Pop Culture: Making Movie Magic Happen (Sorta)

Pop Culture: Making Movie Magic Happen (Sorta.)

Making the Movie Magic Happen. (Sorta.)

Stage 1. After watching a couple of clips under Mr. Ryder’s tutelage, try your hand at storyboarding, directing and cinematography.

1. In groups of one, two or three, choose a film from the  AFI Top 100 - 10th Anniversary list that you have seen or at least sorta kinda “know.” (This list is due for an update in 2017.  I’m curious to see what happens  . . .)
2. Find a clip of a well-known scene from that film online.  They are out there.
3. Using either people or LEGO minifigs and either digital photography or sketching, recreate that scene shot-by-shot, angle-by-angle
4. As you are producing that recreation, think about the placement of the camera, the framing, the movement.  Do your best to create as honest a reproduction as possible.  The point?  To see if you can see filmmaking from a creator’s point of view and become more aware of how the filmmaker’s convince their audiences to see and think about the subject matter in a particular way.

Which takes us to Stage 2.

After recreating that scene to develop a sense of how it all “works” in a finished product, use your skills to tell the following story.

Choose and recreate the camera angles to the best of your abilities from the following sources:

http://www.empireonline.com/features/film-studies-101-camera-shots-styles/p1

Great tool because it shows you examples from actual films

http://www.lssc.edu/faculty/matthew_w_kennedy/Shared%20Documents/ENC%201101/Film%20Terms.pdf

Fantastic explanation of camera angles

http://www.thestoryboardartist.com/Site/Film.html

Several great examples of storyboarding at work

Stage 3. #ShowYourWork by Creating a Google Presentation, Prezi, or other slideshow to show how your team did.   

Due at the midpoint of next class for sharing and feedback. Place the link or slideshow in your IN folder. Be sure to include all group members.

SHOW YOUR WORK.

BLOG. Content Post #4.

Due. Next Class. May 12.2016

CREATING MOVIE MAGIC.

Due. Next Class. May 12.2016

Eng 9: To Solve a Mockingbird Day One

How might we invent solutions to the problems characters in To Kill a Mockingbird face using Little Bits and our maker cart materials?

DISCOVER.
Today we started by breaking into three groups and circulating around the room in a modified Chalk Talk.  Everyone had a marker and added to the chart paper asking what sorts of problems the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are facing.   We considered Tom Robinson, Atticus, Jem, Scout and Boo.

Then we chose design teams.  People can work by themselves, with a partner or with two partners for this design challenge.  

EMPATHY.

Once teams were chosen, we selected the characters for whom we want to invent problem solving solutions.

We used a new tool called the Innovator's Compass to help us wrangle with our challenge.  It was created by a rad designer and educator, Ela Ben-Ur, and you can hear her explain it in this video.

We used it on the makerboard to create an example for Scout, since no one in class chose to design for her.

Here's the results of that work.

After completing Innovator's Compass' for each of our characters in our design teams, we ran the design sprint 8 Box protocol.  That's where you try to come up with 8 ideas in just four minutes.

I didn't take many pictures at this point because I was trying to help folks out.  But here's some rough video I captured.

Tonight's homework follows and it should help you set up for some great experimenting and producing on Wednesday and Friday.  

SHOW YOUR THINKING.

8 Box.  Put 4 minutes on the clock.   

Come up with 8 ideas for invention possibilities that could solve your character's problem.  

Time yourself and take a video using your laptop camera or any other device.  Submit your video to me on Google Drive in your Eng 9 IN folder.

Take a picture of your 8 Box.  Submit that to your folder as well.

Due. Wednesday 5.11.16

Empathy Map.

Use the Empathy Map template to map out what your character is saying and doing and how that relates to what they are thinking and feeling.  We've done this all year going back to Of Mice & Men.  Same idea.  New character.  New challenge.

Submit your map to your IN Folder.

Due. Wednesday 5.11.16

Innovator's Compass.

Please take pics of your compass and put them in your IN folder.

Due. Wednesday 5.11.16

Pop Culture: Film Trailers & the Art of Making You Want More

Film Trailers

We'll start with this one.  Because I said so.

Resource 1.  9 Short Storytelling Tips.
Fantastic storytelling tips that can be applied well beyond film trailer designing.

Resource 2. The Golden Trailer Awards.
The Awards for Best Film Trailers.   (There are lots. Lots and lots.)

Resource 3.  Trailer Fatigue.
History and Current State of Affairs of Film Trailers.

You'll divide up into teams of 1, 2 or 3 to tackle this work today.  Pick your crew and get to work.

We'll start with the 9 Short Storytelling Tips.  In the space of 10 minutes, do the math for I will be cruising at breakneck keep-it-tight speed, I will give you both a sketchnote and a brief explanation of each tip.

Then!  In your teams, you will get to work looking for examples of those 9 short storytelling tips in either the Golden Trailer Awards nominees and winners OR Trailer Addict.com or a movie trailer source of  your liking.  Avoid the general YouTube search.  It can be cumbersome.  There's better curated sources out there.

Also, I'll be circulating, locking in your passion/interest/personal branded blog topic for the rest of the year.

SHOW YOUR WORK.

Blog.  Blog Post #3 for Your Branded Blog.

Post a Link to Your Post on the Blog Tracker.

Due. Monday. 5.9.16

Film Trailers.
Find examples of each of the first 9 storytelling tips as they appear in various movie trailers.  Collect your finds and explain your thinking on a Google doc.
Due.  Monday. 5.9.16

So Far This Quarter.

Poster Design.

Design a Poster for Advertising Your Blog or Your Video Game Design.

Due.  Friday. 5.6.16

Submit your poster in your Pop Culture IN folder on Google Drive.

Game Something that Matters.

Submit Your Slide Decks & Other Materials in the Pop Culture IN folder on Google Drive.

Due.  Monday. 5.2.16

Humanities: Learning to Love You More & Wicked Focus

Today we took a brief pause in Out of Nowhere to introduce Learning to Love You More, our ongoing design challenge for the month of May that will incorporate our work with Out of Nowhere and human rights, reinventing our blogging, and outsider art -- all ideas we intended to tackle anyway.

LEARNING TO LOVE YOU MORE.

Learning to Love You More started as an ambitious art project by Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher.  During the mid-2000s it took off as something of a social art movement in days before Instagram and Snapchat and when Tumblr and Twitter were just getting started.

Mr. Brackett and I still need to decide exactly which assignments we'll be using as part of the study of Out of Nowhere and which will be part of your personal portfolio, but you can expect to complete at least three a week.  For this first one, pick any of the 70 assignments and complete it for your blog post for Thursday.

Yes, some of these are incredibly easy and simple to "complete."  But remember, we've spent a tremendous amount of working on being intentional, making things that matter, challenging ourselves to make new iterations and revisions of our work.  If your goal is to take the easiest route, you will find this a fairly worthless endeavor -- it will feel like you wasted your time, it will make you ask what's the point, you will want to hide your work and share it with no one, you will likely be annoyed daily for the next month.

Or . . . you can do as Mr. Muise suggests we all do and refuse to be afraid to be awesome.  Be awesome.  Make something awesome.

VOCAB.

Roots 12.  Quiz next Thursday, May 5.  CRUSH it. Hard.

WICKED FOCUS a.k.a. FIDGET PROJECT

Today we made some huge strides in turning our fidget project into a classroom based business, a true example of social entrepreneurship and starting something that matters.

We have a lot of work to do between now and Friday, and especially between now and Friday, May 6, my imposed deadline to have the website up and ready for business.  We can do this.  Especially with a team like this:
Tyler: Marketing Director
Leahannah: Business Manager
Amelia: Human Resources Manager
Zach: Production Manager

Plus the rest of Wicked Focus which is currently the two Lilly's,  Dawson B. and Mo, but is open to anyone who would like to be involved.  These are your designs going to market.  I encourage you all to be part of this.

SHOW YOUR THINKING.

Blog.  Choose any LTLYM assignment.  Post it on  your blog.  Put a link to it on Google Classroom in the appropriate assignment.  There will be a new blog tracker soon.

Due.  Thursday.  April 28.

Vocab. Roots 12.

Quiz.  Thursday.  May 5.

Wicked Focus.

Logo.

Due. Thursday.  May 5.

Pricing.

Due. Thursday. May 5.

Production Workflow.

Due.  Thursday. May 5.

Google+ and Communication Plan.

Due. Friday.  April 29.

Story of Us.

Due. Friday. April 29.

We'll be meeting daily for the next two weeks to get us to launch.

Pop Culture: Game Something That Matters & Pitches

The last element in our Video Games That Matter design challenge is the pitch.

Next Monday, you will deliver a three-minute pitch of your game design, convincing your potential investors -- the rest of the class -- to invest in your idea.  

Today we watched a couple of clips from ABC's Shark Tank on Hulu.  The show features entrepreneurs seeking big money investors in their ideas.  You will be doing the same thing.  Here are few more pitches to watch and study.  Notice their approach and attitude, their preparation, the materials they bring, and how that affects the sharks' offers.  

You can also learn more about pitching from these resources.  (Some links may be broken.)

• The Pitch - Doing Whatever It Takes, Episode 101, Subway: The Pitch – AMC
• http://chrisoatley.com/pdf/RMPitchBible.pdf
• Writing Loglines that Sell
• Ready Camera One - The Pitch Bible
• The Pitch Bible: Just The Essentials | Animation World Network
• Sample Pitches | This American Life
• Pitch and Sell Your Reality TV Show Idea | Creating Ideas For TV
  This shows you information on creating a logline.  And it includes great examples.
• Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds with Michael Hauge - YouTube
• How to Pitch a TV Show - Tim Gibbons
  Tim Gibbons discussing the pitch and development of a show at HBO that never saw further development, but the process discussion is still fantastic

Prepare a 3-minute pitch for Monday and be certain you include the following visuals and information as part of your pitch.

HMW design a game that addresses a problem that matters, entertains people and requires higher order critical thinking?

You will be pitching your ideas to the rest of the class as though they were venture capital investors looking to fund a new video game studio.

You must include the following in the pitch:

Game Title.

Concept Behind the Game.

Storyline of the Game.

Visual Examples of Game Screens (At Least 3)

Evidence That It Is About Something That Matters.

Evidence That the Game Requires Higher Order Cognition.

Logo for the Game.

Take It to the Next Level by Potentially Creating Rough Game Play in an Actual Game Design

We didn't get an opportunity today to talk about the new look of blogging for Q4. I was deliberately holding off until we got closer to the end of the video game design challenge. Rather than answering blog prompts each night, you are doing to design your own branded blog around an interest, topic, or passion of yours and develop it into a regularly updated web presence with original content, intentional design, and features to attract a readership. It may choose to create a vlog or podcast as part of your design; you may choose to include a great deal of visuals. You may choose to link to other information with your own take.

It must feature your own voice, ideas or opinions in either writing or spoken word. It must be about something of interest to you. And it must be updated on the calendar to be announced.

In the meantime, your first blog post for Q4 is one of discovery. Brainstorm a list of possible topics for your blog and find two blogs that you could use for inspiration for you own -- whether it be for the content or for the design. Find them. Link to them. Take screen shots. Explain your thinking.

Due Thursday, April 28. (There will be time in class to do this work right at the beginning of class -- 8 to 8:20; the final hour will be for preparing your video game design.)

AP Lit: 3 Critical Creativity Pre-Test Blog Prompts

Week and a half to the test . . .

Use these prompts to get your brain tuned for what is coming next Wednesday.

Poetry the Watchmen.

Design a poem -- or collection of poetry --  that effectively uses 12 of these poetic devices/structures/formats to demonstrate your understanding of the themes evident in Moore & Gibbons' Watchmen.  Why 12?  Come now . . . do I really have to explain that part?

Due: Wednesday/Thursday, April 27/28

Pitch the Lit

Mash-up and remix the literature we have read this year into a 3 minute elevator pitch to a book publisher for the ultimate get-the-kids-ready-for-the-AP-Lit novel, poem or play.  Write out your pitch, then video or audio record your pitch and post on your blog.  Create a time stamp play-by-play ala Upworthy to signal when you are referencing which texts from the year.  You may draw from your indie books as well.

You might get inspired by Reduced Shakespeare Company

Due: Friday/Monday, April 29/May 2

Literary 3x3: All of It.

Create a Literary 3x3 that captures the year's texts in review.  9 words.  3 sentences.  Play with them.  See what happens when you remix your own.  We'll be using these in class on Monday and Tuesday as prep for the test so please bring them.

Due Monday/Tuesday May 2/3

Also, bring a literary 3x3 of Watchmen.  We'll be putting that to use as well.

AP Lit: Year in Review Blog Posts & Critical Creativity Experiences

Remember that each of these are intended to help you review the themes, characters, techniques, devices and experiences we have had with literary analysis this year.

Literature the Band

1.  List the various literature we have read collectively as a class.  Include all novels, poetry, short stories and drama.
2.  Brainstorm a list of bands and musical artists.
3.  Generate several #literarybands by mashing the the names of the bands/artists with the literature we have read i.e. Mrs Dallowaylon Jennings,  True Gritty Dirt Band, The Love Song of J Kendrick Lamar, Hamlety Azalea, etc.
4.  Choose one of your literary bands/artists.
5.  Find an album by that original artist.  Change the title of the album to suit the literature you've mashed up i.e. Mrs. Dallowaylon Jennings' Westminster Rebel.
6.  Then take a look at the track listing for that album.  Convert at least six song titles to suit your literature i.e. "Bond Street Blues," "London Burn," "I'm a Long Way from Evans," etc.
7.  Then choose one of the those song titles and transform the lyrics to suit your literature, effectively creating a song inspired by the literature.
8.  Finally, remix the cover art of that album to suit the literature as well.
9.  Take it to the next level by creating liner notes for your literary band.

Stage the Literature

1.  Choose four characters from any of the texts we've read this year.  It may be speakers of poetry, antagonists of prose,  supporting characters of prose, any characters at all.

2.  Cast those four characters in a one-act play.  Lay out the plot from beginning to end.  Consider a situation that would bring those four characters together.  How might they be connected?

3.  Write one scene of dialogue.  Capture the essence of those characters.

Avenging League of Uncanny Literature

Transform any four characters from any of the texts you've read this year, including your independent novels, into a team of heroes.   These characters may come from a variety of works.  Think about how their character traits might be amplified into super powers, if they might have alter egos, or if they might simply use their skills in the service of a bigger mission: to defeat the threat of their nemesis.

Who is this nemesis?  Select a character from the works you've read this year to cast as your super villain.  What is this villain's master plan?  What powers or skills does the villain possess? Are there any other members of the rogue's gallery or perhaps henchman?

Take it to the next level by writing a brief adventure, drafting a brief comic, or composing a short storyboard featuring heroics and villainy.