On Mondays, students are assigned the videos that they will complete during the week. Following the dissemination of videos, I then speak about the weekly theme.
Monday began composition week, in which the students are to focus on their framing and composition, and overall improve the quality of their finished product. This lesson is also helpful in allowing students to become more artistic in general, which can increase the consideration and finesse put into each video.
The day began with the typical protocol. Once the bell rang to begin class, we headed over to the ASB to have a "client" meeting. This is the beginning of the video process, in which the client informs the students which pieces of advertisement are of higher priority, both in content and time frame. After the ideas were presented, we returned to the classroom where I unleashed the die of fate to cast a merciless sentence unto each group.
The process is as follows: The six video topics are written on the board in any order. A six-sided die is then rolled by a random student, deciding which group will have to make which video. This process continues down the list, calling its victims, as the die so heartlessly decides the fate of each group. Some are disappointed in their video selection while others are elated; the gods of fate, reincarnated as a callous green cube, have shaped the tone of their week. At this point that the trade gates open, allowing for a loosely controlled shouting match, as they try to negotiate a video trade with another group. End of process.
Once the bickering stopped, I then presented the theme of the week. However, this time, I created a pre-assessment, as described in Assignment 3A, whereby students were given a slideshow of pictures, followed by a series of questions to answer about each one. These questions asked them to describe any obvious, or uncomfortable aspects of the composition. Once they completed the last slide, we engaged in a brief discussion about their opinions of framing and eye movement. I also used this time to describe the current standards on framing, and the rule of thirds. After the pre-assessment was collected, I gave them 15 minutes to provide a quick write up of their idea.
After the write-ups, they grabbed their video equipment and headed out to shoot, leaving my classroom mostly empty of students. (It's like a prep! Which is nice, ‘cause I teach six classes)
At this point, production on my part was a little slow, as most of the kids were not around to discuss their projects with me. It wasn’t until 15 minutes before the end of class that the students started loudly trickling in, at which time a barrage of students rampaged toward me, all exuberantly telling me all about their hilarious shoot.
Finally, clean up began and the students were dismissed at the sound of the bell.
Reflection
I had never done a pre-assessment before, and I appreciate the perspective I got from the students, as far as their unfiltered opinions about composition. I expected that they would be quite inexperienced with composition, and that many of them would have a hard time seeing the difference between the good and the bad. But I was truly surprised by the number of students, many of whom I did not expect to care, who had a distinct understanding and connection to composition. They were able to describe aspects of the picture that paralleled the current opinion, though they had never been asked to criticize it in the past. Some students told me that they naturally took pictures this way, without previously learning about framing technique. As I watched the discussion, I could see that I was separating out the natural photographers ... it was pretty cool.
