Posts filed under ‘Learning’
Student Filmmaking Starts with Free Tools
Today’s post is for beginners and it’s about scripting and storyboards. It will also provide links to a free scripting tool and free lesson plans. Want more than the basics? No worries. There will be plenty in the coming weeks for intermediate and advanced filmmaking! Even interviews with our professional judges! So come often and participate in the conversation.
I’ve got a nifty tool you can use to get started right away with a very fundamental part of filmmaking: the concept idea and scripting. Getting the idea/creative vision/inspiration for your film, video or one-shot wonder down on paper first is a good thing and this is much easier to do if you use a process called storyboarding. You have flexibility with a variety of ways you can get your ideas captured so do what works best for you. It’s more important to have a tight, all-inclusive and coherent roadmap for the process of completing your film that keeps you on track rather than worrying about which process to use.
For example, I frequently use Post-It Notes for my general outlining process so I can move them around on the wall easier as I hone my idea. I’ve used dry-erase boards, recycled paper, napkins, cardboard, anything I can draw on and tape to the wall — I’m kinda “old school” — that way, I can sketch little rough visual pictures of things like captions, props needed, camera angels, look and feel references, stuff like that. It almost looks like a crude comic strip. It’s not meant to be perfect at this initial stage — just capturing thoughts and ideas down.
I also jot down any little odd thing through this part of the concept brainstorming process. Items that may seem irrelevant or too detailed in the early stages still get their little notations and then go into a grouping we call the “parking lot” for later. You can do that too. This Post-It Note process also allows for my team members to add their thoughts and ideas as well. I prefer to collaborate with a team of diverse skill sets and thinking to get the best ideas flowing.
Then I grab my computer and take all of the little Post-It Notes info and dump them into a more polished electronic scripting formatting tool similar to Kids’ Vid Storyboarding Tool — it’s free and easy to use. It’s a fantastic way for beginners to jump right in. I know plenty of creative people who storyboard right on their computer. It doesn’t matter what you prefer so I’ll repeat this again — don’t let the process stop your creativity. Go with the flow that fits your comfort zone and then loop back around and put it into a process to keep you focused, on track, on time and on budget! Storyboarding tools are a great way to help with this process.
Additionally, on Kids’ Vid, you’ll see a variety of good fundamental information important to getting you started with a solid foundation if you’re a fledgling young filmmaker. For educators, this site is simple to understand and provides resources to incorporate video production into your classroom curriculum. Take a look at the classroom lesson plans Kids’ Vid provides as well.
OK, let us hear from you! Do you have a cool tool or thoughts and ideas to help get the creative process going? If so, leave a comment. Also, let us hear your No. 1 question about filmmaking and we’ll get the answer for you.
Film Competition Opens Today! Register NOW!
Registration is now open in the Young Minds Digital Times Film Competition (YMDT) 2009-2010! “Studio Chief” Converge magazine has a fantastic article about the competition on their website – “Lights, Camera, Interaction.” You can also check out the official YMDT Filmmaker Blog Buzz where you’ll find weekly tips, tricks, advice and news related to the competition.
There are new categories, prizes and sponsors in this year’s competition, and we hope you’ll choose to join YMDT as a student participant or by encouraging kids you know to sign up for this great opportunity. They competition also makes an excellent class project!
SXSWi: Vote YES for Beth and Hybrid Enterprises
Post by Beth Carls, CEO, OneSeventeen Media & Co-Founder, KidThrive.org
I hope to share more about our exciting journey into a hybrid enterprise at the SXSW 2010 Interactive Festival in Austin, TX March 12-16. With your help as part of the judging process, I’ll be a panelist at the upcoming festival. Check out my session overview and vote with a Thumbs Up to say “YES!” to learning more: The Hybrid Enterprise: A Tool for Visionary Entrepreneurs. Voting ends Friday, September 4, 2009. I look forward to seeing you there!
Making the Most of Ypulse Mashup 2009
By Amy Looper, OneSeventeen Media Co-Founder
This year’s 2009 Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup conference was another winner and maybe even the strongest lineup yet. It was good to catch up with old friends and to make new ones. For those of you who may be new to OneSeventeen Media, this is one of our very favorite conferences because Anastsia Goodstein, Ypulse Founder, does such a fantastic job bringing in top brand, corporate and social marketers, media professionals, non-profits and educators together to share the latest best practices, research and the strategies on marketing to youth with technology.
For OneSeventeen Media’s focus, the following were particularly relevant highlights:
- Social networks continue to be an important place for youth to accomplish social good and engage around current events. Interestingly enough, C&R research presented that environmental issues were no longer the number one issue among youth, their research shows it was youth oriented issues like education and child poverty as number one, cancer was number two, then followed the environment in the number 3 slot.
- I think the big shocker was learning from Bill Carter’s presentation on Fuse Marketing’s latest research, that teens still read magazines! In fact, it was the second most effective rated medium to reach teens, and TV isn’t off their radar either! Several girls on the youth panels mentioned they like to read Seventeen Magazine, and they do pay attention to ads. However, when they see an ad of interest they will go to the web to do research and then make any purchases from there. 75% of teens believe it’s appropriate for brands to reach them via TV ads. The bottom line? It’s imperative to have go-to-market strategies that fully integrate all available platforms youth utilize. The underlying theme here was to have an authentic, value-providing story that your youth market can relate to.
- Facebook’s faceoff with Twitter continues. While it’s been widely reported that youth have been slow to adopt Twitter, the youth panelist were somewhat divided on which was a better marketing tool. Of note, none of them mentioned MySpace. Facebook fans liked the ability to create a community around your brand ie: through a fan page and or group, while the other panelist opted for Twitter because it was the best way to monitor your brand as well as insert yourself into a relevant conversation with others about your brand. It’s important to remember these young panelists are still a bit older than our market, but trends with the older youth trickle down to younger kids over time — something for us to watch for.
- Last, but definitely not least, Don Tapscott’s keynote presentation was brilliant, and Guy Kawasaki’s masterful moderation of the Youth Entrepreneurs panel was fantastic! These young entrepreneurs are fearless and had many valuable insights to share. You can read more about what others are saying about their conference experiences on the Ypulse site.
Job well done Anastasia and team!
(Pictured above: Guy Kawasaki and the Youth Entrepreneurs panel in action)
Making Social Media Relevant to Learning
From ReadWriteWeb:
“Teachers are always trying to combat student apathy and University of Texas at Dallas History Professor, Monica Rankin, has found an interesting way to do it using Twitter in the classroom. Rankin uses a weekly hashtag to organize comments, questions and feedback posted by students to Twitter during class.”
(Be sure to watch the video to get a feel for how this works.)
I applaud Rankin for her visionary thinking and willingness to dive into social media! Her experiment exemplifies not only her willingness to innovate, but her understanding that lesson delivery must be relevant and engaging for 21st century kids. Twitter is a tool that many educators wrestle with to make useful in classroom settings, and Rankin has worked out a way to make Twitter applicable to academic life.
Through our PlumbBrain Micro-Communities we’re excited about the many ways we can social networking and other social media tools relevant and useful to schools — students, teachers and parents.
What Kind of Tech User Are You? Take the Quiz.
From Pew Internet & American Life Project:
“Is Facebook your window to your social world? Is your mobile device the last thing you put aside before shutting the light out at night? Or does the deluge of digital information leave you flat and the ring of your cell phone leave you cranky? Take the quiz to find out where you fit in the typology of technology users.”
Curious, I took the quiz and discovered that I am a Digital Collaborator.
“If you are a Digital Collaborator, you use information technology to work with and share your creations with others. You are enthusiastic about how ICTs help you connect with others and confident in how to manage digital devices and information. For you, the digital commons can be a camp, a lab, or a theater group – places to gather with others to develop something new.”
I’m interested to see what other people are! I’d love for you to take the quiz and share your results below. Having only seen my results, I’m curious what other titles and divisions there are. I’d venture to guess my classification is typical of my age group; particulary those of us seeking out Pew’s content. I’m also wondering if the younger, tech-savvy tween crowd generally falls into the same category?
(Image found here)
Tech + Teachers = Great Student Outcomes
An article from eSchool News shares that when dynamic teachers are paired with top notch technology, there are incredible outcomes for students, raising achievement levels an average of 17 percentile points. Our team members are long time evangelist for the benefit of increased youth engagement when relevant content is delivered through high tech means. It’s inspiring to hear about these teachers who are pushing themselves and their students farther by pursuing and utilizing technology. Today’s students are digital natives, and to engage them inside or outside of the classroom, teachers, companies and organizations have to keep up with technology. Leaders in all sectors reaching out to youth will be those who don’t only keep up, but actively push the technological envelope to encourage these formative young minds to push themselves.
(Image found here)
The Trappings of Social Media Dogma
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs
I came across these wise words today, and I felt that they are particularly relevant to OneSeventeen Media’s approach to helping kids. When working on something truly innovative, some people a) don’t get it or b) feel threatened by the change. While we’re always soliciting feedback and constructive criticism to make sure we’re improving and refining OneSeventeen’s vision and products, our mission to get kids the tools they absolutely need won’t be deterred by the trappings of social media dogma. As a poster child of a successful entrepreneur, Steve Jobs words are an inspiring reminder about the value of staying true to our course and utilizing social media to make the online and offline world a better place for kids.
(Image found here)
OneSeventeen Media <3′s Teachers!
Our friends at Ypulse have partnered with Dell to offer an awesome award for a Totally Wired Teacher.
“The Ypulse 2009 Totally Wired Teacher Award (sponsored by Dell) will honor a public school teacher from grades 3 to12 who is successfully using technology (the internet/social media, mobile technology, gaming) in the classroom.”
The submission deadline is May 15, 2009, so get your nominations in now! This is a fantastic way to honor a teacher you see doing outstanding work to with kids and technology.
“We will select three finalists and choose this year’s Totally Wired Teacher to be honored in person at the Ypulse Mashup. All three finalists will receive an IT solution from Dell to use in their respective schools. “
More Honors Kids In India Than Students in US
A friend shared this with me on Facebook this morning, and it was another great reminder that we have to get kids the online tools they need now. Compared to our global counterparts, the United States is slow to innovate. Kids across the country need the social emotional tools we can provide in the online context they thrive in, today – not five years from now.
