ALA Museum Day - October 13, 2004

Today's objective was to introduce the new applicants into the program to the technology behind the stop motion animation cameras as well as give the returning students a chance to use the technology in view of the public eye. THe secondary objective was to interview as many of the new students as possible, while giving the returning group the chance to use the new students in the making of their films. I have given the students code names, and from now on i will refer to them this way - returning students = murder, new students = gaggle. Murder group was set up in groups of four, each with a camera and a laptop to film. They were given instructions on what to film, and how many frames to shoot at any given moment. They were to listen for me to tell them to film and then click off 10 frames each time. The subject of each film included Gaggle members. The Gaggle were broken up into 6 groups and given specific instructions about what they were to act out in front of the cameras. They were to listen for the instructions to move and freeze, and then knew that they were being filmed. The gaggle set up in the courtyard, and the murder set up in 6 locations around the courtyard, some on the balcony overlooking the courtyard and some on the ground with the gaggle. The purpose was to try and get as many different angles of as many different things as possible, so that later we could discuss the element of chaos and why having direction (and a working STORY) is important, both from the action perspective and the filming perspective. Some of the murder remarked to me during the filming that the gaggle didn't understand what we were doing and that the films were not going to be "good". I gave a few of the murder a chance to go and insert themselves into the gaggle groups to help out, in an attempt to give them a chance to instruct a bit in the art of stop motion filmmaking. THe end of the filming saw the entire group taking direction from me, save for the murder students that were filming, trying to make a huge human pyramid. This came off looking well in the film itself. After the filming was done, the students were taken back to the studio space in IAP for debriefing. Myles asked the two groups what worked for them and what needed to improve. A few of the murder remarked that the films would be erratic because of the lack of direction - each group was given a separate set of directions that didn't seem to mesh with the students' interaction. This was explained to them as a moment of understanding to see why having a plan, A STORY, is so important to all people involved. The murder group also remarked that outside lighting was a problem for filming - i like that they are noticing the technical aspects! The gaggle group spoke about interesting problems like their props not working, not totally understanding what they were to be acting out, and they showed an interest in the technology. Whetting their appetite for the upcoming months of learning is exciting. I'm hoping that they will get excited about machines, and crickets, and chain reactions very soon!! I can tell that the STORYTELLING cycle is going to prove very interesting for the murder. The chaotic day also gave the kids a little glimpse into the fun of MINDFEST DAY, which they don't yet realize, but we do. Myles and I worked well together, putting the plan for the day into action while Saafir was interviewing the gaggle. More interviews are necessary, but we have about 40 new applicants from ALA.
Jonathon