video production Blog # 14

This weeks reading was directly related to how one could implement the film making process in to the classroom. In the case of the teachers that wrote the article, their students were assigned to make a documentary film about “civil war mysteries.” There are huge processes that one has to go through when making a film. In this class we briefly went through it. The process encompasses strategic planning, writing, casting, and problem solving.

The film making possess:

Prior to any video being made, groups must be formed and must go through a process of pre-production. This is where many tasks associated with making movies are completed. Here are some of the steps of preproduction: First an idea must be manifested, second a storyboard (a detailed script of what each shot will look like) must be written, and last but not least a filming plan must be made. These three general steps have many tasks associated with them. These include but are not limited to brainstorming, prewriting, first, second and final draft for script writing. On the other side the strategic planning of the movie making posses need to be done.

Equipment, talent, and locations need to be secure to ensure that the best movie is being made. In retrospect, this process does not differ very much form the actual movie making process. I actually had the opportunity to actually go and meet with Hollywood directors and learn in high school what the process was actually like. I think that the great part about using an activity like this in the classroom is that students learn via cross-curricula, hands on, and project based learning. These types of projects help not only build skills that are necessary according to California standards, but are also great ways to build leadership qualities with in students.

The article goes on to chronicle the process of production and post-production. Production refers to the actual filming process. In productions you follow directly what the storyboard states in order to fulfill the stories plot according to the writers. This is the process of “scene 1 take1” … “action…cut and that’s a rap!” Students typically have most fun with this part of the process as they can pretend that they are their favorite actor or director starring or filming the next big Hollywood blockbuster. Once the filming stage is done the groups go in to post-production or editing.

Depending on the person this is can be either the most tedious part of creating films, or the most enjoyable. In the editing room as a teacher you need to find people who pay extra attention to details. In short, the editing room is where your movie comes to life, whether it means adding music, special effects, or just cutting the movie to the specifics of the writers and directors. After hours in the editing room, and several drafts and revisions have been made, you finally reach the final product. After the hours of tedious work it can be very rewarding for students as well as teachers to see students with their final project done.

I think this is definitely technology that can and should be used in a classroom that has a lot of time as well as multiple subject matters to work in. I firmly believe in project-based learning, especially ones that leap across multiple disciplines. For that reason, as a high school teacher, it becomes essential to work with other instructors to create fun and interesting projects like there to haves students apply themselves when learning.

Reflection on Storyboard Blog # 13

Reflection on the writing a storyboard for the i-movie.

From the start of this project there was much excitement with how the group was going to execute this project. The group members consisted of the same ones as the wiki-space groups that we formed about a month ago. Right away we started delegating tasks. I took a leadership role in creating a preliminary storyboard for the group to approve. We applied a lot of what we learned in the wiki-space assignment to work cooperatively on the Internet without actually meeting in class. Through this process we were able to have the majority of our storyboard constructed before we even got to class the following Wednesday.
The short film is about a student, which did not have a great Spanish teacher per say. Therefore, she hence turns to her friends to help her speak with a person who does not know English at all and only speaks Spanish. The film is set in CSUSM, on a day with little students. The idea is that she learns how to meet and greet a person as well as tell what time it is, along with stating farewells. All this, is to take place in a two-minute video.
Approval of the storyboard was choppy with a little misunderstanding form our producer Erika McCoulloch. She wanted to make sure that the majority, if not all, of our filming would take place outside the classroom. The idea of giving a Spanish lesson sounded and was perceived as though we were going to give a Spanish lesson on tape. Nevertheless, the matter was cleared up via a simple e-mail and we were clear to start taping the following Monday.
Due to the incredible meeting efficiency of the wiki-space, which you can find at espanolexp.wikispaces.com, we were successfully able to construct a storyboard. I would recommend that not all the work be done online as sometimes, real time/people meetings becomes necessary. However, the great strength of our group was the ability to incorporate meeting strategies and tools leaned in the course which proved successful in increasing the productivity of our group.
In the mean time, Andrea and Christina did a lot of the logistical work making sure that our story covered the correct aspects of teaching. In the case for our film it was state standards for foreign language. They were able to go and research the specific standards we were to present in for the video. They confirmed that the script that we devised would work out as a project to present to students

Filming section:
There was some confusion over who was going to rent the video camera, I initially went home to check whether or not I had one that was compatible. In the in I concluded and communicated via the wiki-site that I could not provide our group with a camera. The task was initially delegated to Ms. Christina Rodriguez, however when it came time to film, we still did not have a camera. Despite the lack of having a camera, Kasey and I went down to the library with the hope that there would be a camera left for us to rent out. Fortunately for us, we were able to acquire a camera to shoot our film.
The filming process did take about an hour and a half. Most digital media students and instructors urge students that are planning on shooting film to give 1 hour per actual minute of film presented. Using that knowledge our group was able to get all our filming as well as our capturing done in the first day back from thanks giving break. We were all able to save the movies on our computers and start editing the next day. Right now we have all of our preliminary editing done. At this point we are working on different subtitles to add along with special effects and music. Monday the 3rd, we will finalize our movie and choose one to present to the class. I am personally am very exited and had a lot of fund working on the project. I do think I did much of the work however, that primarily came with my previous experiences in digital media production.