Starting Up DMAC
Brief day-to-day discoveries & happenings
Angela Gottschall
Teacher
LAUSD
Agoura Hills, CA

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Invitation Creation

By Angela Gottschall      October 13, 2008 -- 03:12 PM
This 1+ minute piece touches on the beginning of a project.

 RSSPodcast: http://my-ecoach.com/podcast.php?rid=40030
Comments ››

Viewing other DMAC projects

By Angela Gottschall      October 10, 2008 -- 11:33 AM
Today my classes got to view other DMAC's projects that are posted here on e-Coach. They saw pieces from Bruce, Carlos, Angele' & Rajeev's students, and commented on what they liked and why. Several students mentioned the 'turn off your tv' project (Bruce's) but they couldn't quite put their finger on why they liked it so much. Perhaps it was that the images were of kids their own age - doing stuff they do. They also loved the piece that had the ice cream scoop fall off. They loved that the shot was included. (we talk a lot about what gets left in and what gets left out - and why) Their assignment ...   more...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By Leona White  October 10, 2008 -- 04:51 PM

Creating a character - sound only

By Angela Gottschall      October 7, 2008 -- 11:34 AM
The current assignment is to create a distinct character using sound only. Beginning classes are creating a 45 - 90 second podcast, with one unique character per student. Advanced is doing the same, only 3 minutes in length and 2 different characters per student. We began by listening to The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd .







We discussed how 2 guys voice most of the characters and how they make the characters come to life for the audience. Then, we looked at their recording set up(Dr. Floyd recording set up) , so the students could see they don’t have a special studio and simply use GarageB...   more...
Comments: 3   Last Comment By small Angela Gottschall  October 7, 2008 -- 08:28 PM

Parent / Student Exchange

By Angela Gottschall      September 30, 2008 -- 11:14 AM
For Back to School Night, I decided to try something new. Students were divided into groups of 3: one who felt really comfortable with iMovie, one who was just familiar with it, and one novice. They were to create a message to the parents that explained the class. When the parents came in, they watched their own students. Then I told the parents they were to create a media message back. I was putting them in their kids' shoes for  moment - having many step out of their comfort zone and be open to working with people they don't know that well.
Back to School Night...   more...
Comments: 4   Last Comment By small C. Robles  October 6, 2008 -- 03:14 PM

Middle School Course Syllabus

By Angela Gottschall      September 29, 2008 -- 02:23 PM
Hale Middle School Demonstration Media Arts Classroom Film making MS. Through the class you will learn: pre-production skills, film production structure and aesthetics, camera operation and sound recording procedures, basic studio lighting, the fundamentals of editing, and media literacy.  Assignments and tasks include:

Camera Ready test

Interview / job introduction and rotation

Rule of Third’s

...   more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By small Dain Olsen  October 7, 2008 -- 05:48 PM

LIGHTS!!!

By Angela Gottschall      September 24, 2008 -- 02:39 PM
A wonderful parent of a student I had last year dropped by on Monday and said he had some stuff for me. He knew a studio that had these lights left over - actually, they didn’t work! He had my old student clean them, then took them to another friend, explained what it’s for - and the guy donated his services to fix them. The kids and I are thrilled!!!








They are much better than our current Sears work lights (the orange stand in the pic) and my garage sale lamp. Can’t wait to get gloves and sandbags. Back to School Night is tomorrow night. I think I’ll put them on my wish list....    more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By Linda  October 8, 2008 -- 01:11 PM

Shadow of an idea

By Angela Gottschall      September 15, 2008 -- 11:47 AM
The kids were having a field day doing shadow puppets while we wrestled with trying to show photos directly from the still camera using the video projector. I kept asking them to stop, but then looked up and thought - wow - that looks cool!’ I asked them if we should try and make shadow pictures that we could take photos of - a different kind of collaborative media art! They loved the idea. They had to work together and watch as the picture kept changing to try and make a picture. It was awesome watching them help each other and just let their creativity flow. They started coming up with ideas ...   more...
Comments: 3   Last Comment By small Rajeev Talwani  September 24, 2008 -- 01:39 PM

camera ready test

By Angela Gottschall      September 11, 2008 -- 01:20 PM
The 'camera ready test' is just this:
open window, turn on camera, record 5 seconds, rewind, playback, when approved - rewind, turn off , close window.
I gave them the manuals to the cameras and told them to see if they could figure it out by reading the manual. The *middle* class - for the most part, they did figure it out, and said it was a good experience to see they could actually run the camera. They had fun timing each other to see who could accomplish the task the quickest. My large beginning group panicked when they saw the manuals. We had to go over how to use a manual, table of contents, ...   more...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By small Angela Gottschall  September 11, 2008 -- 04:41 PM

ABC scavenger hunt

By Angela Gottschall      September 11, 2008 -- 12:05 PM
Per 2 did their ABC scavenger hunt. I let them take photos outside the room as long as they stayed in view and didn’t drift down the hallways. I found one group in the hall, so I fetched them and confined them to the room. One group went so far off  I was unable to grab them. So when they came back, they learned they lost outside privileges on the next 2 activities. They worked in groups of 3, recorded what they shot for each letter, and who took the picture. Tomorrow we will view them. I am having...   more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By small Rajeev Talwani  September 24, 2008 -- 01:45 PM

P.E teacher interviews

By Angela Gottschall      September 11, 2008 -- 11:59 AM
Well, we came in this morning and all their work was... undone. The butcher paper fell off the chalk board and custodial staff moved the lights. Fortunately, we had marked the floor where the lights & cameras went - so that was a quick fix. The set took longer. They did an excellent job running their shoot; they gave me looks like 'Mrs. G, disappear! We got it!' We were able to get 3 p.e. teachers done, and reflected on what we learned after each one.    more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By MR. WEBB  September 11, 2008 -- 01:03 PM

Quick, slow, slow...

By Angela Gottschall      September 10, 2008 -- 08:39 PM
This week has been a bit slower for the beginning classes, and hyper speed for the advanced class. Beginning we have tackled coming up with a company name for each class (Aloha Pineapple Slip Prods. & Lollipop Prods.), basic test on the running of the video camera, and as a class, creating an equipment use agreement that everyone signs. The remainder of the week, we will start to look at the rule of 3rds, and in teams they will do the Visual ABC's scavenger hunt.

Advanced has been really working to get their p.e. shoot set up. Monday was spent pre-production planning, and Tuesday & Wednesday ...   more...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By small Angela Gottschall  September 11, 2008 -- 01:07 PM

a plate and a cup go for a walk...

By Angela Gottschall      September 5, 2008 -- 11:33 AM
Backtracking for the beginning class, I reviewed what we tried to start on yesterday then gave each group of 3 a paper plate and paper cup as their *actors* and gave them 15 minutes to work together to come up with a story to evoke an emotion in the audience. I put a blanket over a table to set up a little stage for the plate & cup; one person controlled plate, one = cup and one narrated. I am happy to report - they were all able to come up with something! Among the scenes we had a love story, a rocket ship & planet, a break dancing pair, and the obligatory ’10 years later - a payback ...   more...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By small Dain Olsen  September 5, 2008 -- 09:46 PM

Thank goodness for anthropomorphic lamps...

By Angela Gottschall      September 4, 2008 -- 12:57 PM
I have 3 levels of classes - beg/int/adv. I started with a lesson I learned this summer at the LACOE/AFI Institute, and tweeked it greatly for middle school. I also chnged it a bit for each level. We viewed Pixar's animated short 'Luxo, Jr.'  and Spike Jonze's Ikea Abandonned Lamp commercial. We also clapped each time the shot changed - (Pixar is one long shot, Jonze's has about 12 ). We used the 5 Key Questions to compare and contrast the pieces. In the advanced class, I did a *freeze frame* in each piece and had the kids story board it - showing movement and writing the description of action. ...   more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By small Rajeev Talwani  September 4, 2008 -- 01:53 PM

And so it begins...

By Angela Gottschall      September 4, 2008 -- 12:38 PM
This is my first year teaching that I am not teaching any theatre classes. I could not use my normal opening day routine, actually I can't use my first 2 week stuff to learn about my students. I'm in a regular classroom and not a theatre. Did the regular stuff - going over expectations & rules and such and working on learning names - only in a new way. It is a stretch for me - should prove to be a truly wonderful experience.

The students seem excited about film making and perplexed by the idea of Media Arts. Say 'film making' and most of them light up. Say 'media arts' and they glaze over. ...   more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By small Rajeev Talwani  September 4, 2008 -- 01:13 PM

Benefits for Students

By Angela Gottschall      June 9, 2008 -- 11:11 AM
Well, we were very surprised to find out our ’UnReal World: Greek Gods & Goddesses’ won 3 Video in the Classroom (VIC) Awards: Best Technical Arts (Secondary), Best Special Effects (Secondary), and Best Supporting Cast (Entire Ensemble). The last one meant the most to the students. Many of them chose the film making class because they wanted performing arts, but they wanted to be behind the camera. I had to assign many of the parts. About 1/2 of the class makes up the ensemble! Everyone pitched in on research and ideas of how to convey their personalities - it was awesome. And now they are ...   more...
Comments: 3   Last Comment By small Rajeev Talwani  June 11, 2008 -- 07:47 AM

A Completed Candidate Piece

By Angela Gottschall      May 6, 2008 -- 03:34 PM

completed candidate piece RSSPodcast: http://my-ecoach.com/podcast.php?rid=30774

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Candidate Clips

By Angela Gottschall      May 6, 2008 -- 03:02 PM
These are just mini examples of how the candidates videos each had their own look. I am really impressed how the kids set up their shots using the macbooks.
Candidate clips RSSPodcast: http://my-ecoach.com/podcast.php?rid=30771

   more...
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Digital Media Pieces are Winners!

By Angela Gottschall      May 2, 2008 -- 08:14 AM
Our pieces ’UnReal World: Greek Gods & Goddesses’ and ’Virtitech: Classroom of the Future’ each won a Digital Voice Award from the Los Angeles County Office of Education! The kids are very proud of their accomplishment (me too!)
Comments: 2   Last Comment By small Angela Gottschall  May 5, 2008 -- 04:35 PM

Exploration

By Angela Gottschall      April 29, 2008 -- 12:19 PM

Exploration RSSPodcast: http://my-ecoach.com/podcast.php?rid=30404

In an effort to make the arts accessible to all students, I approached the autism specialist at our school to see if she would like an opportunity for her students to explore the media equipment. She was extremely open and excited about the idea. We pulled out 3 cameras and 4 macbooks and let the kids investigate. It was interesting to see the students' response to their image during recording and playback. As always, LAUSD photo release forms and parent information letters were distributed and collected. Audrey and I saw how ...   more...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By small Dain Olsen  May 5, 2008 -- 03:53 PM

First Day of Student Election Video Project

By Angela Gottschall      April 17, 2008 -- 09:37 AM

Candidates shoot RSSPodcast: http://my-ecoach.com/podcast.php?rid=29969

This 1+ minute video shows the kids at work.

   more...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By small Dain Olsen  April 25, 2008 -- 04:05 PM

Quick clips

By Angela Gottschall      April 7, 2008 -- 03:53 PM

Quickie clips RSSPodcast: http://my-ecoach.com/podcast.php?rid=29530
This is a glimpse at the 'UnRealWorld: Gods & Goddesses' project. Enjoy.
   more...
Comments: 3   Last Comment By small Dain Olsen  May 5, 2008 -- 04:33 PM

Comic - shot project - 2 examples

By Angela Gottschall      April 4, 2008 -- 02:36 PM

This was a quickie assignment - based on Rajeev’s - tweeked for middle school.  Take 5 different types of shots, use them in Comic Life, identify the shot in speech or thought bubble....(earlierpost: PicassoHead - the self portait example was created by the ’green boy’ in the first comic - he did a great job - pretty good likeness...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




   more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By dain  April 4, 2008 -- 03:18 PM

NY Times bestselling author saw our project!!!

By Angela Gottschall      April 3, 2008 -- 08:44 AM
For the InfoTech Project, we used 2 quotes off of Dan Pink's website. I e-mailed him to let him know w/ a link. He viewed the piece and responded!
In case you care not familiar w/ him, here's a link & short blurb:
Pink's website

ABOUT DAN PINK
He wrote A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, a long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller that has been translated into 16 languages.

Dan's articles on business and technology appear in many publications, including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing ...   more...
Comments: 1   Last Comment By MR. WEBB  April 3, 2008 -- 09:13 AM

Finished piece

By Angela Gottschall      March 31, 2008 -- 01:54 PM


Infotech project RSSPodcast: http://my-ecoach.com/podcast.php?rid=29187
The kids put this one together completely by themselves. They chose the images, music, wrote the copy, and edited it. Amazing how their concept of future education is based on developing creativity... I'm really proud of them. (make sure to go all the way to the end - I love what they did...)




   more...
Comments: 3   Last Comment By dain  April 4, 2008 -- 03:49 PM

InfoTech Project

By Angela Gottschall      March 24, 2008 -- 08:46 PM
This is a middle school project. We have one week to pull it together.
Today:
Task:
This year's project will be a media clip showing and predicting how a middle
school classroom will look and how technology will bring about "Excellence
through Innovation" for teaching and learning in the year 2015.
* get into groups of 2,3,or 4 (no more than 4)
* create a word document together that outlines your plan for a segment (no less than 15 seconds) that addresses one aspect of the task
* save your document to the desktop as:
itplan_   first names of group participants
* look on the Internet for ...   more...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By small Rajeev Talwani  March 26, 2008 -- 03:07 PM

MrPicassohead.com

By Angela Gottschall      March 12, 2008 -- 09:18 AM
 
Today, after viewing our finished project, kids will create a self-portrait on MrPicassoHead.com, e-mail it & print it. We will use them to decorate the classroom...
Comments: 2   Last Comment By dain  April 2, 2008 -- 09:57 PM

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