Final Reflection for Documentary Methods Ning

Along with Peter I., John B, Josh A. and Chris B., I created a Ning (username: johnnystudent5472@gmail.com, password: rbeach) for our imaginary class on radio documentaries and podcasting. We wanted to create a space where students could refer to during their work for our class, and as we were working on podcasting, a Ning lent itself perfectly to the cause. Originally, a WordPress or Blogger account was considered, but despite their potential benefits, a Ning presented the same options as a blog with the inclusiveness of an actual forum/community.

The Ning we've created serves as a companion to the class. The idea behind was to fill out any possible learning gaps from the class. As such, each assignment has its own discussion page for students to share and brainstorm as well as a sample for them to work from. The assignments scaffold them toward creating their own radio documentary and/or podcast, of which we have five full examples ready for them to listen to and use as inspiration to create their own.There is also an option for each group to create a group profile on the Ning for their peers to look at for updates and information. Essentially, our efforts were for the Ning to become a collaborate learning community where groups are updated on everyone's work and they have plenty of models to carry out their assignment.

As teachers, we would exist as moderators and sources of encouragement. Rather than take a direct role in the Ning, we set it up to exist as a place for students to interact, not for us to regulate and direct. With the goal of working towards our Podcast Faire, every student is reminded of the end-result of the project while being provided touchstones along the way.

Although I will probably not use this Ning in my classes, I see a lot of application for it in the future. I love the idea of a self-contained community where students can join in and simultaneously show off their tech savvy ways and further their learning. There's more and more to keep kids online from Facebook to Youtube, so to take advantage of that screen time with a Ning seems an obvious choice. I'm not sure which classes I would use the Ning for, but I do know that it will inform my teaching decisions, knowing that such a resource exists.

Comics and Movies, oh My!

Well, in reading the assignment for today, I was immediately (and predictably) drawn to the graphic novel aspect of the day. There are plenty of “comic movies,” and a large number of them – in addition to adapting the plot – take directly from the comic art to create scenes. One movie in particular is 300. Obviously there was an added advantage, as Frank Miller was both the writer of the comic and heavily involved in the film. Other films that borrowed heavily include both Christopher Nolan Batman films (from Miller’s Batman: Year One and Alan Moore’s Killing Joke) and two works from Alan Moore: V for Vendetta and Watchmen. Interestingly, Moore refused to be involved in any way with the movies, going so far as to allocate his royalties to the artists. It’s only fitting that the Wachowski brothers and Zach Snyder respectively created slavish recreations of the comic panels.

Music and Me

I started and stopped this post many times, because I wasn't quite sure how to approach it. OVer the course of my life, music has always played a fairly large role. I played it on a daily basis from 5th grade on, I turned to it to help form an identity in junior high, to it to express an emotion I could not in high school, and used it as a soundtrack to my college career. I kept approaching how to talk about what it meant to me and what I enjoyed listening to, but nothing felt exactly right.

In the end, I decided to re-post something I wrote early in college for a writing class. It's fairly over the top and wrought with hyperbole, but it encapsulates perfectly what I felt about music at the time, and what I still do some days. As you read, listen to the music I'm writing about. That's what it's there for.

Documentary: I Bleed Black

The documentary I decided to talk about today is called I Bleed Black, a film that follows the University of California-Santa Barbara Ultimate team in their quest to win a national championship. UCSB is the most successful college Ultimate team in history, performing a three-peat in 1988, '89 and '90 and again in '96, '97, and '98 with multiple finals appearances. This documentary follows them in 2000-2001 from tryouts to the end of the season.



In following the team, the filmmakers manage to capture a significant amount of emotion by focusing on the small core of veterans that make the team's big decisions. Although it's always hard to discuss how "truthful" the emotions and behavior of documentary actually are, the team is fairly invested their team. They never address the cameras, and although the speeches in the huddle are sometimes a little overly epic it all feels natural.

The team is full of characters, and there are easy sub-plots to follow during the team's efforts. There's a nice balance of off- and on-field coverage, with the on-field coverage especially doing a nice job of highlighting the sport's strengths. As Ultimate is still a relatively unknown sport, the director accented it well, selling it as something worth fighting for and adding legitimacy to his work in the process.

I would recommend this to anyone to watch, partly because I want to introduce the sport to everyone but also because it holds its own as a story worth watching. Well-known sport or not, the struggle and triumph is real and it carries the film.

Assigment Parody

So, I was originally going to use the iMovie from a previous post, but instead decided to make another one. I actually enjoy making these, and so it was a nice sort of break from the grind of everything else. Both videos are parodies (or more accurately, reenactments) of the NBA's "Where Amazing Happens" ad campaign. An example is below, followed by my video. After your viewing pleasure, the analysis rolls on.





The original ad was, in this writer's opinion, fantastically done. In the grand tradition of ornate music juxtaposed with action, notable elements of the National Basketball Association are shown in slow-panning shots, detailed shots, highlighted by textual plays on the tagline "Where Amazing Happens." For example, a shot of Lebron James is accompanied by "Where Tomorrow Happens" - both a nod to the public's perception of James as the next "great players" and a subtle alignment of James and the NBA's future.

The style of the ad allows it to highlight both the majesty of the game and the stunning physical and emotional hurdles overtaken by NBA players. Alluding to upsets and feats of physical only bolster the NBA's appeal, both of its players and its overall product. Likewise, I used photographs (courtesy Lisa Steffes) from an indoor tournament Concordia's Savage played in. I also highlight certain ideas within each photograph, although in this case they are somewhat tongue-in-cheek. My goal was to exude the same element of the mysterious that the original ad did, but to play within the conventions of the source and adapt to my own ends. I think it worked.

Abstract for a Comic Superhero Movie and Teaching Activity

In a world where there's no black and white, one man must make decisions that affect life itself. You've read the bestselling DC comic... Joseph Gordon Levitt is BEAST BOY! Crippled with terminal illness, Garfield Logan's parents use an untested vaccine as a last resort. The boy was healed, with a twist! Garfield Logan has the power to change into any animal he can think of. Joseph Gordon Levitt is... BEAST BOY! When his temptress love RAVEN is thrown into a coma by the demon Trigon, Logan must fight back - not just for RAVEN, but for the entire cosmos!

ALSO:

One way to introduce students to the idea of genres within film and television would be to play a four-corner activity. We would have the students stand in the center of the room. Then we would say the name of a popular TV show, i.e. “If you like Grey’s Anatomy’s stand in corner 1” “if you like The Simpsons, go stand in corner 2” ,“if you like family guy…corner 2,” “House…corner 1” etc. Once everyone had a corner to stand in, we would have them discuss:
-why they like the show(s) they picked
-what the shows have in common
-similar character(s)
-plot line
-setting
and then come up with a name for that genre (may or may not be the “name” it has been given by mass culture). We could repeat this activity for multiple genres.

Somewhat Rough iMovie

Not too much to say. I went for the NBA ripoff, and I think it went fairly well. I will say that iMovie leaves much to be desired, particularly with some of its effects. I imagine this is because it's the default Mac app, and they would prefer that people purchase a specialized program. Perhaps a drawback of iMovie, but I did eventually succeed in creating something close to what I wanted. Enjoy?