This final film project begins on Monday, December 7, 2009. Please finish and post it by Sunday, February 21 at our official YOUTUBE page, and then embed it in your personal DOTCOM blog.
Hello DOTCOM colleagues in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the United States!
The time has come for us to begin our very last DOTCOM online project.
I am excited.
Here is our last challenge before we meet again in the Caucasus in March 2010.
Each of you will write, shoot, edit and post to both your PERSONAL and our DOTCOM blogs a short 1-2 minute video/film that sums up your DOTCOM experiences to date.
Here is the official assignment:
"Drawing on all of your DOTCOM experiences online and face-to-face during the past 12 months, explain how the power of social media has changed your life and your perspective on the world. Be as specific as possible, in a 1-2 minute short YouTube'able film."
Some suggestions:
1. Use your FLIPs! 2. Make your film personal - speak from the heart and soul, as well as from the mind. 3. Remember our brain research: Use powerful photographs, video clips, and music. 4. Be sure your sound levels are high enough so that ey are easy to hear. 5. Be sure your film is well-lighted (no shadows or dark areas, please). 6. Consider camera motion and angles in your production. 7. Have fun! Use your friends, family, and neighbors to help you!
I look forward to seeing the results of your hard work and good ideas, friends.
Here is a short MOBILE EYES video I produced with my seven-year-old son Theron.
Here's how you should blog about your MOBILE EYES project - starting with your IDEA, your INDEX CARD sequence, and your PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATION.
My idea: Create a short public health video that spotlights the nasty goals of the Big Tobacco corporations - attention, addiction, profit - when they attempt to hook kids under the age of 18 into trying smoking for the first time, in hopes that these kids will become addicted and enslaved to tobacco products for life.
My index card sequence looked like this: Card #1: They want your attention.
Card #2: They want your money.
Card #3: They want your addiction.
Card #4: They want your life.
Card #5: Kick Butts.
Card #6: Vermont Kids Against Tobacco (VKAT)
And my contact organization is Green Mountain Prevention Projects at www.gmppvt.org.
I shot the video on my Blackberry (Yakberry) with Theron, and then edited in all the text.
I used a wooden table to capture the drumming sounds for my soundtrack.
GOAL: During these four weeks of Monday, October 5 through Sunday, November 1, working with your specific country program directors and Dr. Rob, each of you will:
1. Brainstorm and post on your DOTCOM blog a "public health" idea;
2. Draft and post on your DOTCOM blog an "index card" script of between 5 and 8 index cards (one sentence or phrase for each card.)
3. Be sure you have all the contact information for your public health organization ready to go.
Greetings all DOTCOM'ers!
Now that we've warmed up our brains with a quick analysis of REEL BAD ARABS, it is time to dive back into the world of digital video production.
First, remember everything we learned last summer about making a film: starting with brainstorming a good idea, doing some research, writing our your script on index cards, and then moving into production and editing. Remember?
We're going to have fun this month (October 2009) by starting to produce short 20 second films focusing on a specific public health problem and how citizens might solve it.
We're calling this project "MOBILE EYES - Celling Youth With Public Health Messages."
Get it? "Mobilize"? (Work with me here.)
The idea is to make short, funny, interesting 20-30 second movies that can be compressed for "viral spread" via mobile phones, which global youth are using all over the world right now.
Here's an example of a very famous 30 second public health video in the United States.
Now...
There are TWO BIG PROBLEMS with this video.
#1. This video is not specific enough. She talks about drugs. WHICH drugs? Be specific. Name one.
#2. This video does not tell me, the viewer, where to go to learn more information, get help, and/or solve the problem.
You DOTCOM'ers will NOT make these two mistakes. Right?
Right.
So - Here's the plan.
Each of you, working on your own and/or with friends, family and community members, will design a funny, educational and/or provocative 20-30 second film that focuses on a SPECIFIC health issue and publicizes ONE resource/organization to go to for more information. (For example, you might choose to make a 20-30 second film about poor water quality in your city, then tell the viewer about one organization to go to to find out more information and to help SOLVE the problem.)
And you get to choose whatever public health issue you think is vital, with the blessing of both Dr. Rob and your DOTCOM staff country manager: Aya, Kanan, and Elizabeth.
Here are our production requirements.
PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS - Your 20-30 second MOBILE EYES film should:
1. Be filmed with ONLY your FLIP camera.
2. Be 20-30 seconds in length.
3. Edit together at least 3 scenes over the course of 20 seconds (to practice our editing).
4. Use our knowledge of the three-part brain, production techniques, and persuasive techniques to GRAB your audience's attention.
5. Contain a final 4 seconds that includes the following information for your public health resource: a listing for a public health organization that shares both web site and/or phone number.
6. Be SHARED on your personal DOTCOM blog via YouTube. (Make sure you have permission from anyone who appears in your film before shooting them!)
And Elizabeth, Kanan, Aya and I are here to help you!
And lust a reminder to all DOTCOMers that as you continue to discover ways that you can make a difference, we're here to help you succeed. Small grants for community service initiatives are available for projects that use social media as a tool to improve your schools and communities. We can't wait to hear your inspired ideas!"
This module runs from September 14 through September 27.
Greetings DOTCOM'ers!
And thanks for providing the rest of us with some quick reflections about our summer 2009 Phase 2 experience.
For these next two weeks, let's reconnect with our online critical thinking tools, and expand our understanding of "the language of the image."
First of all, let's try a simple thought experiment.
I want you to write down the VERY first thing that comes into your mind when I say the following word.
Ready?
"Arab."
Without thinking, write down the very first thing that came into your mind.
Was it a word? A phrase? A picture of some sort?
Please tell us what you wrote down on your PERSONAL BLOG.
Example: The very first thing that came into my head when I thought of the word "Arab"was a picture of the desert.
Now, can you figure out WHERE that "very first thing" came from? Was it a media source? A real-life experience? Be specific.
Example: The source for my picture of the desert, I think, was the Disney film "Aladdin."
Now, take a look at this short excerpt from a film called REEL BAD ARABS, produced by an organization called the Media Education Foundation in Northampton, Massachusetts. I suggest watching it at least 2 or 3 times.
While you are watching, take some notes and consider the three-part brain, our persuasive techniques we learned online, and the production techniques (lighting, sound, camera angles and motion, music, special FX, etc.) that we learned and practiced with our FLIP cameras and our films during July's Phase 2 experience.
After you watch the film, please answer the following questions right here at your individual blogs. Don't forget to EMBED the YouTube clip of the film at your blog, so others can watch, as well.
1. THE THREE-PART BRAIN - In what ways do YOU think REEL BAD ARABS attracted your REPTILIAN (instinctual), FEELING (limbic) and THINKING (neo-cortex) brains?
2.PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES - List and describe one specific production technique - lighting, music, camera effects, editing - used by REEL BAD ARABS.
3. PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES - Looking at our list of 24 plus persuasive techniques, list and describe a specific moment from the film as an example of THREE different specific persuasive techniques used by our filmmakers.
4. SUGGESTIONS - Offer one specific suggestion for the REEL BAD ARABS filmmakers that might make their film even more powerful.
5. Would you recommend this film for viewing with friends or colleagues? Why or why not?
This module runs from Tuesday, September 1 through Sunday, September 13.
YOUTUBE FLASHBACK: The Streets of Vermont, Summer 2009. (Hey look - it's raining. Who knew?)
Welcome back, DOTCOM colleagues from Azerbaijan, Armenia and the United States! What a remarkable summer of learning for us all - it is very good to be back online and beginning Phase 3 of our work together.
STEP #1: Let's begin our Phase 3 fall online work by reflecting, in a personal way, on what each of us learned during our three weeks of July production work. Please answer the following questions at your own blog, using 3-4 sentences for EACH answer.
STEP #2: And then, post a favorite photo image you or a friend captured during our July work together, and explain why you like the image.
Here are our four questions.
1. What proved the most challenging part of our July Phase 2 DOTCOM experience for you?
2. What proved the most rewarding part of our July Phase 2 DOTCOM experience for you?
3. What proved the most fun part of our July Phase 2 DOTCOM experience for you?
4. What are you most excited about, looking forward to our online Phase 3 DOTCOM experience coming up this fall?
And don't forget your photo, too!
Please be sure to post your responses at your own blog by our Sunday, September 13 deadline.
