#seedlings backstory
CAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTES
PRIMAL PROPAGANDA cracks the code and makes it known how they cultivate PSAs in SEEDLING ANATOMY. Join the PRIMAL PROP student-produced creative content team reflect upon all phases of project development: pre thru post.
Channeling energy & enthusiasm, while coordinating interrelated topics across multiple classes (of students), can be a daunting challenge. Although we never communicated directly or planned specific projects together, between our 7th and 8th grade Project Based Learning classes, we made a "big board" (actually 3), where we brainstormed possible issues and themes to explore. Eventually--after ample time for resource collection, review, discussion, and reflection--we took inventory of these "big board" possibilities and limitations. From there, we identified focal subjects to explore & develop and added representative cards to our "production (cork)board," which enabled us to visualize and track production status across the different classes.
Our objective was to produce companion pieces for our campaign, with 7th grade creative teams producing PSAs to compliment 8th grade teams' mixed media mash-ups, micro docs, and spoken word digital slams. While explored subtopics were common between different groups, their storytelling strategies, production techniques, project purposes, and target audiences were unique to their respective mode of communication...and vision.
Student-producers gained hands-on experience during all 3 phases of the production process. "Bootcamps" and "Fieldwork Labs" are opportunities to practice, make mistakes, share & compare, candidly discuss successes and setbacks, and reflect on what it takes to truly engage. Audiences are finicky, attention span is short, and they expect particular "things" from their media. We learn from each other about what we like and why, what catches our eye, and how suggestions and questions can lead us to greater discoveries (and more powerful work).
From storyboarding and writing treatments to framing and composing shots (and then filming them), students were challenged to capture what they conceived. We explored and practiced the arts of interviewing and digital journalism. Lessons were learned about the challenge and power in being concise during editing. Those who never fully appreciated it before, will remember forever through this experience: writers, directors, and editors are all writers, capable of shifting narratives through their craft and intent.
Above all, our multi-genre digital video research project provided an incubator for students to practice what we preach: learning through listening, developing insights and demonstrating respect, valuing diversity (of ideas and others). Our mission was to create an environment where all participants felt safe and valued in our community, no matter which opinions and beliefs they held and shared.
Our objective was to produce companion pieces for our campaign, with 7th grade creative teams producing PSAs to compliment 8th grade teams' mixed media mash-ups, micro docs, and spoken word digital slams. While explored subtopics were common between different groups, their storytelling strategies, production techniques, project purposes, and target audiences were unique to their respective mode of communication...and vision.
Student-producers gained hands-on experience during all 3 phases of the production process. "Bootcamps" and "Fieldwork Labs" are opportunities to practice, make mistakes, share & compare, candidly discuss successes and setbacks, and reflect on what it takes to truly engage. Audiences are finicky, attention span is short, and they expect particular "things" from their media. We learn from each other about what we like and why, what catches our eye, and how suggestions and questions can lead us to greater discoveries (and more powerful work).
From storyboarding and writing treatments to framing and composing shots (and then filming them), students were challenged to capture what they conceived. We explored and practiced the arts of interviewing and digital journalism. Lessons were learned about the challenge and power in being concise during editing. Those who never fully appreciated it before, will remember forever through this experience: writers, directors, and editors are all writers, capable of shifting narratives through their craft and intent.
Above all, our multi-genre digital video research project provided an incubator for students to practice what we preach: learning through listening, developing insights and demonstrating respect, valuing diversity (of ideas and others). Our mission was to create an environment where all participants felt safe and valued in our community, no matter which opinions and beliefs they held and shared.
All creative content for the #seedlings collective is 100% student-produced. All planning, filming, and editing was done completely by the students on Apple iPads, using their device's camera to record audio and video and iMovie to edit. Students experimented with artistic devices--such as juxtaposition, double entendres, and repetition--in their sketchbooks: a weekly assignment designed to stimulate creativity and experiment with visual content design.
#seedlings shoutouts: We all need AWESOME, INSPIRING mentors for cultivating and nurturing the seeds of inquiry, reflection, and praxis. You're gonna be hard pressed to find a more powerful mentor collective than Cathy Fleischer, Bill Tucker, Russ Larson, Steven Krause, Jennifer Buehler, and Heather Neff. Carry on! Your vision is expanding, exponentially. Own the seeds you've sown. It's your foundation--now & always.
