December 5 -- Spend today writing your script

You need a plan. We will be taping Friday and next Monday, but you need to prepare both your lyrics AND your shot sheet. What will the video look like? See last post for the three subjects you can use. Believe me, it helps your creativity to have restrictions.

You will be composing now. THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE TO PERFORM THE RAP IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT DOING IT. There are others who like to perform, but be mindful that they want to do something worth doing. So help them out with some good material.

I know this can be scary, but take some creative chances at your age. I wish someone had told me that when I was in my teens.

I downloaded your Hindenburg files and will be listening to them today.

Go for it.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

Dec. 3 -- TAKE A CREATIVE LEAP (Continue with your audio work)

If you have finished your 2 min. piece in Hindenburg and loaded it in the file on the server, it is time now to look at the Rap Instrumentals and pick one.

Remember the end product is a music video pitch. We will select the best five per class and make them. You need to think through the whole project from lyrics to how you would set up the shoot (think funny music video).

You are limited to these three subjects.

1.) Happy holidays

2.) Save the environment (some way you can fix the problem)

3.) Don't be mediocre

This music project will be worth 60 pts. all together (summative)

You will need a sheet with your lyrics.

You will need to record your lyrics with the song you pick. You will need a storyboard with pictures of your scenes (this can be stick figures but must show the shot angle and the location in the building)

Storyboard 15 pts.

Lyrics (judged on cleverness and clarity) 15 pts.

Music/rap Audio Mix 30 pts.

You must perform this rap for the mix. You can talk it if you cannot sing.

If your project is picked for final production, you will get to make the decision about who performs it.

Objective is to get your feet wet being creative and taking a chance. The subjects are restricted so that you will have parameters and can start concentrating on what to do instead of wasting time trying to figure out what to do. Sometimes barriers are a creatives best friend.

Go Cavs during this Spirit Week!!

DUE: NEXT WEEK BLOCK DAY

Nov. 30 - Turning in your Audio Project

You need to find the Buffalo file on the Applications folder.

Open it.
On left hand side under SHARED you will see two different JK815-Video icons. Use the one that has JFK Teacher Share (not the one with the Student Handin, etc.). This is the small server that hooks up to the control room and has all of our work on it.

Drag your project to the period you have Ms. Greer or Mr. Madaio. Example: greerj_Audio 1 Project

Nov. 27 -

Kathy Romero gets ready to record BASE jumpers at Bridge Day in West Virginia 2012.

Click here for Story Corps site on how to interview, questions to ask, listen to examples, etc..

Be sure to listen to examples on this site as well.
You will be interviewing a yourself and editing this in Hindenburg during block period.

I am looking for funny holiday stories, funny sports stories, touching and poignant stories, hassles of high school life stories, etc. Be thinking of what your final audio package will sound like as you craft your questions and your story angle.

This will be heard by others, so don't do anything too personal or something you would be worried about others hearing. It will be at least 2 minutes long.

Write this on a piece of paper (printer out of toner).
Name:
20 questions I would ask myself if I were the interviewer.
Turn in to me.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

November 26 - Soak it in today by viewing inspiring work

Above picture is rust from my father's old lumberyard. Always look for small details. The Japanese love rust and they call this love of deteriorating things wabi sabi. As artists, you should constantly pay attention to detail.

So, let's look at detail in animation today. WRITE UP WHAT YOU NOTICE AS YOU WATCH EACH OF THESE VIDEOS. TURN IN.

Click here for Jenny Slate's amazing (nearly 20 million views)YouTube video. It is still funny if you have seen it multiple times before. What do you think the secret is to this video?

Click here for an animation that utilizes something we have seen multiple times.

Here is a different kind of animation with heavy use of photos. Thanks, Mr. Madaio, this is a very cool link.

Click here for a stop-motion embedded in another video.

Click here for a creepier animation.

How did they do this? Click here.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

Below are photos of one of our felted creatures for stop-motion. Think about how your would voice this guy.

Nov. 21 - OMG! They are BACK!

Martin has done it again. A little lip dub before the break . . . Click here.

Nov. 20 - News Assignment

This is Lonnie who is grateful that he can still BASE jump after suffering an accident that confines him to a wheelchair. Sydney Harper, JFK 12th grader, interviewed him after he jumped off the New River Gorge Bridge at Bridge Day 2012.

So studies show something very interesting about being grateful. Here is a link to a news article that outlines these findings. READ THIS QUICKLY so you know the gist of the study.

With two other people in this class, go over the study quickly and outline how you build a Thanksgiving story for the morning show. Would you include an explanation of the benefits of gratitude and then ask people to list five things they are thankful for? It seems obvious. But how can you do this in a clever way? Is being straight forward the best way? If you had time and in an ideal world, you could animate and use regular audio like the Thanksgiving eel story from yesterday's NY Times.

Be grateful that you don't live in the Gaza Strip right now and you are dodging rockets or that you lost your house in Sandy. That is a place to start on your own list.

Assignment:

List five things you are grateful for and why. Turn them in for credit.

How would you say them in an interview show? Interview your other group members with their choice and then give them yours. Do this on the Olympus LS 10. It will be going around the room. Be ready when it comes to your group. This may air tomorrow so remember this is a public acknowledgment.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Ms. Greer and Mr. Madaio
Silver Spring, Md,

November 19 - Look at today

Here are some clips to look at that use various techniques. Talk. Interview. Animation with real audio.

Here is a link.

Here is a link.

Here is a link.

Here is a clip

Here is a clip.

Here is a clip.

So, start thinking about your own videos. What will your story be and how will you execute it? Animation? Straight news interview with B-roll? Come up with your two good ideas today and turn them in to Ms. Greer.

Nov. 13 -- Today is Final Cut grading AND . . .

Write up ten current affairs items and why they are important to our country. For example: 1. General Petraeus is in the middle of a sex scandal and that has implications for our fighting men and women because their leadership has been compromised and let them down.

Who
What
When
Where
Why
How

Answer all these questions.

Do ten.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md

Nov. 12 - Final Cut Chicago Marathon Rubric

You will be graded on the following:

Sets up establishing shot, with interesting commentary in VO
Effective choices of sequence for combinations of interviews and B-Roll
Effective combination of audio and video
Evidence of some sort of coherent direction to the the narrative (story)
Audio is clear, cuts are smooth, and you effectively use fade ins and fade outs.
No shaky shots, firehosing, or camerawoman's voice.

30 points Formative Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md

Nov. 12 --Check these out and critique (due Friday)

Western High School is trying a news magazine. Check out their pilot here

My understanding is that they have another show from this past week. Dig that up if you have time. I want you to critique the things that work and the things that don't. Show thought and analysis. If something is funny, say why you think it is. Anything that needs tweaking? If so, why?

How could a news magazine work here?

If you were building a weekly show, what would you add to the mix both content-wise and talent (your on-air personalities)?

Type this up in Word (and save) and hand in to me before beginning of class on Friday.

Graded as Homework and worth 15 points Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md

November 12 - Rough Calendar for second quarter

Here is your work calendar for second quarter.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

October 31 -- Finish up the Quarter

We can look back and think about how far we have come. The computers did not work the way we needed them to for many weeks. Things are much better now and you are all learning Final Cut and starting to think like video producers.

1. Get all of your blog assignments in by Thursday end of day. They have been sitting there for weeks asking for your attention if you did not do them. Next quarter we will have more stringent deadlines and late work will not be accepted so readily. Now that we have the equipment to do better, we will do better.

2. Final Cut project (I will look at Friday with you).

3. Look on Edline and see what you are missing. I am still entering in grades. You need to look at the blog and if you do not recognize the assignment, then chances are you did not do it. Do it.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

October 22 -- To do list

I will be back tomorrow and will be checking your videos. Do not waste time.

See my post from Thursday (October 18) to see what is in store tomorrow.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

October 18 -- While I am away

If you are missing work, do it.

When I return on Tuesday, you will have finished a video project of some kind. Some of you have practice video of the Chicago marathon or of the ropes course or of the open mic night. You need to be practicing Final Cut X on some kind of video. Those of you who cannot get in because of memory problems, I would like you to try and upload video to Iphoto. If you still get this memory allocation message, please let me know. That must be fixed.

Your mission is to have a video for me to look at on Tuesday that YOU or your group shot. I gave you the practice video so that you could explore the software and learn it. I will be asking questions like" how do you add music or how do you make a clip play faster or how do you mute . . . etc. Be familiar with the buttons and levers.

ALSO, look at the blog for any missing assignments. I am not sure how well our internet is going to work in West Virginia, but everything that is assigned in the blog WILL be in the gradebook. Get it together. You have until Wednesday to get it all done.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

October 16 - What is photojournalism?

Click here on this video for answers.

Also, click here on this video for answers.

Answer the questions on paper and hand in. 10 pts.

What are elements of photojournalism?
What do you think are the most important take-aways from these two videos?
How does this make you want to improve your own videos in this class?

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

October 15 -- Assignment

Look at the newspaper online. The Nats lost. The Redskins won. We lost to Poolesville's varsity football team and the game was more competitive than the score reflected. ( Reggie shot video.)Around Kennedy we had an amazing open mic on Friday in the Band Room. They say we will do it monthly. Really fun, it was. Try to stay on top of national news and local news and news of our school. It will make you a better television director/producer. You will be able to talk knowledgeably about many subjects. So there it is, folks, enough justification for reading newspapers, etc.

You will be shooting and editing the next few days. Take this time to look at Final Cut X tutorials online. Working with your own video and sound will help you learn this program. Do not edit in IMovie.

I will be talking to you about your grades thru Wednesday.

Ms. Greer

October 12 -- Great audio

Sixteen-year-old Claressa Shields has a dream, to be at the 2012 Olympic finals and hear the announcer call out, "The first woman Olympian boxer at 165 pounds - Claressa Shields!"

But first, Shields, a high school student and middleweight boxer from Flint, Michigan, has to qualify for the team. At the Olympic trials, Shields boxes against women who are almost a decade older and much more experienced. But Shields has beaten the odds before.

CLick here to listen.

Your objective is to listen to the richness of this audio (it won the award for best at the conference Mr. Madaio and I attended in Chicago last weekend). We want to be that good with both our videos and our audio pieces.

Write up your impressions (likes and dislikes) for 5 points. Turn in. Then let's get organized on your videotaping for packages.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md

October 10 &11 Warm-up -- Read and answer questions

Here is a story to make you appreciate your education. 6 pts.

Who is the Taliban? 1 pt
What do they believe? 1 pt
Where did this happen? 1 pt
Why did they shoot this girl? 1 pt
Describe a commercial you would direct that would counteract appeal to moderate people in the area to stand up to this type of violence. Think about how to appeal to the masses. Would you appeal with the notion that educated girls make for a stronger country? What do you think would work against a foe like the Taliban? This, in essence, is the biggest challenge in the counter-terrorism community. How do you appeal to people who might sympathesize with the Taliban or be too afraid to stand up to them. Put on your "I am a Leader" hat and think about what you would do for your PR campaign here. 2 pt

Today you plan a shoot with a group that you select (no more than three people). Write your ideas and your group mates. Remember, you are competing with other classes, so make yours really good and make sure that it isn't already being done. It will finished and due next Tuesday. Today plan you shooting. If you want to practice editing, I can load in some cross-country footage for you. Do not troll the internet all morning. I am watching.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

October 9 -- Morning Listen

Listen to the first section of this podcast from Radio Lab, the coolest show on radio. Particuarly listen to how they use sound to illustrate their points. Click here for Musical Language

This serious listening will make you a better producer. Don't kid yourself . . . listening, really listening, is hard work.

What common sounds do you think you could turn into music? Write up your answer. (5 easy points)

Think of things around JFK that might be rolled into a musical mix. We will be taping some of these sounds and experimenting with new mixes.

Ms. Greer
Silver Spring, Md.

October 8 -- Daily Work