Media Arts

Media Arts Lecture- Week 8

In this lecture, we began to explore Media Arts which is something I didn’t know much about or that I have never really delved into. I learnt that media art encompasses film and its institutions, television, online newspaper, YouTube, games, web design, podcasting/radio and the Internet.  According to the national curriculum, as future teachers we will be expected to use all 5 art forms in the classroom so media arts has large implications for me. As well as this, media arts also has huge implications for the students I will be teaching as technology has become increasingly significant and “children live in an increasingly media rich environment” (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.93). Thomas (2007) goes as far to state that “the digital is so much intertwined into their lives and psyche that the one is entirely enmeshed with the other” (as cited in Gibson & Ewing 2011, p.93). The way we should teach media art is through interweaving the ‘making’ and ‘responding’ strands in our teaching which is something I aim to do in my future classroom.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Key Concepts- Representation (how you represent the world through storytelling), language (forms of communication), technologies (digital technology we use), audience (viewers and demographic of audiences) and institutions (structures in which media sits e.g. Hollywood)
• Viewpoints- Critical evaluation of all of the arts
• Forms- Film, podcast, web design
• Materials- images (camera), sounds (microphone) and text (computer)
• Techniques- For film e.g. close up shots, panning etc.
• Process- How it is made

Elements of Media Arts

• Composition- Arrangement and sequencing of image and text
• Time- The order, duration and depiction of events and ideas
• Space- Distance and relationship between objects
• Sound- Loudness, softness, ambient noise and music for effect
• Movement- The way the eye discovers aspects
• Lighting- Dim lit room or overhead lighting

      We saw an example of a short film that students at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School created using this knowledge and skills and elements of media arts. This can be seen below and is a fantastic example of how students can all participate to create something like this in the classroom, which is something I would like to focus on in the future. Particularly using a story, like in 'Genie App', is an effective way for students to focus on storytelling through film and incorporates English with media arts. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz4ulgZdUOY

Another example of media arts can be seen in Chris Jordan's work on his website: http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn/#unsinkable
Here we can see the manipulation of artworks on the internet and displays how visual arts turns into media arts and how they can be integrated for greater depth of knowledge and understanding. 

Reference:

• Gibson, R. Ewing, R. (2011) Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts. South Yarra: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Media Arts Tutorial- Week 9

In today's tutorial, we focused on how the elements of Media Arts can be applied to learning about filmmaking in the primary classroom. We particularly focused on the element of composition throughout the tutorial and began with a game of wink assassin which made the class alert and attentive. This game focused on perception, movement and control which are elements important to composition in filmmaking. The most important things we learnt about were composing images in film and framing images in film which are demonstrated visually below:

Rule of Thirds

Movement

       

Perspective

             
      

Close Up Shot

Long Shot

Medium Shot

We did an activity using cardboard camera's which are effective tools to use in the classroom for students to first-hand recognise the different camera shots. Another activity that can be used in the classroom is "working in small groups, students look through magazines to find examples of different camera shots" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.97). As well as this, students could look through magazines to fine images that have an image with a centre of interest at one of the four focal points and also "try to locate a photograph that does not obey the 'rule of thirds'" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.97). Students could also create 'flipbooks' which demonstrate the fact that there are 24 frames per minute in a film. These are activities I aim to incorporate in my lessons in the future. Filmmaking is very important, I believe, as it not only allows students to be creative and can be applied to a range of topics and subjects but it also teaches children organisation and drafting skills, which are important skills to have in all aspects of schooling and life in the future.

Reference:

• Gibson, R. Ewing, R. (2011) Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts. South Yarra: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Media Arts Lecture- Week 10 

        In this weeks lecture, we discussed the importance and relevance of quality literature in relation to creative arts. We learnt that quality literature can be meaningfully integrated with the arts to create deeper learning and engagement. We asked ourselves questions such as "how do you define a literacy text?"and "how are picture books often perceived?" We realised that "whether it is a picture book, poem, novel or piece of creative writing, quality literature can be successfully use to stimulate children's imagination and creativity" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.71). As well as this, adults and older peers need to model enjoyment of reading a range of different kinds of books and texts as children learn to read by reading, listening, talking, playing with words and sounds. Hence, we as future teachers must model and use real books, stories, information texts and blogs to demonstrate this to our students. I plan to do this in my classroom as I believe literature leads to a myriad of different teaching and learning activities that are engaging and meaningful to children. Most importantly, literature "provides exemplars by expert writers demonstrating how language can be used creatively to help us understand the world, imagine new world and experience people, places and adventures beyond our world" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.71). We asked the question "what makes a quality text?" and are able to see a clear criteria for choosing children's quality literature by Gibson & Ewing (2011) below. It is important to remember not to select literature where "the language is controlled for particular vocabulary, and the syntax is oversimplified in the hope that these texts are more readily accessible to emergent readers" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.72). This skills based approach where decoding is the main factor of consideration does not enable meaning and understanding or promote high order thinking. Therefore, I believe it is our duty as future teachers to choose texts that are regarded as quality literature that allow children to engage in the reading process and lift their creative imaginings as well as enable them to feel confident about reading a wide range of literature.


A Quality Text:

• Has the potential to sustain interest / engagement for close study for the particular group of children
• is multilayered: multiple or alternate levels or meaning
• is characterised by expressive language and images
• features images (if included) that are embedded in/ contribute to the story rather than only support it
• makes connections with universal themes or issues/ dilemmas
• evokes an emotional response

A few examples of these quality literature texts that we looked at in class can be seen below:

             

I hope I have a book shelf in my classroom that looks something like this:

Reference:

• Gibson, R. Ewing, R. (2011) Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts. South Yarra: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Media Arts- Week 11

This week we focused on the filming and editing of our film "Rapunzel". We began by planning where we would film the critical moment of the witches tower and decided on the tower on level 6 of the education building. For the parents scene in the cottage we decided on using the old teachers college. We decided on our shot types and the rule of thirds very carefully before shooting our scenes. Whilst filming, we ensured we developed and realised the concept by using the film form and applying visual language a sound to capture the critical moment of Rapunzel being given to the 'witch'. We made sure that we conveyed character through composition, particularly long and close up shots as well as pans and zooms. We focused on conveying the emotion of Rapunzel's parents through close ups on the characters faces and then long shots as well as low angle shots of the 'witch' to make her seem menacing. This changed in the very last shot where the camera is on the same level as the witch and we experience the critical moment or turning point of the story where we see a different side to the 'witch' and that she really is just a lonely old woman. We also had a good sense of space,time, movement, sound and lighting during our filming. 

I believe that the use of camera's in filming are extremely useful and are relevent to today's day and age in the classroom. "New technologies such as computer-based, digital technologies are often highly relevant to the everyday cultural world of today's student and provide them with access to new forms of Arts experiences" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.101). I think that the use of technology in terms of filming is a useful tool in the classroom as it teaches students time management and organisation as well as group collaboration. It is something that I would like to include in my teaching practice in the future as I like the fact that this draws together all different art forms and can be integrated with any other key learning areas in the classroom. Below is the rough sequencing of scenes and our first edit of the film:

Reference:

• Gibson, R. Ewing, R. (2011) Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts. South Yarra: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.

Media Arts- Week 12

Leading up to this, we did a lot of editing on the above clip to create our final product. We added music, visual effects and different sound and written techniques to give the film meaning and portray our idea successfully to the viewer. I believe we have done this and below is our final edit of the film. In terms of the actual editing and film-making, we controlled technical and symbolic elements to convey the story and communicated meaning to the audience through sound effects, music and visual effects. In terms of sound and image, "this particular technique allows students to see how important sound is in the interpretation of any moving image text" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.95). We used sound and music quite a lot throughout the film as it added meaning to the story. For example, the use of the sound effect of children chattering in the very fist scene adds chaos to the shot and the dooming suspense music throughout the shots of the husband sneaking into the witches castle gave the scene a sense of impending doom. As well as this, the enlightening soft music played when the 'witch' holds baby Rapunzel in her arms indicates a shift in perspective in the 'witch' not being perceived as evil any more. As well as this, the visual effects such as the blurred transition from the panning glance shot of the witches tower through the window to the long shot of the tower, added meaning, in this case indicating a passing of time. Furthermore, the use of a 'glowing' effect on the 'witch' allowed the audience to easily identify the turning point of the scene and the change in perspective of the witch. 

In the last tutorial for the semester, we viewed all the groups films which was very enjoyable! I think this would be a great activity in the classroom and I will aim to do a similar activity in my own classroom in the future as I believe the students will enjoy it as much as we did! "As contemporary teachers, we cannot ignore the intense engagement by students as a result of such highly sophisticated technology" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.101). We were then given another groups film and asked to critically reflect on it. We, in turn, handed our film to another group to mark. The assessment of another groups film was more difficult than I originally thought and it was a good way for us to get a feel for marking as a teacher in the future. I believe that this form of assessment, however, was "meaningful and appropriate" and "an ongoing process that is concerned with making informed judgements about learning" (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.195). Overall, this course has been very engaging and practical which has helped me think about how I would like to include the arts in my primary classroom. I believe that the "arts empower children to interpret, understand and respond to the world from personal perspectives in personally involving ways which can never be fully anticipated, requiring flexibility and adaptability on the part of the teacher" (Taylor & Andrews, 2012, p.4). Therefore, it is the responsibility of the teacher to implement teaching practice involving the arts as they are a powerful tool to utilise in the classroom. 

Reference:

• Gibson, R. Ewing, R. (2011) Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts. South Yarra: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN.
• Taylor, R., & Andrews, G. (2012). The Arts in the Primary School (RLE Edu O). Routledge.