NDCE video and commentary

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDkBmkafqVM

While contemplating on the development of a short, yet compelling video I used Michael Ragiber's probing questions to decide and focus on a topic before shooting my short documentary. the most compelling moments in my life come from being a mother of boys. While focusing on my children, Ragiber probed me to find out what is unusual and interesting that can be visually special. One of our special times as a family int he winter centers on playing outside int he snow and sledding. This is a nostalgic activity for me that I remember doing with my brothers. I decided that I can show the family memories being made, the laughs being shared and the fun of hitting the hill. Now the trick was to display this family tradition in a way that others will see as compelling.

Shooting the videos of my boys sledding on our hill I kept a comment in my mind that Paul Barnes reveled. "In situations where there is only one camera shooting, I cut the scenes as if there were multiple takes...so I've got a master shot, cut to a two-shot, cut to a close-up." In keeping this thought I wanted to set myself up with different types of shots: close ups, and action shots from different angles. This idea of capturing the same moment from different viewpoints also led me to use the zoom feature to create focus and emphasis. This also helped me to combat some lighting issues I faced with the reflections off of the snow.

While editing the film, I wanted to share with others the hang ups of sledding and trying to get the first few passes down a hill, where the kids don't even make it all of the way down. Each time the kids would laugh as they tried to scoot their way down the hill. When it came to sharing the 'nature of comedy' I only kept a few of the stuck clips because like Sheldon Kahn says to Gabriella Oldham in First Cut "...you've got to be careful you're not telling the same joke four or five times. It becomes tiresome for the audience..." With this editor's perspective I limited the number of shots where the kids were stuck so viewers would not grow tired of the same joke.

To increase the energy portrayed in the film, clips were made to be short and edgy with the transformations. The music that was added was fast and electrifying. Hirsch also talked about creating tension and excitement with short cuts. I was not exactly after the tension felt in horror movies, but I wanted to portray a feeling of anticipation for more action to come. Our adventure in the snow may not be a thrill seekers paradise, but I still remember sledding the 'biggest' hill when I was a child and the adrenalin that I would get with each trip.

Paul Hirsch compares editing clips with music to choreography. He says, "When you're cutting a sequence to music, you're choreographing all the movements within the frame. It can be a physical movement by an object or a person, or it can be a camera movement." This aspect of the editing I found most difficult--lining up the sounds with the videos. One of my favorite 'line ups' was when the younger boy fell in the sled and a pounding sound was inserted to emphasize this motion. Transformations were added, like earthquake and shatters to add movement that acts like the camera was shaking during movement scenes.

My hope was to create a short video that contains the excitement of a child heading out of control down a hill. To share the cold wind in the face and the fun times that brothers can have together to remember even when they become fathers.

NDCE video

Well, there is always something to be said about how technology can take control out of your hands and leave you at the mercy of others . As FB has been processing my video for over 2 hours I am losing hope that it will successfully upload. I am taking my chances by trying it here in my blog.

Super Bowl Sunday commercials

The art of creating commercial experiences has to be a bazillion dollar industry. But with all that money some of their commercials still flop, while others will be talked about for weeks. The goal of the executives is to get their commercial money to spread by word of mouth (or these days the Internet---can we say "Twitter"?) to drastically multiply their business' awareness. Some companies like to draw you in through weirdness (Bette White playing football) others use comedy (Dave, Jay and Oprah) and others use emotion (Tim Tebow).

As teachers we can use these tactics to draw our students into our daily lessons to 'buy' what we are trying to give them--knowledge and experiences to benefit them in life. I do use these tactics in class. I have my favorite science jokes and comic strips. I like to dress up in my Einstein wig. I also share with my students that I don't tolerate name calling like 'retard' because my brother is severely handicapped. The aspect that I leave out is the visual aspect of the commercials and photographs.

Since the students of this generation are so accustomed to visual stimulation I may have been overlooking a key component to unlock student growth.

My attempt at compelling photography

This succulent was given to me by a parent this summer. I find the structure and nature of the plant to be compelling. While taking photos of this plant in my classroom i took the opportunity to try different settings on my basic digital camera like flash/no flash, settings like macro and mode. These different settings allowed different aspects to be highlighted and shadowed throughout the shades of green, the pot, and potting soil. I removed all distractions from the background, but I feel that this made the plant seem less personable and boring. I almost feel that I distracted form this plants natural beauty by removing it from its' original surroundings. Upon selection of this photo I worked to crop the photo to keep the pot in the lower right hand third. This allowed for the strong curve of the growth to be a secondary focal point on the left third. As far as playing with contrast, I increased the low-lights to emphasize the horizontal stripes of the clay pot and to increase the contrast among the silvery leaves.

The less compelling photo I find to be almost out of context and hard to know what the focus was supposed to be. While taking this photo I wanted to display the new silvery growth off of the older greener growth. I admired the curve of the lone branch, but the angle is not quite in a good perspective. The closest portion of the branch is also out of focus and missing the details of the leaves. Despite adjusting the contrast the leaves did not pop against the background, but the slightest scratches in the background table kept drawing my attention.

Imaginative bridges

With recent health events my perspective on teaching has been altered to focus on life. As I have been looking at life altering diagnoses I have been mentally frozen, mostly out of fear and disbelief. As it has taken over two weeks to unthaw my brain I have been trying to ponder possible 'imaginative bridges' in my teaching. This weekend has brought me to focus on the life of science teaching, and not just biology.

As many of my students' families operate farms I have begun to see connections of their actions on the farms to my own teaching. Before I introduce new material I cultivate them to prepare them to add new knowledge to their field. As the fields are growing the students' need nurturing, food, water, and additional minerals with fertilizers. I use readings, vocabulary activities, investigations, and research in hopes of adding growth to my students. During this growth period weeds and harmful pests must also be dealt with in the fields. In my classroom I can't use pesticides and herbicides, but again knowledge must be used to fight misconceptions and pruning through behavior modification can help control inappropriate behaviors. At the end of the season the crop must meet guidelines in order to be sold. In the end of a class the students must pass an examination to determine their quality of knowledge gained. All of this in hopes of producing students who will go out in this world and prosper and hopefully repeat this process with others in their own lives.

As mentioned in course readings we need to strive to think 'outside of the box.' This is scary for me. Sometimes my box leaves me out in left field and others' don't see my connections. I can read and interpret something so totally different than other people. By putting my imaginative bridge connections on 'paper' I feel vulnerable, but I feel life is vulnerable.

As I have been searching this last week for a compelling image to share with my group I was drawn to a plant that was given to me. It is a type of succulent with thick spikes for leaves. When the leaves fall off they begin to grow their own hot pink roots in search of water to survive. When asked to think about what is compelling is that I want my students to be like this plant--to thirst, and be willing to seek out new sources of knowledge to increase their survival.