Quiet on the Set

I'm very excited to be learning about digital video in class over the next couple of weeks. So far, we have learned to create things that can be added to our vocational ed advocacy wiki. Last week, my group and I had to create an 30 second interview from 3 experts on our topic. We chose to print out pictures of our experts faces and held them in front of us while we talked. We used flip video cameras, which seemed very easy to use. You push one button to record and the same button to stop. Every time you hit record, it creates a new file. Then you use the usb drive already attached to the camera to plug into your computer. Some of their software gets installed, but then we used windows movie maker to edit our interview segment.

I can definitely see where this specific example can be used with students. They could use a little more imagination and create sets behind their experts and also make decisions about using a tv talk show personality, a roundtable discussion, etc.

This week we are in the process of creating PSA's for our advocacy wiki. We created our treatment and storyboard and should be able to start taping footage next week. What I really like about this process is that all the planning is done before hand. In the storyboard, we had to think about camera angles, placement of people, props, effects to be used in editing. It's like a low-budget movie! Each of us has a role to play, which again is a great idea for students! Give them a reason to take ownership of the project, not just get a grade. I think our PSA is going to turn out great!

Kwality Blogging

I found this great blog a few weeks ago, which I think really epitomizes the idea of blogs, called Kwality Blogging. The blog is written by Mr. Sill, a Video Production teacher at El Diamante High School in Visalia, CA. I didn’t have a chance until today to really go through it and read some of the posts, but I was just fascinated by the post from January 27^th. As I was reading it, my impression was that this was a professor at the collegiate level. It wasn’t until I scrolled back to the top that I saw the blog was from a high school teacher. So that right there impressed me. This teacher knew what he was talking about.

This particular post talks about ideas in documentary filmmaking and the recently released movie Cloverfield, by producer J.J. Abrams, who created Lost and Alias (two of my very favorite television shows). I liked this blog post, especially, because the author threads ideas of using technology in the classroom with that of mainstream society. It made me want to sit in his class and learn about filmmaking! I also thoroughly enjoyed the various links he has through out his post, including the one with J.J. Abrams at TED. TED is another great site if you haven’t seen it. It also made me realize that I could/should be creating links right in the text of my post, instead of waiting until the end of my post. I think I have the hang of that now.

This post of Mr. Sill’s also made me start thinking about this upcoming week of class, in which we will be learning about Windows Movie Maker, the Flip Digital Video Camera, and Public Service Announcements (PSA’s). In my journalism classes as an undergrad, I learned all about PSA’s. Then when I became a teacher, I saw them being used in a different way in the classroom. I think they are a great product for students to make and helps them understand how their voice can be heard on a variety of subjects. I also know a great deal about Windows Movie Maker so that should help in completing our group’s PSA. I’ve seen the flip video, however I have not worked with it, so I am very interested in using this tool this week.