What I like from Chapters 11 & 12:
"The last thing you need to be is a digital whiz"
What
is not to like about that? I am seriously not a digital whiz so this
really appeals to me. It is more important to focus on the story
anyway--isn’t that what Ohler says in the earlier chapters?
The
table about the media production practice is very helpful for planning.
Story planning, pre-production, Production. Post-production,
Performance, distribution.
Peer
pitching—like the idea of the pitch. It seems like everyone should
practice “pitching” their ideas. Especially when trying to tell a story
we can benefit from other peoples thoughts about what we are doing. I
think that sharing ideas and critiquing is a 21st
century “soft skill” that everyone should have. I really benefitted
from the poster session on Saturday—I had ideas about other peoples’
stories and they had ideas about mine. Considering other folks’ ideas
can only make my product better.
Writing
the narrative: Writing helps clarify thought. In writing the story we
can get a better story. I know I change my mind a lot when I am forced
to write about something and usually for the better.
“Once
your digital story is planned, you need to develop a list of all the
media it requires…” I really do need to get more disciplined about
preparing. In listing all the media I need I will waste less time making
my videos.
The
recommendation to watch your favorite TV shows and notice the
transitions is great. Since we started reading this book I have been
looking at my TV shows in a new way and it helps me think about story.
Finally, I think the green screen technology sounds very interesting and I want to know more about it.
I agree with everything.....hard not to just be a nodding person here. I will say that I find it difficult to make my whole list of media and my whole story board before recording any video, or searching for any online. This is probably because I am so new to this, and that I am not used to figuring out what I can get media-wise ahead of time. Also, I often see a connection I could make, or am thinking of a new direction as I capture the video. In any case it is useful for me to try to pre=plan ideas for the purposes and media for each part of my story. I have to work on finding the right balance of how much time to devote to planning so I know where I could head, and how much time to collect media in a focused direction toward the project, yet ready to change if I see a better way.
ReplyDeleteGreen screen is becoming easier and easier with each new edition of software. iMovie 11 is pretty easy if you know what buttons to press. In a few years I bet it will be a one click function. When that happens students could film themselves in in any place in history! I assume that's what you would want to do. I am going to attempt it for our final video. I know how to make it happen in the editing phase but I don't have a giant green screen. Maybe I should paint one wall of my classroom green...hmmm
ReplyDeleteLetty,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that it's comforting to hear him say that we don't have to be digital whizzes! I also really love the idea of peer pitching; students can really help each other to fine tune their stories by finding areas that need more clarity.
I was also thinking that it's tough to prepare all of the media ahead of time, but I think that if I went about it with this approach, the production process would be much easier. Tough, but I definitely think I would make my students go through this step and show that they have all the tools to start building before starting the production.
I'm also interested in green screen, but it does intimidate me a little. What Luke said is interesting, and I hope it' s true that it will become much easier because I think there is a lot of potential there.