Week 5 ~ Music ~ Elements of music

When Nancy asked us what the elements of music were I was struck by how I could barely remember any of them. This struck me because I studied music all through school and outside school including grades. Yet despite this I was still in the same situation as most primary education students, faced with the concern that I don’t know the content for this subject. However as (Mills, 2009) considers, generalist teachers ought to focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t. Although ability with music is desirable, there can be an over focus on skill rather than student learning. So long as the teacher can grasp the level of knowledge expected for primary level music, they can become confident music teachers without being highly skilled in music practice or theory.

Today was an example of how anyone can teach primary music. Within minutes we were already using percussion instruments to play along to simple sheet music following the note value and then we progressed to melodic instruments playing also to pitch (such as the metalophone, xylophone, etc). Picking the right music, especially those that have been especially developed for the primary music classroom helps in this process and provides great support and structure for teachers and students alike. Resources such as JozzBeat (JozzBeat Music Publishing, 2011) provide simple music pieces  catered to primary learners which can provide a sense of accomplishment.

The Concepts of Music (Gibson & Ewing, 2012)

Tone Colour- Sound source, sound production, combined and single sources of sound

Dynamics- Volume (forte, piano), changes of volume (crescendo, decrescendo), accents

Pitch- Direction of pitch, patterns (phrases, ostinatos), melody, harmony

Duration- Note value, metre, rhythm, tempo, beat

Structure- Repetition, patterns, phrase, call and response, canon, form

(Source: Leglise, N (2014)

Cowbell for first activity-Facilitating percussion for the making component of music

References

Gibson, R & Ewing, R. (2011).Transforming the curriculum through the arts. South Yarra: Palgrave Macmillan.

JozzBeat Music Publishing. (2011). JozzBeat. (05/04/2014) from: http://www.jozzbeat.com/

Mills, J. (2009). Music in primary classroom. Retrieved (05/05/2014) from:

http://www.edition-peters.com/resources/0001/stock/pdf/9780193364950.pdf



Week 4 ~ Media Arts ~ Editing

The 4 P’s: pre-production, production, post-production and presentation

“While screenwriters and directors are the first and second storytellers of a movie, editors are the third ones” (Moura, n.d)

Editing

The importance of editing became apparent as we watched the first cut of our film. Although the story was told, editing was essential to make sure the transitions were smooth and logical. To make the balloon move smoothly throughout the film we had to cut the clips, adjust the speed and consider the frame transitions. Another important aspect of editing was the addition of music and sound effects. The sound effects gave the film a comical mood so we decided to pair them with upbeat music. As a teacher I would highlight these principles of editing to students as they may be tempted to skim over detail, a mistake I made when I considered our work close to finished when in reality we had only just started.

After editing we were able to view each others’ first cuts and engage in the responding aspect of media arts. It was easy to comment on the films in relation to the curriculum including the elements of media arts with the character of a stressed child completing Naplan (ACARA, 2012). We could see the viewpoint of that child through the elements and story principles including close up shots of the child’s features, in a choppy, fluttering effect, showing anxiety. It was evident that the film makers were trying to communicate their concern over the pressure Naplan places on children. 

As Anderson and Jefferson (2009) considers, it comes naturally to engage with a literacy form we are so deeply immersed in. We comment on media forms that we experience everyday to our friends and family as we watch TV or share a video or image on the internet. It becomes evident that media arts provide an engaging and familiar means of developing skills for responding which can be transferred to the other art forms.

Source: Leglise, N. (2014)

Editing with my group on iMovie

Key Concepts

-       Media languages to tell stories

-       Technologies for producing, accessing and distributing media

-        Institutions that enable and constrain media production and use

-       Audiences for whom media arts products are made for and who respond to

-       Representations of the world based on shared social values and beliefs

Elements of media arts

-       Composition

-       Space

-       Time

-       Movement

-       Sound

-       Lighting

Story principles

-       Structure

-       Intent

-       Characters

-       Settings

-       Points of view

-       Genre conventions

Viewpoints

Occur within the contexts of societies, cultures and histories, combining an understanding of how elements, materials, skills and processes are used.

A video of our first edit, in comparison to week 13 where there are smoother transitions that create a more cohesive story to follow. 
(Source: Luu, 2014)

References

Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority. (2012). Learning in media arts. Retrieved (26/05/2014) from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/TheArts/Learning-in-Media-Arts

Anderson, M. & Jefferson, M. (2009). Teaching the screen: Film education for generation next. Allen & Unwin: Sydney.

Moura, G. (n.d). Principles of editing. Retrieved from: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/EDITING.ht
Luu, R. (2014, March 30). Journey of the balloon. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6ANdFFwQc

Week 3 ~ Media Arts ~ Filming

The 4 P’s: pre-production, production, post-production and presentation

Production

This week we worked on the production phase of the film. By participating in a learning experience that could be similar to what we teach to our students we are able to experience the benefits and challenges of the learning experience for ourselves. Something I would emphasise in a filming task is the importance to be organised, for us the pre-planning sheet ensured we had the right resources and remember the plan for filming. By having the story board we could tick off each scene we had completed at each location and remember the shot types we were doing. Also by allocating roles for each scene, we all had the opportunity to practice each role although by the end we settled into the roles that suited each person best. This is another aspect I would emphasise with students as it was a rich experience to engage in roles I may not naturally be drawn to.

By participating in a learning experience that could be similar to what we teach to our students we are able to experience the benefits and challenges of the learning experience for ourselves. As well as being a hands-on creative experience it crosses into multi-literacies, combining literacy for English and creative and media arts. Jason Ohler (2013) describes 4 literacies; oral, digital, art and written. Oral storytelling is the oldest form of storytelling but also possibly the most applicable to digital storytelling as films tell stories orally. However in the process of developing an idea, the written form is also included. Art is another key form of literacy as an engaging and creative form of expressing ideas. The digital format presents different challenges to literacies in other formats, being so multidimensional. In the case of the film we will incorporate the oral and visual media forms to depict meaning.



Source: Leglise, N. (2014)

The group working on filming- I'm discussing the last shot with the group

Oral

Source: Google Images http://www.google.com/imghp 

 Digital

 Written

 Art

References

Ohler, J. (2013). Storytelling and new media narrative. Retrieved (22/04/2014) from: http://www.jasonohler.com/index.cfm

 

Week 2 ~ Media Arts ~ Pre-planning

The 4 P’s: pre-production, production, post-production and presentation

Pre-production

This week’s focus was on the pre-production phase of film development. We had to develop ideas for a one minute film with the motif “fly”. In groups we had to develop an idea each and the vote on the best one. The motif fly allowed us to all develop our own idea however the notion of a travelling balloon stood out as the best idea for the film. Although it may seem difficult at first, the process of developing an idea proved to be fairly easy and the process and the pre-planning sheet assisted us to layout a comprehensive plan.  We also had to develop a storyboard to detail the story-line and shot types planned for the film.

Our film is of a narrative genre and follows the plot form (Layne, Lewis, 2009). The exposition occurs quickly as the balloon is introduced to the audience in the setting of the quad with a lighthearted mood. The rising action or conflict in our film occurs in the form of man (balloon) vs self in a physical journey where the balloon overcomes adversity in the form of obstacles throughout the university. The resolution is comic one as the journey of the balloon is minimised by the easy and instant response to its message in the form of a text message.    

Narrative Format (Dillingham & Ohler, 2003) - The process of developing a narrative for film

References

Dillingham, R.& Ohler J. (2003). Visual portrait of a story [Diagram]. Retrieved from http://courses.coe.uh.edu/brobin/7358-lit/class7/visual-portrait.jpg

Layne, R., Lewis, R. (2009). Plot, theme, the Narrative Arc, and Narrative Patterns. Retrieved from http://www.sandhills.edu/academic-departments/english/film/narrativearc.html

Week 1 ~ Media Arts ~ Tropfest Junior

For children, there is no such dichotomy of online and offline or virtual and real – the digital is so much intertwined into their lives and psyche that the one is entirely enmeshed with the other ... what they do in their virtual worlds significantly affects how they connect to society.

(Thomas, 2007, p. 3 as cited in Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p. 44)

Even as a young adult, born into a world in which the internet has always existed, there is still an evident generation gap in the perceptions and interactions with technology in everyday life between myself and the generation I will be teaching. Thomas (2007 as cited in Gibson & Ewing, 2011) surmises this perfectly as the young students of today do not perceive the digital world as an alternative reality, competing for our attention but rather a single reality in which technology features in every aspect of life. We must as teachers accept this reality and facilitate technology as a tool for teaching our content as well as teaching ICT competency as an important skill in its own right.

A prime example of the confidence of children with technology is the Tropfest Junior competition.  Its entrants are capable of producing creative and engaging film using technology available to most people, something the 2012 winner has demonstrated perfectly. The premise of the film is something I can relate to as the two children are faced with the prospect of what genre of movie they are going to create. They evaluate a number of ideas and use a range of effects associated with certain genres to create a humourous film with the theme “juice” depicted in a hilarious and explicit manner. This would be a great video to show students as inspiration as to what they could create for themselves, it certainly has inspired me!    

Tropfest Junior 2012 winner

Source: Tropfest Junior (2012)

References

Gibson, R & Ewing, R. (2011).Transforming the curriculum through the arts. South Yarra: Palgrave Macmillan.

Tropfest. (2012, 18 February). Let's make a movie! [video]. Retrieved (13/03/2014) from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlRHOpX8BA