Thursday, March 30, 2017

Spotlight on: How to Take Effective Photographs

Rule of Thirds

You can use the rule of thirds as a guide in the off-center placement of your subjects. Here's how it works.

Before you snap the picture, imagine your picture area divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The intersections of these imaginary lines suggest four options for placing the center of interest for good composition. The option you select depends upon the subject and how you would like that subject to be presented.

In this image the head of the subject was placed on one of the intersecting points – especially his eyes which are a natural point of focus for a portrait. His tie and flower also take up a secondary point of interest.

In this shot the subject was placed along a whole line which means she is considerably off center and therefore creating an additional point of interest. Placing her right in the center of the frame could have resulted in an ‘awkward’ shot.

HORIZON LINES
In a similar way a good technique for landscape shots is to position horizons or building (objects) along one of the horizontal lines.

Dividing a composition in half by placing the horizon across the middle of the frame can create a powerful composition with the right subject and appropriate light. See below.

Horizons placed very low in the frame heighten the isolation of subjects at the horizon.

Isolating one person at the bottom (or top) edge of the frame can create an atmosphere of emptiness by contrasting it with the vastness of the sky, or to suggest ascension or flight.

You can also apply the rule of thirds guidelines to the placement of the horizon in your photos. Here the center position of the boat and horizon results in a static feeling. We've moved the horizon line to the lower third. In general, place the horizon high or low in your scenes, but rarely in the middle. Centered shots may suggest order or symmetrical balance. Taking a shot head on is also awkward. Avoid this kind of shot when making documentaries. The position of the subject shot off-center, suggests conflict.

For more examples and advice, check out this link!

When you snap a picture, remember to consider the rule of thirds!

Advertising/PSA Project

Your propaganda flier or flyer/poster project and your personal response essay/article on the media (Chomsky/Arendt's theories) is due today.

Use your time in the lab to complete these two projects. More details about these activities can be found in the post below.

What's up next?

The PSA/Commercial Project

PSAs (Public Service Announcements) were originally used by the War Advertising Council (...can you make connections here to propaganda?...) created in 1941, to encourage American to join the war effort in Europe. The War Council (and later Ad Council, after the war) began a large campaign to influence American society on many fronts. Perhaps inspired by propaganda films such as Reefer Madness (1936), the campaigns focus on education (social messages and needs of a country or political system).

A PSA is generally short (about :30 sec. or up to a minute or two) and instead of selling a PRODUCT, the writer is attempting to sell an IDEA. PSAs are a type of propaganda.

Check out these public service cartoons from the UK: Charley Says...

These short films were supplied to broadcasters free of charge to use whenever they wished. American broadcasters created several short PSA educational videos in the popular School House Rock videos. Here are a few...

"The usefulness of PSA as a cost-free means to fill the gaps in fixed-duration commercial breaks left by unsold advertising airtime led to their being used regularly and extensively in the 60s, 70s and much of the 80s," and are sometimes called: "fillers". PSA's are still being produced. Broadcasters are, however, turning to third-party filler material and paid advertising to deal with unused airtime.

Here are few more modern examples:

The ease of publishing material on the internet has created a plethora of PSA announcements. Messages are only limited by our creativity.

The PSA Project
Please complete the following steps (in order) to prepare for your project!

1. Please check out these links:

Go to Ad Council website to look over sample PSAs.
Here are some links to AWARD-WINNING PSAs and to a sample SOTA student model of a PSA.

Watch a few of these to get some ideas of your own.

2. When time is called, please get into groups of 2-4. I encourage you to work with new people. If you do NOT have a partner, please see me to be assigned a partnership. Please make sure your partner(s) have some ability using Moviemaker or Adobe Premiere. A group that doesn't have anyone who is tech savvy can be very frustrating! Avoid this now by working with skilled peers, as opposed to your best friend with whom you always work! Our goal is collaborative learning, not perfection. Don't sweat the grade. Work with someone new!

3. Together use the Persuasion Map Handout to design your message using a strong thesis and reasons with facts and examples to support your argument.

4. Then work on your PSA outline handouts (see packet & instructions). Work together on an idea and flesh it out on the graphic organizers. Make sure you communicate effectively. Don't just assume the loudest or most talkative student has the only answer.

I would suggest you separate tasks. Someone could conduct research (get the facts!), someone could write the script (what words appear in the PSA, or write a brief voice over (VO) script), someone could find photos or graphics to illustrate your topic's points, someone should keep track of the time, someone could manage the editing, someone could research sound files to use as background music for your PSA, someone should make sure all members of the group are being productive, etc.

Divide up the responsibilities fairly. Use your partner's strengths! Help each other where needed. Set tasks and meet goals.

5. When your group is ready, begin working to create your PSA.

NOTE: Instead of a PSA, you may opt to make a commercial. This is similar to a PSA, but instead of selling an IDEA, you will be selling a specific PRODUCT.

Commercial Samples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YXBPBNhMBk

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Commercial-Storyboard

How to Create an Effective TV Advertisement

By Gary Dahl from Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition

What you put in your business's TV advertisement depends on your resources, your target audience, how you want to present your business or product, and your own comfort level. Consider these advertising possibilities:

Appear in your own commercial. You’ve probably seen a store owner step in front of the camera and do his or her own commercial. If you're a natural, then by all means, go for it. No one else could possibly bring the enthusiasm and expertise that you can to this endeavor.
Promote with a professional. Although you do have to fork out some extra cash, a professional actor may be just what your business needs. Before you decide on an actor, be sure to ask yourself what type of person will advertise your business in a way that attracts your target audience.
Highlight your place of business. Hiring a remote crew to come to your place of business and shoot the spot puts your business front-and-center. Plus, shooting footage inside your store, showroom, studio, or office may be a lot easier than hauling a bunch of your products somewhere else.
Focus the camera on your product. Go ahead and cut to the chase — immediately show the products you want to sell. You may be best served by getting right down to business and featuring the items that are going to make you some money.

After you decide what type of commercial you want to make, it's time to start putting it together. An effective TV commercial uses the three basic structural elements: audio, video, and computer graphics. Divide your TV ad's structure into these three elements to make your job much easier.

Decide on a big idea or campaign theme to use in your advertisement.

If you don’t have a theme, you’ll just develop a series of unrelated ads — which won’t help build name recognition for your company or attract customers to your business. [For our project, you will want to identify your goal and/or product.]
Choose the audio that you want to use in the commercial.

The audio can be a voiceover or an on-camera actor. The audio track may also include any music or sound effects that you select.
Come up with video that complements the audio you plan to use.

The video can be anything from you doing an on-camera sales pitch, to product footage, to video you shoot in your store, to anything else you can think of.
Add computer graphics, if they fit your advertisement.

Use computer graphics (CG for short) to flash words and prices on the screen. You can also use computer-generated effects, like making entire scenes fly into the frame, spin, explode, appear out nowhere, or perform other interesting tricks. [Be careful not to over do these effects--you are not selling effects, you are selling an idea or product!]

Don’t get too carried away with elaborate visual elements; they can drive up the cost of your TV ads. You can create visuals that are effective but cheap with just takes a bit of creativity.

For example, instead of having a herd of wild horses gallop through a scene, you can use the sound effects of a herd of wild horses galloping by off-camera.

[This idea also goes with playwriting...!]

HOMEWORK: None. We will be working on this project during next week.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Propaganda Projects: Flyer/Personal Response Essay

TASK #3 (Propaganda Flier or Flyer/Poster): Alone or with your partner (you may work alone or with a partner), brainstorm an idea for your own graphic "flier" or "poster" advertising or using propaganda to appeal to a viewing audience. If these come out good, we'll hang them around the school.

How to do this:

identify a current, modern-day issue that you feel passionate about

What images come to your mind when you think of this issue? (jot these down as notes)

What words or phrases do you think of? Write these down too.

Can you connect a song, poem, person, celebrity, symbol, or popular culture item to the issue?

What colors, shapes, lines, graphic elements might be connected to this issue?

Decide what will be your poster/ad/flier's dominant and subdominant images?

Then: Create and design! Use one of our word or photography processor programs to create your flier. Fliers generally don't have much text. Use your brainstorming in a creative way to send a message to the world (or our school at least...)

Tips on How to Design an Awesome Flyer (article)
How to create a flyer in Microsoft Word (video tutorial)

TASK #4: Personal response essay. Using the material and sources we have examined during this unit as sources (and Hannah Arendt's & Noam Chomsky's philosophy--which you are free to agree or disagree with), Respond in a personal reflective essay. Attribute your sources within your essay. Write about your reaction and/or understanding of some of these topics. Pick a thesis and write your reaction. For example: you might comment/reflect on propaganda on a particular news channel, or apply Chomsky's theories to school propaganda, or you may examine how a favorite song or band supports Chomsky or Arendt's theories. Your creative essay will be due at the end of next week (Thursday, March 30).

HOMEWORK: If you did not complete the viewing from last class or this class, please do so. The marking period ends Friday. Please make sure you have completed all work for this marking period. Work on the essay reflection as well, since the draft will be due by end of class Thursday.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Noam Chomsky: Propaganda: Day 2

Period 7 & 8:

Noam Ch omsky: The 5 Filters of Mass Media (video)
Manufacturing Dissent (video/interview)

Propaganda & PSAs:

Watch a variety of the clips below today in class. Generate some ideas for a PSA and short propaganda film of your own. Note how the makers of these films/clips use pathos and logos to persuade us (perhaps by changing our feelings or making us think or feel.) Use what you've just learned about Noam Chomsky's filters of the Mass Media and what you've learned about the reasons we use propaganda from last class to assist you. As you watch, identify: Who's point of view is being presented? After viewing, select one of the pieces and comment on the video in the COMMENT section below for participation credit. How is what you viewed different from today (or is it?) Compare/contrast ideas.

Commercials:

Propaganda and PSA films:

1950's: How to Handle a Bully
1960's: Lunchroom Manners
The Trouble with Women
1970's Anti-Marijuana Propaganda
1970's Anti-gay Propaganda - Boys Beware
Sam: Short Film About Gender Identity and Bullying
Short film: Removed: short film about abuse
Short film: Dear Dad
Short film: Behind the Walls
Short film: Too Quick to Judge
Amanda Todd original video

Where does that leave us? After commenting, please complete task #3 from last class:

TASK #3: Alone or with your partner, brainstorm an idea for your own graphic "flier" or "poster" advertising or using propaganda to appeal to a viewing audience. If these come out good, we'll hang them around the school.

How to do this:

identify a current, modern-day issue that you feel passionate about

What images come to your mind when you think of this issue? (jot these down as notes)

What words or phrases do you think of? Write these down too.

Can you connect a song, poem, person, celebrity, symbol, or popular culture item to the issue?

What colors, shapes, lines, graphic elements might be connected to this issue?

Decide what will be your poster/ad/flier's dominant and subdominant images?

TASK #4: Personal response essay. Using the material and sources we have examined during this unit as sources (and Hannah Arendt's & Noam Chomsky's philosophy--which you are free to agree or disagree with), Respond in a personal reflective essay. Attribute your sources within your essay. Write about your reaction and/or understanding of some of these topics. Pick a thesis and write your reaction. Your creative essay will be due at the end of next week (Thursday, March 30).

HOMEWORK: If you did not complete the viewing from last class or this class, please do so over the weekend. Begin writing your response essay.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Photographic Series Project #1; Propoganda & Advertising

Please read the sociology article on Hannah Arendt.

In pairs discuss the key ideas in the article. Refer to the handout/conversation by Kellyanne Conway regarding "alternative facts" as support for Arendt's theories.

All advertising (commercials, product placement, billboards, etc.) is propaganda to a certain extent. Ads are meant for the viewer to BUY something. This can be a material object (a physical product or item) or an idea. The media is constantly bombarding us with products (physical or ideological) to sell us. Being aware of how you are "sold" a product is an important critical skill to have in our day and age.

Propaganda is the idea or statement (often false--perhaps 'alternative facts'--or exaggerated/hyperbole...) that are spread culturally in order to help a cause, a political leader or party, a government, or any established institution.

In the LAB: Please complete the following group/solo activities:

TASK #1: With your partner, please examine the posters below and discuss what you see. How is the artist/writer persuading you, what's the message, how is the subject treated or represented? Please note: some of these images are disturbing or promote politically incorrect material.Discuss with your partner your reaction and interpretation of the ad. Note the dominant and subdominant images/text.

TASK #2: Alone or sharing earphones with your partner, take a look at these cartoon and videos. After viewing, discuss: What is the idea or statement being spread? How might the message help a specific cause? What biases are inherent in the message?:

Post a comment in the COMMENT section below about what you think regarding propaganda from viewing these materials. What sorts of propaganda do you notice (or have you noticed) in our school or in your own lives? What is the message "we" want to sell you?

TASK #3: Now that you've completed tasks #1 & #2, it's your turn. Alone or with your partner, brainstorm an idea for your own graphic "flier" or "poster" advertising or using propaganda to appeal to a viewing audience. If these come out good, we'll hang them around the school.

How to do this:

identify a current, modern-day issue that you feel passionate about
What images come to your mind when you think of this issue? (jot these down as notes)
What words or phrases do you think of? Write these down too.
Can you connect a song, poem, person, celebrity, symbol, or popular culture item to the issue?
What colors, shapes, lines, graphic elements might be connected to this issue?
Decide what will be your poster/ad/flier's dominant and subdominant images?

Then: Create and design!

HOMEWORK: None.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Technology Article; Analyzing Ads

Please complete the following lab tasks today:

LAB TASK #1: Choose an app, computer game/program, technology, device, or machine that you use and in a creative non-fiction reflective essay, explain and examine the significance of the item to your life--what does it do for you? What does it keep you from doing? Make sure you write about the pro's and con's of the item. Remember: tone is up to you. If you'd like to take a more humorous tone (like Ellen DeGeneres does in her article) you may. You may also wish to check here for some ideas when you select a topic:

Technology (Buzz Feed)
PopMatters (search for a topic)
Cultural Studies & Science/Technology (web resources)

Use the remaining time in the lab to research and prepare (outline) the key points you want to make in the creative essay you will be writing.

When you are ready to begin writing, please do so. Remember that creative essays have a beginning, middle, and end. They should use a hook and have a main thesis--what do you want to prove/persuade us about/tell the world, etc.?

Furthermore, creative essays reflect on an idea/subject and utilize all the lovely literary devices you have come to know and use in short fiction, poetry, and script writing.

LAB TASK #2: Take a look at the photography series/ads (thank you, Mariangelis, for completing our homework!). Choose one of the ads and in the COMMENT section below, complete the following analysis questions:

A. What is the dominant image in the ad? What is the FOCAL point of the image?
B. What are the subdominant and subordinate (visual hierarchy) image?
C. What seems to be the main idea in the photo? What message might the photographer be sending us as viewers? Remember that many photographers will use the inverted pyramid to stress the most important points--the main point will usually be obvious in the photo...
D. Consider the REPRESENTATION of the images in the ad. What gender, nationality, age, religion, economic class, political stance, etc. is the ad promoting or using to create meaning in the photo?
E. What does the ad copy promise a buyer? What might be the problem with this promise?

HOMEWORK: If you did not complete both lab tasks today in class, please complete the task(s) for homework. Both assignments are due next class!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Technology: The Good and the Bad of It

Please hand in your homework (see previous posts for details)

Technological Determinism: the philosophy that technology drives the development of our social structure and cultural values. Technology is simply a necessary part of our culture, says technological determinism--no matter the technology. The person with the most "toys" wins...

Today those of us who were not debating last class, will present our piece of technology.

The Atom Bomb
The Telephone
Alcohol
The Gun
Cigarettes
The Internet
Television
The Microwave
Optical Lenses
Dynamite
The Light Bulb
Others ?

After our presentations, please take a look at the following videos:

The quantified self (TedX Talk)
The quantified self (short film, trailer)
"World of Tomorrow" (short film by Don Hertzfeldt)

In small groups, discuss key points the authors of the two videos seem to be making. Discuss your own reaction and response to the videos.

LAB TASK: Choose an app, computer game/program, technology, device, or machine that you use and in a creative non-fiction reflective essay, explain and examine the significance of the item to your life--what does it do for you? What does it keep you from doing? Make sure you write about the pro's and con's of the item. Remember: tone is up to you. If you'd like to take a more humorous tone (like Ellen DeGeneres does in her article) you may. You may also wish to check here for some ideas when you select a topic:

Technology (Buzz Feed)
PopMatters (search for a topic)
Cultural Studies & Science/Technology (web resources)

Use the remaining time in the lab to research and prepare (outline) the key points you want to make in the creative essay you will be writing.

When you are ready to begin writing, please do so. Remember that creative essays have a beginning, middle, and end. They should use a hook and have a main thesis--what do you want to prove/persuade us about/tell the world, etc.?

Furthermore, creative essays reflect on an idea/subject and utilize all the lovely literary devices you have come to know and use in short fiction, poetry, and script writing.

HOMEWORK: None. The end of the marking period is coming up fast. Please complete and turn in any missing work asap.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Technology Research & Debate

Lab: Period 7

Please prepare for our debate on technology and presentations of the good and bad of the technological advancement you selected. See previous posts for details and the order for our upcoming debate.

If you have completed your research (make sure you are ready to attribute your sources!) you may begin our next writing assignment:

TASK: Choose an app, computer game/program, technology, device, or machine that you use and in a creative non-fiction reflective essay, explain and examine the significance of the item to your life--what does it do for you? What does it keep you from doing? Make sure you write about the pro's and con's of the item. Remember: tone is up to you. If you'd like to take a more humorous tone (like Ellen DeGeneres does in her article) you may. You may also wish to check here for some ideas before you select a topic:

Technology (Buzz Feed)
PopMatters (search for a topic)
Cultural Studies & Science/Technology (web resources)

Period 8:

We will conduct our debate and begin/end our short presentations to the class today.

HOMEWORK: Task #1: Read the article on Censorship & Art. Answer the 4 circled ?'s in the packet. Due next class.

Task #2: Find an ad in a magazine or print one out from the internet. Please bring it back with you to our next class to discuss.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Podcasts & Technology Debate

Today, let's listen to our podcast projects.

Debate Question: Is current technology (or technologies) a positive or negative influence on us as a culture?

Then we will debate. Our debate will follow this order...

The first speaker on the affirmative side (pro) presents opening argument (2 minutes)
The first speaker on the negative team (con) presents arguments (2 minutes)
The second speaker on the affirmative team (pro) presents further arguments or clarifications; rebuttal of negative side.
Break. 2-minute prep.
The second speaker on the opposing team (con) identifies areas of conflict, answers questions raised by the affirmative team, rebuttal of affirmative side.
The third speaker on the affirmative team (pro) identifies areas of conflict, answers questions raised by the negative team.
Break. 2-minute prep.
Cross examination: negative team (both) cross examines affirmative side. (2 minutes)
Cross examination: affirmative side (all) cross examines negative side. (2 minutes)
Break. 1 minute prep.
Final statement: affirmative. (1 minute or less)
Final statement: negative. (1 minute or less)

Class members who watched the debate will decide which case had the stronger argument. Winning team will receive an A+, losing team will receive an A.

With time remaining in class, we will begin to hear about various technology and advancements in technology from those who did not debate. Presenters should explain what the technology is and balance both the negative and positive results of this technology might be in our world, history, culture, progress, etc.

HOMEWORK: None.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Technology & the Media

Period 7: Please complete and turn in your Podcast projects!

If you haven't read the article on technology and answered the homework ?'s, please attend to that. Turn in your homework assignment for participation credit (this is officially due Monday, March 6). If you're done, though, please turn in your work.

ACTIVITY: Volunteers (teams of 4) will choose either to be PRO technology, or ANTI technology. These two groups will be asked to discuss/debate the topic while the rest of us view the debate in a classroom fishbowl next class (Monday).

But first, let's do some research. If you are speaking/debating the topic focus on your position. Take notes (use index cards, if you'd like) to get some idea as to what to argue on the topic. If you are not one of the debaters, please select one of the bulleted topics, research the topic, and prepare to share with us a 1 minute evaluation/presentation on the item. See below for details.

Anti Technology: build a case against rampant consumption of technology--is all technology necessary? What are the negative effects of some technology? Look this up and be prepared to declare: why can't we live a simple life in our cabin in the woods like Thoreau?

Pro Technology: build a case for the consumption of technology--how does technology help us improve our lives? Look this up and be prepared to declare: we can't live without technology!

Others: (choose 1 item from this list and research. Each of you will present a quick 1-2 minute presentation on the item and ultimately decide if the innovation/invention was good or bad for humanity)

The Wheel
The Printing Press
The Internet
Semiconductor electronics
The Atom Bomb (Nuclear Fission)
Cement
Air conditioning
Fracking
Dynamite
The Steam Engine
Refrigeration
Optical lenses
The Telegraph
The Radio
The Microwave
The Telephone
The Television
The gun
The Airplane
The mechanized clock
Paper money
The assembly line
Cigarettes
Styrofoam
Alcohol
The Cotton Gin

Period 8:

Media technology is often seen as the "wave of the future". The message is clear: if you don't want to be left behind in the last century, you've got to join the system. Here's an example:

The history of technology in education
Teaching Technology in Schools (TedX Talk)

Media technology includes desktop publishing, print-on-demand, the internet, video-games, cable, satellite, and global television, digital and interactive television, CD's, DVD's, Blue Ray, etc. Every year new products appear on the technological horizon--each one promises to be better than the last. But who remembers the 8-track, or the laser disc, or the Atari 2600? The central question might be: do we need all this stuff? The media's answer: yes.

The Story of Stuff (2007) video documentary

Technological Determinism: The assumption that technological progress is inevitable and that it is necessary for social change.

HOMEWORK: None. Make sure you are prepared to discuss/debate your topic Monday during class. We will also screen our podcasts at that time. If you are missing work, please try to catch up!

Media Studies

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