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Sep 27, 2012

Dystopian Trailers (Homework)

Periods 2 & 4: Posts Due Monday
Period 1: Posts Due Tuesday


VJ Loops

Here is a link to the Dystopian Trailer Production Calendar.

You have four options for your next blog post assignment depending on the role in your group. Even though this is a class assignment, please make an attempt to write your post in an engaging way. Perhaps you could offer some context or background information about our dystopian trailer project. Maybe write about an aspect of this project that you are particularly interested in. Believe it or not, people are reading and checking out our blogs.

Scriptwriter(s): Continue editing and revising your scripts. In your two column script add scene breaks for each new scene. Write an update on your blog describing how your script is progressing. Describe how your script is incorporating all the dystopian elements as well as weaving together a storyline with characters. For example, are you using voice overs for the narration or dialogue from the actual scenes? How many total scenes are in your script? (I understand that some scenes will be longer than others) Describe the overall structure of your trailer. 

Propaganda Posters: Create a Google Drawing Document and begin designing your propaganda poster. Check out Google Images to review past and current propaganda posters for ideas. Your poster should be unique and bold. Write a post on your blog describing how your poster is coming along. Make the Google Drawing Document public and embed the poster in your blog post. Describe the thinking behind the design of your poster and write about what the poster symbolizes in your dystopian society. Is your group planning on including the poster in actual shots during filming? 

Archival Footage: Search through the special collections below of footage from the Internet Archives. Find at least ONE piece of archival footage that you think your group could use in your trailer. Embed the clip into a blog post and describe why you chose this particular clip. Explain the specific part of the clip you think you may use and for what purpose. Describe any additional archival footage you plan to use as well. Create an archival footage section on your group's shared Google Doc and begin saving the links to the archival footage clips you find. 
Note: You can find the html embed code for the videos on the Internet Archives by scrolling the mouse over the video. Click on the small white column icon on the bottom right next to the volume controls. A box will appear with the html embed code. Copy and paste that code into your blog post using the html compose mode (same as when you add html code for embedding your YouTube videos).
Music & Sound Effects: Search through the links below and begin collecting possible music and sound effects for your trailer. Add a Music & Sound Effects section to your group's shared Google Doc and begin saving these links. Write a post about two of the sound clips you have found. Explain why you chose these clips and the mood you are trying to create. Describe other possible sounds or music you would like to use. Embed at least ONE of the sounds you plan to use in your blog post. Most of the sites offer an embed option. Here is a sound clip I embedded from freesound.org:


Sorry, all sound effects and music files must be licensed under creative commons or in the public domain. You cannot use copyrighted music in your trailers.

Sep 24, 2012

Homework (Dystopian Pre-Production)

Period 1: Rough Drafts Due Friday
Periods 2 & 4: Rough Drafts Due Monday
  1. Complete the rough draft of your script using the two column format by this Thursday. Please carefully add a new column (or row) for each new scene or scene break in your script. Write out every word that is going to be spoken in your trailer: both voiceovers and/or dialogue.
Forget what I mentioned in class today about searching through the Internet Archives. For now it's important that everyone just focuses on their scripts. It's actually pretty tough to weave together all your dystopian elements and tell a story at the same time. The success of your films will depend largely on the quality of your scripts.

Sep 21, 2012

5x5's Due Monday & Tuesday

The 5x5 Independent Film Projects are due Monday for periods 2 & 4 and Tuesday for period 1.

The 5x5 is a collection of five clips, each five seconds long, for a total of 25 seconds. You cannot add any music or sound effects in post-production. You have to use the sound that was recorded during filming. However, you should lower the volume of the audio if it's too loud or overpowering.

When you're done with your 5x5 upload it to your YouTube Channel. Make sure you have adjusted all the settings on your YouTube Channel as we discussed in class. Write a post on your blog including the following elements:
  1. Embed your 5x5 into your blog post.
  2. Create a list under the video identifying each of the 5 clips with short descriptions (words or phrases).
  3. Describe how you created your 5x5. What kind of camera did you use? How did you edit your clips? Did you use one of the web-based video editors? Did you hit any snags along the way?
  4. How do you feel about your 5x5? Are you pleased with how it turned out?
  5. Do you have any ideas for our next independent video challenge? Please share an idea or two for our next video challenge. Something fairly simple but challenging.
Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

Dystopian Trailers (Pre-Production)

These are the directions for what we are doing in class during period 1 on Friday and periods 2 and 4 on Monday.
  1. Complete the project proposal for Ms. Fillman (Brainstorming Session)
  2. Set up your group's shared Google Doc (Invite Mr. Mayo and Ms. Fillman)
Have fun writing your scripts. Be creative and try to think outside of the box. Use an idea from one of the trailers you've watched recently. Complete your rough draft on your group's shared Google Doc using the two column format. Don't overthink the rough draft, just get it done! That's the first step. Once you complete your rough draft you can go back and edit and revise to get it just right.

A Few Tips as you plan your trailer:
  • Keep the story simple with a clear Beginning (inciting incident), Middle (Rising Action) and End (but the end is obviously not revealed!)
  • Create a story and setting that you can actually shoot
If possible, do a reconnaissance of potential locations- take digital pics if you do!
  • Keep different locations to a minimum as you create your story
  • Try to be as simple and clear as possible
Use THESE DIRECTIONS for setting up your Google Docs. Make sure you invite every member of your group and Ms. Fillman and Mr. Mayo to your Google Doc.

Sep 16, 2012

YouTube Tutorials

I know Ms. Fillman has asked everyone to find a dystopian movie trailer on YouTube to analyze and write about on your blogs. As part of the assignment you will need to embed the video from YouTube into your blog post. 

I created this short tutorial below explaining how to embed a YouTube video into your blog in case you didn't know. It's very simple. However, it's important that you check the correct settings BEFORE copying the html code from YouTube and pasting it into your blog. Please take a minute and watch the tutorial.



I also created this set of directions below for you to follow when you set up your YouTube Channels. As the 5x5 Video Challenge deadline gets closer, everyone will need to have a YouTube Channel to share their videos. You can make the videos private OR public. However, everyone will use YouTube to upload their videos so we can easily watch them in class. Again, whether or not you make them public is entirely your choice.

So please carefully follow these directions when you set up your YouTube Channel:
YouTube Channel Settings

Sep 11, 2012

What do you want to learn more about?

We've been talking in class this week about the possibility of using our blogs to explore topics related to our program that students are genuinely interested in. For example, if you 're interested in scriptwriting and want to learn more about it you could find people online who are experts on this topic, like Emma Coats, and subscribe to their blogs though an RSS Reader. Once you find a few experts, you would read what they are sharing online, then write and reflect on what you are learning from them on your blog. It's a type of connected learning centered around something you are very interested in learning more about.

Before we start this process however, I think it would be helpful to read an article or two about this idea of connected learning. So for our next blog post assignment you need to read one of the two articles I posted below and write a reaction to the article on your blog. As you read the article, use Diigo to annotate passages that you find interesting and relevant. Please add a link to your Diigo annotated page at the bottom of your post. You only have to read one of these two articles.

Preparing Students to Learn Without Us

World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others

Here are a few ideas for what you could write about in your reflection/reaction post:
  1. Write a brief summary of the article and its main ideas
  2. Give a direct quote from the article and explain why you think it's important or interesting
  3. Discuss something from the article that you found surprising
  4. Give your overall opinion about this idea of connected learning as it pertains to us and our class
  5. Share a possible topic you are interested in and would like to learn more about
This post is due Friday for all classes, periods 1, 2 and 4.

NOTE: Please do not write your posts in Microsoft Word then copy/paste the text into your blog. That screws up the text formatting. Write your post in the post box in Blogger. Also, please TURN YOUR NAV BAR off. Thanks...

Sep 9, 2012

Movie Review Assignment

Here's a sample of quotes from our recent movie review assignment. We're going to go over all our various ideas in class this week and figure out a basic structure for our quarterly movie review posts.

from Samantha's blog:
A list of aspects we need to touch on should be posted, but we should otherwise have free reign
from Cherie's blog:
I think for our quarterly movie review we should be given a good amount of freedom. There should be basic guidelines, but for the most part I think we should be able to structure it the way we want to. A list of what we need to put into our reviews (key points and such) would be helpful and then we could show those key points in several different forms. Another idea would be to not always have a written review. One quarter we could get into groups and create a type of news report that would review the movie, that way it would continue to be interesting.
from Kyra's blog:
In terms of our own quarterly movie reviews, I think that we should have a certain amount of creative freedom on what we write. Each movie is an individual production, thus not every question or qualification may apply to it. Of course, we should have a very basic structure to follow- such as touching upon each film aspect in the review; however, we should be allowed to choose how much we focus on each one and what we write about each one. I'm sure that if we were allowed to write the review as we see fit, the assignment would be a lot more interesting for all of us- I know I'd be more motivated!
from Peter's blog:
to help me and the rest of the class there should be some form of structure when we are assigned to write a movie review of our own. This would help with making sure we cover everything. Also when writing our own reviews we should be allowed to choose the topic and movie itself. Besides that there should be guidelines on how we write it.
from Zoe's blog:
not all reviewers will perceive movies in the same way: therefore, we must be free to discover and explain the elements that strike us as being the most noteworthy. However, the reader deserves to know what's going on in the film, so reviewers should be required to mention certain key things involved in the three aspects. 
from Aidan's blog:
we should be given creative freedom to the assignment. There shouldn't be a structure, because the structure will come naturally to the nature of the review, and the person's connections with the film.This would make the assignment more understanding and important to the writer. It would also be much more fun to write, and I'm sure there wouldn't be as many students doing it last minute in the library and turning it in a minute after they finished it.
from Brianna's blog:
 I think we should have a lot of freedom when writing our quarterly movie reviews because different films call for different amounts of attention to the three aspects, and making everyone follow one structure detracts from the quality, diversity and honesty of the reviews. As long as some basic criteria is met, we should be able to review the film as we see fit.
from Vu's blog:
We should be left to choose which of the three (or combination of them) that we wish to talk about in our reviews after establishing what the movie is about.
from Song-Binh's blog:
In our quarterly movie reviews, we should have a general structure that isn't too specific. The main requirement should be to mention all of the three aspects of film.
from Andrea's blog:
For our quarterly movie review, I think that we should only have a basic structure to follow, allowing some freedom as far as organization goes. We could just be required to discuss the three aspects of film, giving us the chance to decide what to write about based on what we find important during the film. I also don't think that the reviews should be too long, as most movie goers want a short, concise review to read, not an essay. 
from Leah's blog:
We could also find a way to come up with a creative aspect of it, like writing the review in the form of a news report or creating a commercial for the film, but still include the three aspects. Some reviews could just be in paragraph form, but I think giving students the option to do their own thing with it would make it a lot more fun.
Good idea Leah. Maybe students could do an NPR style movie review. Or, something similar to the video movie reviews The New York Times is doing. This is definitely something we should explore.

from Emily's blog:
Last year, our reviews had very specific guidelines that didn't give us a chance to demonstrate how we felt about the movie. Because of this, the review should not be so structured this year. We should be able to chose what aspects of the film we would like to focus on, although there should at least be a minimum or maximum length so people don't do too much or too little.
 
Movie Review Criteria

Sep 6, 2012

Diigo Movie Review Annotation Assignment

FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS to annotate a movie review using the Diigo Hi-Lighter and Sticky Note tools. Try to add your annotations from the printed page view if possible so it looks cleaner. Diigo creates a public link for your annotated page that you can find under the Share Tab on the Diigolet Toolbar.

After you have annotated a movie review write a blog post addressing the following points:
  1. State the author and title of the movie review and the website or organization that published it. Discuss the basic structure of the movie review you read.

    Here are some possible questions to consider for your post: How does the review start out? Does the writer first state their opinion of the film? Or, do they start with a synopsis of the plot? How does the writer weave in the three aspects of film into the review? Does the review focus on one particular aspect over the others? For example, a review may focus on the cinematic aspects and barely touch on the other aspects. What tone is the review written in? (casual, serious, funny?) Does the reviewer rate the film or recommend it? Do they give away the ending?
  2. Share your thoughts about how we should structure our quarterly movie review assignment? How much freedom would you like when you write your reviews each quarter? Should we all follow a basic structure? (You can bullet your ideas if you want)
On the bottom of your post add a hyperlink to your Diigo annotated page. (remember- Diigo creates this link for you and you can find it under the Share Tab on the Diigolet Toolbar. HERE IS A LINK to my example movie review I annotated.

We will share our annotations next class and work in groups to create our own movie review assignment and rubric. This is a tricky assignment because you are learning how to use Diigo. Please do not wait until the last minute to start this. Please let me know if you have any questions or need help.

Sep 3, 2012

First Blog Post Assignment


This week in class, we're setting up our student blogs and Diigo accounts. One of my goals for using these tools this year is to encourage you to explore and write about topics you are genuinely interested in. For example, if you are interested in cinematography, then you will search out relevant sites and find people online that will help you learn more about this topic. Of course, we are going over all aspects of filmmaking in class throughout the year. However, your blog can be a place where you can explore a specific topic on your own in more depth.

So, for our class you will have a good amount of freedom in what you write about and share on your blog. With that being said, here is your first blogging assignment:
  1. In your first post briefly introduce yourself and describe an aspect of the filmmaking process you are particularly interested in. If you are interested in more than one aspect, say that. Also, please describe one or two of your favorite film projects (in or out of school) you have worked on in the past. Describe the project and your role in the process. If you have past work that is online you might want to consider sharing it in this post. 
  2. Brainstorm a few possible ideas for ways we can use our blogs this year. For example, could we use the blogs to help groups with their change projects? If so, how? You can bullet this list of ideas if you'd like. (try to come up with at least three ideas)
  3. Lastly, use the Advanced Search Function on flickr to find a creative commons licensed image to use in your post. Find an image that represents you or the ideas you are writing about in this post.  Be sure you correctly attribute the image. 
I found the creative commons licensed image above on flickr. The image of an open road comes to mind as we start the new school year. Who knows where we'll end up?

CHECK OUT THESE LINKS if you want to customize an image for your header or play around with different blog templates.

image source: The Open Road

Sep 1, 2012

5x5 Video Challenge


  1. Establishing shot of amusement park at night
  2. Rollar Coaster 
  3. Hazy out of focus shot with bright lights and people walking by
  4. Amusement ride
  5. Busy beach scene
5 shots - 5 seconds each - 25 seconds total

This is a 5x5 I created this summer using clips from my trip to Seaside Heights in New Jersey. I uploaded the five clips to our class YouTube channel. I carefully trimmed each clip down to five seconds using the YouTube Video Editor. I then combined all the clips into one and added this cheesy 60's vintage effect. Again, I did all this using the simple YouTube Video Editor. I shot all the clips in 1080 HD using a Canon Rebel T4i. All the sound was captured using the built in mic on the camera. For this project, you have to use the diegetic sound captured during filming. You cannot add any music or sound effects in post production. 

Here are some more examples of 5x5's I have tagged on Diigo. If you want to see even more examples go to Vimeo and type in 5x5 into the search bar. I'm looking forward to seeing your 5x5's!

Check out these free web-based video editors I have tagged on Diigo. I have only used the wevideo and YouTube video editors. You should start playing around with one of these soon so you can become familiar with it. They are fairly easy to use but there is definitely a learning curve.  The YouTube video editor is probably the easiest option. But before you use the YouTube video editor you will need to set up your YouTube Channel. Please FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS I CREATED when you set up your YouTube Channel.