Digital Video#4/ Blog #7

My First Movie Production Experience

This has been an interesting first move project. Initially I was extremely excited for the opportunity to create an engaging and dynamic video to entertain all. Part way thought the process my attitudes changed. My first idea was to teach my fellow iMet students how to rock climb, the passion that I enjoy greatly. I went to the rock gym, recruited my fellow rock climbers, and diligently took the footage while adding angles, danger and intrigue.  I chose to shoot this movie in a portrait format to better capture the vertical nature of rock climbing and encompass everything that was going on in the shots. After returning to my computer, it became obvious that all of my footage appeared either sideways or “squeeshed”. This was most unfortunate.  After two hours of searching the Internet for a formatting fix and countless failed downloads I had to abandon the project. With precious time to spear I altered my project to teach everyone how to open a bottle of wine. While it is true that I have posted a video, it is a sad representation of the true effort and devotion that was committed to this project. I have learned a great deal from this process, for example, I have learned to shoot in landscape format ONLY until alternative formatting options become available. Additionally, I have come to the conclusion that video is extremely difficult and managing to keep the camera still is practically impossible. I have gained a newfound respect for Ohler’s chapter on techniques as well as the film production community as a whole.

How to Open a Wine Bottle

Chapter 13

The Educator's Christmas List:

This was a very interesting chapter for a few reasons. First, I like the way he addressed the reader in a very straight forward manner. The information was in list format, which I think was appropriate in this instance. There was enough information to allow the reader to get started in the right direction and pursue the information further depending on their individual situation and needs. Second, I think it was great that he included such a wide range of options. He included everything in terms of sound equipment, from the built-in microphone on a laptop to a boom microphone for professional-grade sound.

I think it is important to give teachers some sort of idea for the future. While they may only have a very limited budget and no administrative support when they start, Ohler is showing them they can still start this kind of a program. He is also showing them that once it starts going, there are amazing places you can take the program to create some very professional material, which in turn creates an even bigger buzz for additional support. Ohler said it perfectly in his "motto"

"One eye focused on today's classroom, the other looking down the road."

Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (p. 167). Kindle Edition.

The educational community needs more resources like the one Ohler provides; to not only recommend the software needed for different projects, but to offer advice on how to apply it to the classroom, including the "pros and cons." Thank you Ohler!

Video #2 Lisa Goes to Rome

Video #1- The Countertop!

Chapter 12

To say the least, Chapter 12 was a challenge. When I first read the chapter, it just looked like a long list of things to do. I did not really see the value of following a check list when I felt the end product was already in my head. I felt like Ohler was talking about me when he said,

"Don't be surprised when students don't want to spend a lot of time with this step. Often they're in a hurry to get on the computer and translate their ideas into media. But the reality is that creating the list will save them a good deal of time while helping them develop good planning habits"
Jason B. Ohler. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity (p. 150). Kindle Edition.

I thought to myself, "How did he know?" Even after contemplating this, I was struggling with the value in the process. I decided to go to the Face-to-Face session and see if I would be inspired...

Ta Da! I was inspired! I had this great idea to do a video all about my journey to Rome and how I decided to go with my best friend. I wanted to start putting it together right away. This was not Professor Rodriguez's plan.

He made us write out everything. This whole process was seeming pointless until he asked us to draw our story map. I looked in the packet and traced the outline for the VPS model. It then came time to fill it in. I had to think, a lot more than I thought I would; I realized I hadn't developed the tension, the questions or the process of resolution. Drawing the story map forced me to actually break down my idea into concepts and not leave it as just a blur of pictures.

When I went to create the story board, I organized my pictures to support and illustrate all the great ideas I had fleshed out in my story map. This process was a lot easier having a guide! Even adding the text seemed very natural when I knew what the text was supposed to be doing in each slide. Each sentence has a purpose to illustrate an idea that was in my story map.

Bottom line: this process is important!

This being said, I do think the process can be adapted to each individual situation. For younger children or large scale projects with complex plots, the process Ohler describes is perfect. When we began to create the story board, I was frustrated by the idea of having to draw on paper the images I already had on my computer. I decided to slightly modify the assignment, combining media gathering and story boarding, by creating a story board within iMovie. I then took a screen shot and added my text. My media is now uploaded, in the right order, and ready to go!

 

In the end, while I may have bent the rules slightly, I developed enough respect for those rules to not break them.