E is looking at the cube. He looks over throws his arms up, throwing the cube, and yells. He quickly takes it away and tries to fix it. He then rolls over and tries to play it. He watches the screen and makes a sad sigh. The shot moves to the screen, the movie comes on and he gets excited. The shot then goes to Eve and WALL-E. WALL-E looks at Eve and points with both arms to the screen. Eve “ooohs” and gets closer to the screen while recording it with her blue scanner. WALL-E then rolls away to get his disc he had just found and dances like on the movie playing. Eve tries to copy but bangs hard on the floor instead. WALL-E stops her and showed her another move of spinning. Eve spins super fast and knocks WALL-E in the wall and he gets a little broken…and has to put in a new eye.
Then Eve finds a lighter and lights it. WALL-E “aahs.” They stare at the flame and then the music from the movie is slow, soft, and romantic in the background. WALL-E then turns and stares at Eve. They show the movie and the people singing to each other. WALL-E stares at Eve’s hand and shaking, he tries to reach for it. She pulls away and he turns away. Then she notices the movie and the people are now holding hands in it. Then WALL-E gets an idea and knows what to show her next! Excitedly, he shows her the plant he found. This activates her prime directive: She takes the plant into a special containment capsule within her body and goes into hibernation mode. WALL-E freaks out a little.
I think that the purpose of techniques was to really get the viewer entranced and involved in the movie. They used little dialog between the main characters but were still able to tell a wonderful story through gestures and short expressions. The movie’s overall purpose was to be simple while still getting across an important message and telling a wonderful story while doing so.
Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1o42BhiRq0
Part Two: How I plan to teach Film/editing techniques
I chose this film to pick a scene from because it is very well done and can be used to teach a younger group of students as well as older.
This film has the purpose of sending the message to kids to keep the earth clean and that it is important to exercise. Children may not always get that message when seeing the film, so it would be very helpful to talk about that in school.
Although my clip doesn’t show those things is does show some things that are becoming out-dated and I think that is good to show students that in case they may have never been exposed to those kinds of things before.
I think that the old-time movie that was shown in the movie is great to expose students to. Both young and old. Those types of films were so much more real and had little to no special effects and little violence. I wish movies like that were still made but since they are not it is good to expose students to that. It was a different kind of movie that was produced in that time, but a great one.
With teaching film/editing techniques, I believe that I would start with teaching the vocabulary. Most students have seen a film and could probably understand what they mean from there description. I then would go into looking at various clips and showing example of the vocabulary.
I would next go into the different types of film making, i.e. live action, animation, stop-motion animation. Showing examples of each. If the technology is available, I would then go into a project where they would create their own short film. Going over the different software, how to use a digital camera or video camera, uploading, what to do once you’ve gotten that far (editing photos/putting things together), and finalizing tools (adding music and credits. If the technology wasn’t available I think I would have students write a paper similar to part one of this assignment and analyze a scene from the movie. Making sure they are keeping track of every detail and their thoughts on why it was done that way. It is a great way to make students realize how much time and effort is put into making just one scene from a film.
Part Three: Shot-by-shot analysis of a commercial
**Sorry, I don't know how to put video in here yet, Still learning :)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Post #2
I’m an art teacher. Of course film, television and media studies is important to teach, just as teaching painting is important. You just may not really need to explore actors and actresses. Film can expose you to new ideas, characters, and worlds. I took a few films study courses at the U and was exposed to movies I would have never otherwise have seen. I fell in love with some of them. Film is Art and as such it should be taught in schools.
Most people, adults and children, spend ¼ of their day with some sort of media. With each mew media that is introduced, students are not using less old media but just using more media--the old and the new. Which means that it is more important than ever to incorporate this big part of their lives in school. Course curriculum always needs to be relatable to the students you teach, and with this generation being a “media generation.”
I would want students to learn the various ways to produce a film, the stage vocabulary, and the endless possibilities they have in creating new and exciting works of art through this learning. I would want them to learn some basics about making their own film. With simple software, students can upload videos, photos, and music. Or even create their own music! It is a fun experience that most students would enjoy.
Teaching about film and television can help students analyze what is real and what isn’t. there is a lot of inappropriate content that they are exposed to everyday, and teaching them to decipher through the images would help the become a more well-rounded person.
As for the teaching of basic reading and writing skills, you can incorporate these thing into most any lesson. If I were doing a film class, I would have students read a novel, watch the film of that novel, study the script and its production. Then write their own script. And possibly produce it. Incorporating themes is another great thing. I want to incorporate the theme of change and have students make a film of some sort on making a difference. Students can be inspired and do great things…they just need a starting point, somewhere to jump off from and take off and fly!
There are so many possibilities with this subject. The students would be missing out if they were not exposed to such great art and taught to weed out all the garbage!
Most people, adults and children, spend ¼ of their day with some sort of media. With each mew media that is introduced, students are not using less old media but just using more media--the old and the new. Which means that it is more important than ever to incorporate this big part of their lives in school. Course curriculum always needs to be relatable to the students you teach, and with this generation being a “media generation.”
I would want students to learn the various ways to produce a film, the stage vocabulary, and the endless possibilities they have in creating new and exciting works of art through this learning. I would want them to learn some basics about making their own film. With simple software, students can upload videos, photos, and music. Or even create their own music! It is a fun experience that most students would enjoy.
Teaching about film and television can help students analyze what is real and what isn’t. there is a lot of inappropriate content that they are exposed to everyday, and teaching them to decipher through the images would help the become a more well-rounded person.
As for the teaching of basic reading and writing skills, you can incorporate these thing into most any lesson. If I were doing a film class, I would have students read a novel, watch the film of that novel, study the script and its production. Then write their own script. And possibly produce it. Incorporating themes is another great thing. I want to incorporate the theme of change and have students make a film of some sort on making a difference. Students can be inspired and do great things…they just need a starting point, somewhere to jump off from and take off and fly!
There are so many possibilities with this subject. The students would be missing out if they were not exposed to such great art and taught to weed out all the garbage!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
5472 Post #1
Being a soon-to-be Art teacher, Media arts is a topic we have to keep our eye on. It has been discussed greatly in our cohort since an art teacher trained in media arts and art may be hired before one just trained in art. Schools may not have it publicized but media arts are becoming more and more important as our worlds technology advances.
Richard Beach’s book, Teaching Media Literacy, brings up a lot of very good topics that should be discussed with students. But there are also some things that I feel I could disagree with. Don’t get me wrong! I am all for Media literacy but sometimes I feel students are already using/watching enough media-involved things that they don’t need much more. I think that the topic of media alone brings up a lot of controversial discussion. I know that when reading chapter one I thought a lot about what I have learned and what I would want to teach. I also felt very strongly about some of the topics. Media Arts is very close to the Visual Arts arena so, it effects me a lot.
The “Building upon students active use of media” section talks about how these days students are exposed to all sorts of media and spend a lot of time everyday with some sort of media. Students prefer to learn in new and different ways--and we now have many new and different technologies to help teach in those ways i.e. the smart board, PowerPoint presentations, video clips, slideshows, music. Not to mention the many computer games meant to help students learn. Like Beach said in Ch. 1, Computers raised scores on tests, so may be they can be good.
One thing I had a little trouble with was: “One primary justification for including media studies in the curriculum is the need to create a curriculum that will engage students in their learning.” Students have been learning for who knows how many years without the technology we have today. Is it really that hard to engage students without using video-game like learning programs? Or gluing them to a computer or TV screen? I do think that some educational computer games are good but I don’t think they should be used all the time. Growing up though I have to admit I really loved Number Muncher, Oregon Trail, and the typing game-thing, Mavis Beacon (I don’t know how to spell it, sorry).
Then it goes on to say “If students are highly engaged with outside-of-school multimediating, then curriculum needs to build on that experience.” The example was blogging? With myspace, facebook, and the million other sites students use these days should that be related to school curriculum? Do students use a lot of media outside of school that can or should be related to school curriculum?
Helping students learn to communicate in multimodal ways?…do students, especially high school students need help with that? I think that the ones that need help with that are the ones that can afford it. And since they can’t afford these things so heavily incorporated in school they don’t do as well as the other students. Sometimes that just isn’t fair.
I do agree with the movie thing though. Movies shouldn’t be shown just for fun in school. It should be related to the curriculum in some way. Movies are a form of art and many are truly wonderful works of art and should be shown in school. I took a couple film studies courses at the U and I was exposed to some fantastic films that I would have otherwise never considered watching in my entire life. Students ARE highly engaged with multimediating and learning to communicate in multimodal ways…myspace, texting, new movies on the big screen, etc. Movies in the classroom can be a low level skill if used as just a filler but I think they can be a high level skill when used in the right way. Print (reading text) is a high level skill, but that too can be used in the wrong way. It has to be age appropriate and relatable to what is being learned. Too be honest I was often times uninterested in the texts we were required to read in school. Cliffs notes and online summaries of the books defiantly came in handy when I didn’t read past the first two pages in the book we were required to read. I was in a low reading group in elementary school and avoided reading at every opportunity. If their was a movie version of the story…I looked for it and watched it. Now that I am grown and have actually taken the time to read through a whole story I have found 9 times out of 10 the book is better than the movie. I think that early education is so very important. If we can’t help the ones struggling at a young age, they, like me, may never really be interested in reading in school because its difficult. And of course not every students is going to find the required story interesting no matter what you show or tell them about the story, as well. So teachers always have a challenge to get students engaged.
Richard Beach’s book, Teaching Media Literacy, brings up a lot of very good topics that should be discussed with students. But there are also some things that I feel I could disagree with. Don’t get me wrong! I am all for Media literacy but sometimes I feel students are already using/watching enough media-involved things that they don’t need much more. I think that the topic of media alone brings up a lot of controversial discussion. I know that when reading chapter one I thought a lot about what I have learned and what I would want to teach. I also felt very strongly about some of the topics. Media Arts is very close to the Visual Arts arena so, it effects me a lot.
The “Building upon students active use of media” section talks about how these days students are exposed to all sorts of media and spend a lot of time everyday with some sort of media. Students prefer to learn in new and different ways--and we now have many new and different technologies to help teach in those ways i.e. the smart board, PowerPoint presentations, video clips, slideshows, music. Not to mention the many computer games meant to help students learn. Like Beach said in Ch. 1, Computers raised scores on tests, so may be they can be good.
One thing I had a little trouble with was: “One primary justification for including media studies in the curriculum is the need to create a curriculum that will engage students in their learning.” Students have been learning for who knows how many years without the technology we have today. Is it really that hard to engage students without using video-game like learning programs? Or gluing them to a computer or TV screen? I do think that some educational computer games are good but I don’t think they should be used all the time. Growing up though I have to admit I really loved Number Muncher, Oregon Trail, and the typing game-thing, Mavis Beacon (I don’t know how to spell it, sorry).
Then it goes on to say “If students are highly engaged with outside-of-school multimediating, then curriculum needs to build on that experience.” The example was blogging? With myspace, facebook, and the million other sites students use these days should that be related to school curriculum? Do students use a lot of media outside of school that can or should be related to school curriculum?
Helping students learn to communicate in multimodal ways?…do students, especially high school students need help with that? I think that the ones that need help with that are the ones that can afford it. And since they can’t afford these things so heavily incorporated in school they don’t do as well as the other students. Sometimes that just isn’t fair.
I do agree with the movie thing though. Movies shouldn’t be shown just for fun in school. It should be related to the curriculum in some way. Movies are a form of art and many are truly wonderful works of art and should be shown in school. I took a couple film studies courses at the U and I was exposed to some fantastic films that I would have otherwise never considered watching in my entire life. Students ARE highly engaged with multimediating and learning to communicate in multimodal ways…myspace, texting, new movies on the big screen, etc. Movies in the classroom can be a low level skill if used as just a filler but I think they can be a high level skill when used in the right way. Print (reading text) is a high level skill, but that too can be used in the wrong way. It has to be age appropriate and relatable to what is being learned. Too be honest I was often times uninterested in the texts we were required to read in school. Cliffs notes and online summaries of the books defiantly came in handy when I didn’t read past the first two pages in the book we were required to read. I was in a low reading group in elementary school and avoided reading at every opportunity. If their was a movie version of the story…I looked for it and watched it. Now that I am grown and have actually taken the time to read through a whole story I have found 9 times out of 10 the book is better than the movie. I think that early education is so very important. If we can’t help the ones struggling at a young age, they, like me, may never really be interested in reading in school because its difficult. And of course not every students is going to find the required story interesting no matter what you show or tell them about the story, as well. So teachers always have a challenge to get students engaged.
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