Classroom Filmmaking

Classroom Filmmaking

I am a big big fan of the work that Amy Erin Borovoy @VideoAmy does on Edutopia.org. I am especially glad when she shares educational tips for the classroom!  I teach multimedia production at Fresno State, and I am always open to resources (specifically ones from trustworthy individuals who have an interest in education!).

Amy has a great list of videos for a Video 101 course listed below, as well as further resources. (EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IS AMY'S WORK.  SOURCE AT END OF PAGE).

1. 10 Tips for Beginner Filmmakers (10:37) Young filmmaker Simon Cade's channel, DSLRGuide, is one of the most popular for filmmaking tutorials. He's got hundreds of tips to share and started making videos when he was just 11.
2. No-Budget Filmmaking Gear - The DIY Filmmaker (05:02) Getting your filmmaking kit together is one of the hardest things to do on a budget, but you can't begin until you have the basics. There are links to some of the DIY projects to build your own gear on the YouTube page for this video.
3. Adapt Your Script to a Storyboard (09:19) One great resource is the YouTube Creator Academy channel, which has a variety of tip videos made by YouTube's most successful creators. This video by Mary Doodles and Whitney Lee Milam is one of the best intros to storyboarding I've seen.
4. Telling Your Story Through Video (04:00) It's less glossy than the other tutorials here, but I love that this video uses footage from student work to illustrate camera angles. It's produced by ChildFund Connect, an Australian organization that provides an online space for kids to post videos they've made.
5. Top 5 Tips to Shoot Incredible Video with a Smartphone! (08:34) Nashville video producer and tech reviewer Danny Winget gives excellent advice for filming with smartphones, which is probably the most accessible way to get started. He covers both gear and technique in this short video.
6. 5 Quick Math Tricks for Filmmakers (06:02) IndyMogul stopped posting new videos two years ago, but their YouTube channel is still a treasure trove of tutorials on every aspect of low-budget filmmaking, from visual effects to lighting. This video shows the math behind some essential filmmaking rules.
7. Sophia Dagher Offers Tips & Tricks in Filmmaking (02:14) ProjectED was an Amplify program that hosted open video contests for students and teachers. Although they seem to have stopped running these, they still offer some great resources, like this fun advice video from filmmaker Sophia Dagher.
8. Top 15 Mistakes Beginner Filmmakers Make (02:34) This is long (17 minutes) but fortunately filmmaker Darious Britt is really engaging. His advice is geared towards people trying to break into the film industry, but his tips are sound. Heads up for a little language that may not be appropriate for younger kids.
9. How I Edit My YouTube Videos (13:23) While there are hundreds of more informative and concise tutorials on video editing basics, I chose this one because it features Jennifer Zhang, a teen YouTube creator, sharing how she taught herself to edit video using free tools. She posted a Part Two here.

More Resources on Student Filmmaking

• "Filmmaking for Kids: Rough, Raw, and Real" via The Atlantic
• Teaching Film Resources via MediaEd
• Film in the Classroom Lesson Plans via The New York Times Learning Network
• "A Case for Filmmaking in the Classroom" via NWP Digital Is
• 3-2-1 Vocabulary: Learning Filmmaking Vocabulary by Making Films viaReadWriteThink
• " The Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in The Moving Image" via NYC Department of Education
• Teaching Tools from FilmEd. via FilmEd.
• "16 Websites and Apps for Making Videos and Animation" via Graphite

INFO FROM ORIGINAL SOURCE: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-classroom-filmmaking-resources

CREDIT TO: AMY ERIN BOROVOY (AKA VIDEOAMY)'S PROFILE

Media Literacy: An Infographic and explanation

 

My infographic on Media Literacy begins by giving a definition of media literacy that is derived from the definition that was defined by participants at the 1992 Aspen Media Literacy Leadership Institute.  They concluded, media literacy was "The ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms." (Aufderheide,1992).  I then give a simplified definition that is a summation of the definition provided by the Media Literacy Project.  Media literacy is not only about protecting children from the messages of the media, in fact, that is an improbable mission.  Media is surrounds our culture and is inescapable.  Instead of protecting children from the media, media literacy is about teaching competencies, critical thinking, and basics of literacies in all forms of media so they can begin to analyze the media and interpret the messages on their own.  In order to help make this point clearer, I follow the definitions with two more fundamental ideas regarding media literacy, "It is about developing the public's critical and creative abilities when it comes to the media," and a quote from the Kaiser Family Foundation, "a media literate person can think critically about what they see, hear and read in books, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, movies, music, advertising, video games, the Internet, and new emerging technology. For many proponents, it also includes learning how to create messages using print, audio, video, and multimedia (2003)."

The second part of my infographic covers the core concepts of media literacy as set forth by media literacy pioneer Barry Duncan and the Association for Media Literacy in Ontario.  While these core concepts are from Canadian teachings, I believe they summarize the theoretical base and framework for media literacy curriculum and discussion (Jolls & Wilson, 2014).  The Association for Media Literacy has 8 key concepts for media literacy:

1. All media are constructions.
2. The media construct reality.
3. Audiences negotiate meaning in media.
4. Media have commercial implications.
5. Media contain ideological and value messages.
6. Media have social and political implications.
7. Form and content are closely related in the media.
8. Each medium has a unique aesthetic form.

For my infographic, I have condensed these 8 concepts into 5 that I believe make for a simpler connection to the infographic viewer.  My first core concept is that Media are constructions. This means that all media, whether it be a movie, magazine, news, or advertisement are made by individuals to create a message.  These messages contain the creator’s personal beliefs, biases, opinions, and assumptions. My second core concept is that media has commercial implications.  All media are businesses whose primary goal is to make money.  Businesses, corporations, investors, all influence the content and distribution media.  A story can be told; however, it can be framed in whatever light the media would like.   The third core concept is that media has its own aesthetic form.  Media is an art, and various techniques are taught and used to grab consumers’ attention.  Everything from the use of certain words, to colors, to music, are all utilized to “hook” the viewers’ attention. The fourth core concept is that media is social and political.  This sums up the fact that media convey values, power, and authority.  The media are powerful entities that have a massive influence over social norms, acceptance, personal values, societal values, and political leadership.  My last core concept is that audiences negotiate meaning.  This is a large category of information, that covers factors that may influence the meaning of a media message. However, to summarize the large amount of information into a small idea I state that, “consumers have varying learned meanings from the same media” (Kubey & Baker, 1999).

My infographic then gives some examples as to why media literacy is important.  I begin with a graphic emphasizing the power of television and how media can help form an individual’s personal opinions and beliefs (Manzaria & Bruck, 2012).  In order to emphasize the importance of analyzing the messages that media present, I use a graphic showing a fake example of how various media sources may interpret a scenario.  In the graphic I use, I show a photo of President Obama drinking a Pepsi and four different news sources with varying takes on this “news story.”  I then present info on research that indicates that incorporating media lessons into standard curriculum can help reduce potentially harmful effects of TV and Film violence on young viewers.  Research by Renee Hobbs and Richard Frost (1999) show that learning to deconstruct media messages can help juvenile offenders think critically about the consequences of risky behaviors. I present this information with text as well as a few simple icons to represent media.

In order to represent how media is currently adopted in education, I use graphics and information from various research sources.  The first graphic is a is a representation of research published by Renee Hobbs and Richard Frost in “Instructional Practices in Media Literacy and Their Impact on Students’ Learning,” that was published in the New Jersey Journal of Communication.  They show that all 50 states that are now implementing media literacy as part of the educational framework.  Using graphic icons, I also show that most schools incorporate media literacy as a component in major subject areas such as English, language and communication arts, social studies, civics or health

The last section of my infographic lists a few ideas on how to integrate media literacy into curriculum by using media projects such as videos, audio stories, and photo essays.  I show an idea for a history class to produce a news show in which they act as two separate media corporations and give two sides to the story.  I also give basic ideas for a math class to produce a video in which the students “prove” a false formula.  This helps the students realize how easy it is for the media to give false information.  English classes could produce a radio who about a Shakespeare play, science classes could create magazine covers, and so on.  I end the infographic with text, “Integrating media projects into curriculum will enhance students learning about the subject at hand, as well as teach media literacy” (Ashley, 2015).

References

Jolls, T., & Wilson, C. (2014). The Core Concepts: Fundamental to Media Literacy Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Journal Of Media Literacy Education, 6(2), 68-77.

Ashley, S. (2015). Media Literacy in Action? What Are We Teaching in Introductory College Media Studies Courses?. Journalism And Mass Communication Educator, 70(2), 161-173.

Aufderheide, P. (1992) Media Literacy. A Report of the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy. Aspen Media Literacy Leadership Institute

Hobbs, R., & Frost, R. (1999) Instructional Practices in Media Literacy and Their Impact on Students’ Learning. New Jersey Journal of Communication 6(1999)2:123-148

Kubey, R. & Baker, F. (1999) Has Media Literacy Found a Curricular Foothold?. Education Week (October 27, 1999)

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2003). Key Facts: Media Literacy. Fall 2003, 4.

Manzaria, J., &  Bruck, J. (2012) Media's Use of Propaganda to Persuade People's Attitude, Beliefs and Behaviors

Jolls, T. (2015). The New Curricula: How Media Literacy Education Transforms Teaching and Learning. Journal Of Media Literacy Education, 7(1), 65-71.

Ciurel, D. (2016). MEDIA LITERACY: CONCEPTS, APPROACHES AND COMPETENCIES. PCTS Proceedings (Professional Communication & Translation Studies), 913-20.

CRAMER, L. M. (2015). Teaching the Foundations of Media Literacy in the Basic Communication Course. Forensic, 100(1), 13-32.

Weisgrau, J. (April 28, 2015). Empowering Student Relationships with Media. Edutopia Blog Retrieved from www.edutopia.org/blog/empowering-student-relationships-with-media-josh-weisgrau

https://namle.net/2015/05/19/mind-over-media-analyzing-contemporary-propaganda/

http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/what-media-literacy-definitionand-more

3fr to X3f = EZ

There is a fundamental problem with digital media.  That problem is file formats! I spend a good amount of time working with videos, photographs, audio, vectors, website development, as well as too much time with presentation software, ebooks, fonts, spreadsheets etc etc.  Each of these applications requires multiple programs and various computing platforms, none of which play well together.  I don't care if you teach higher education multi-media production or 1st grade english, you have without a doubt seen this message or one like it.

The typical workflow would go something like this:  Google both file formats, open the original file in some obscure software that will read it, try to export it into a different file format, upload new exported file into the correct software, hope it works.

Until Cloud Convert (https://www.cloudconvert.com). Cloud Convert allows you to 'convert anything to anything'. It supports over 200 formats, everything from 3fr to vsd.  Change ebook formats, PC files to Mac, image formats from brand to brand, and pretty much anything else you can throw at it.

There is a free version, as well as a paid version, however the free version is enough for most small daily tasks.

definitely a tool to keep in your bookmarks!

Media Literacy Instruction for Media Production courses

Two of my courses at Fresno State are media centered. One of my courses is a discussion/lecture course where I teach the history of various media milestones as well as discuss whatever new media technology is up and coming, and the second course is a media production course where we go over photography, audio, video, and web design. In both of these classes media literacy is a big part of the curriculum. In the New Media Technology course we go over the theories of media literacy, and in the Media Production course we focus primarily on how Media is created and the skills to persuade audiences. In order to improve media literacy there are a few actions I am planning on incorporating into my courses. In my Media Production course I would like to set more strict rules on my video project. By limiting the project with various requirements it creates a need for more research on my students part into the media industry.

As an example, a video project may state:

This assignment involves shooting video and audio of an event that visualizes a theme and editing a video montage that tells the story with video, natural sound and music.

• Length: 45 seconds to 90 seconds
• Minimum 15 different video shots (likely much more.)
• Edited to a music track so that the shots go with the music.
• Includes at least one natural sound element (Sound occurring when you are shooting.)
• Export as a YouTube HD file
• Music must be Royalty Free (Download and follow Attribution Requirements)
• Must be uploaded to your own YouTube channel.
• Video must have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
• Choose a theme before you start the project and visualize the theme with this video montage.

When students first see this assignment they think that 15 shots is too many, however if I require them to view commercials and track how many shots are in each commercial they will begin to understand that 15 shots is actually too few. By having my students choose and theme and visualize it throughout the video, it will also help them understand how media convey messages. I would also like to have them dissect the commercials and write down the message that each commercial is conveying.

Another project that I would like to implement would be a photography assignment in which students find and place these photos into 4 categories: Journalism, Fine Art, Commercial, Snapshot. After they categorize each of these I would also want them to dissect the story that each photo is telling.

The main learning objectives of these assignments:

Story

1. How well is the theme expressed? Is there a clear and engaging storyline? Does the beginning establish the setting, characters, subject and theme and engage the viewer? Does the body of the story provide details about the subject and keep the viewer's interest? Does the ending clearly resolve the story?

Impact and Creativity

2. How well do the photos engage the viewer? Do the photos have emotional impact? Is the first image sufficiently interesting to make the viewer want to see more?
3. Does the portrayal of the subject provide an unusual or unique insight into the theme?

Composition

4. How effectively are compositional techniques (rule-of-thirds, simplicity, lines, framing) used to draw the eye into the image and focus attention?

Technical Quality

5. Is the lighting and exposure appropriate for the subject of each photo? How effectively are they used to enhance the impact of the photos?
6. Have brightness, contrast, color balance and sharpness been controlled and adjusted to achieve the highest quality appearance of the photographs?

I believe that overall, these changes to my classes would increase the literacy of my students, teach them to explore the true meaning of media messages, and help them in creating meaningful media.

Traditional Literacy V. Media Literacy

In class I was asked to answer 2 questions before doing any research on the topic:

1. How has literacy been impacted by digital media?
2. How can media instruction be integrated into the curriculum?

My initial response was as such:

While the gut reaction response would be to say that the increase of tv shows, YouTube videos, and video games has decreased literacy, I believe that literacy has increased due to digital media. Perhaps the "sophisticated" forms of literacy of the past are diminishing, but these are being replaced with forms of literacy which are much more prevalent in our everyday lives. People may not sit down and pen letters much, however they are texting and Snapchatting, posting Facebook and Twitter updates, sending emails and Slack messages hundreds of times a day. As a child I was forced to sit down and spend time writing, my nieces now post 500 word comments on their friends YouTube videos! Traditional literacy is not dying due to digital media, it is evolving into something different. It is evolving to a place where in a college and business environments it is not abnormal to use emoji's and gif's to communicate, in fact many professional communication tools contribute to the use of these.

Using digital media is one thing, however it is incredibly important to understand how to create media. By tying in video, photography, and audio projects into curriculum, it enhances the learning experience of any subject. Why have students write a paper on Shakespeare when you can have them film a mini documentary about his life, or re-enact a scene from a show and edit it together with audio interviews from experts in the field?

After going through many articles and videos on the topic (see list below) I believe my initial answer stands up. According to a study published by Early Childhood Research Quarterly, adding multi-media rich content into childhood education does indeed have positive impact on learning ability (Penuel, 2012). According to the article, there must be an openness to media on part of the school leaders and teachers in order for a positive outcome to take effect. Educators must be open to media in order to fully embrace its benefits, or else it will only be used an analog substitute and have no long lasting benefits to learning or media literacy.

When integrating media literacy into education, we must focus on the psychological effects of the media and teach students how to dissect media in general. In Media Literacy, Edition 7, by W. James Potter, he says, "Taking control is what media literacy is all about. Becoming more media literate gives you a much clearer perspective to see the border between your real world and the world manufactured by the media."   Media literacy education is imperative for the new generation of students. While we are all influenced by media, the younger generations are being bombarded by a constant stream of media and are being influence at a much higher rate. Without the skillset to breakdown media messages we are inundated with, we can become trapped in what Andrea Quijada calls a revolving door of corporate manipulation (Quijada, 2013).

Quijada, A. (2013, Feb). Creating Critical Thinkers through media literacy [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE&feature=youtu.be

Penuel, W. R., Bates, L., Gallagher, L. P., Pasnik, S., Llorente, C., Townsend, E., … VanderBorght, M. (2012). Supplementing literacy instruction with a media-rich intervention: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(1), 115–127. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2011.07.002

Readings and writings:

Creating critical thinkers through media literacy: Andrea Quijada at TEDxABQED

Center for Media Literacy

Framework for 21st Century Skills- Media Literacy

National Association of Media Literacy Education NAMLE

The Media Literacy Project

The Myth of Digital Literacy

Media Literacy, Edition 7, W. James Potter, offers a rationale for the need to address, even accelerate, media literacy instruction.  Please read through this introduction, on Google Books, pages 1-12

Penuel, W. R., Bates, L., Gallagher, L. P., Pasnik, S., Llorente, C., Townsend, E., Hupert, N., et al. (2012). Supplementing literacy instruction with a media-rich intervention: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(1), 115-127.