Representation/Misrepresentation

Buckingham has a lot of interesting insights on media and how it affects people.  The section of the reading that stuck out to me the most was the information of representation.  Buckingham states, “the media do not offer us a transparent ‘window on the world’, but a mediated version of the world.  They don’t just present reality, they re-present it” (57).  This idea perfectly reflects how media is used in society today.  This idea I feel is very important to teach to students.  Representation is something a person see’s on a regular basis.  As artists’ representation is the looking glass we use to see the world through.  We ask ourselves the following questions; what truth is this telling me? Is there truth here? Is this text realistic? What ideals is this expressing? How am I supposed to interpret this piece?  By exposing students into the realities of representation as a teacher I can give them the analytical tools to break images and texts down to find new insights on the over-viewed or over-read object.  In addition, by giving students tools to analyze it will prepare them to view things with an objective eye and warn off being manipulated by the media in a negative way.

In my classroom I want to explore how media represents stereotypes.  As an activity I would have the class get into groups of 3 or even partners and give them a different form of media(magazines, advertisements, and newspapers).  Depending on the size of the class I would assign two groups the same media but a different example within that media.  For example I would assign one group Sports Illustrated and ask them to look at how white males are stereotypes in that edition.  Then I would have another group analyze how black males are stereotyped in the same edition of Sports Illustrated.  Each group would present their findings from their research.  Their presentation would have to answer a few questions specifically.  Then once all the groups had presented I would lead a discussion of comparing and contrasting the different ways two different groups were represented in one media form.  Then the findings we discuss I would ask how representation is seen in their everyday life.  Is this type of representation seen at school?  Are there times were people are mis-represented, and it affects them negatively?      

El fin

My favorite chunk of the reading that I read was the section on representation. I think Buckingham presents some really interesting points. I think it will be important to prove to students that media can be manipulated and is always subjective, not objective. This goes to show that those creating media can do basically anything they want to, and it’s up to the audience to determine whether or not they accept what the media creators are presenting. Buckingham said, “This is not to imply that they (media creators) are therefore deceiving audiences into mistaking representation for reality… audiences must compare media to their own experiences, making judgments about how ‘realistic’ they are”. As an audience, we need to be aware of the influence media has on us and make our own decisions from what we see. You can’t blame a media person for misrepresentation if you’re willing to accept a blatant lie.

For my activity, I’d like to show the difference between representations and how different influential factors, such as music, lighting, and cuts, can affect the overall message presented in the media. For example, I would show the video clip from Jurassic Park where the two children are trapped by the raptors in the kitchen. However, I would turn off the sound, and instead present the video clip with “My Little Buttercup” from “The Three Amigos”. All of the sudden, these scary raptors are funny dancing dinosaurs simply because you put the scene to different music. For my activity, I would ask the students to find a video clip with a very clear message, and then change the meaning of the clip by changing one aspect of the media. By doing this, students will be able to see how easy it is to influence an audience into believe things other than “the truth”.

Film Scenes

My idea would work both in the Theatre classroom, as well as an English classroom (I think). The idea is that, as a class, we would create film adaptations of a book. It could be the book that we are studying, or it could be randomly assigned text (or even personal choice). For example, if we are studying Much Ado About Nothing, students could choose 3-5 scenes to adapt for film. Over the course of the unit, students will be able to learn about production of the medium of film by storyboarding, collaborating, writing, and even filming. The example would give the students the opportunity to learn about the language of film through lecture, and then application as they discover how to tell their story and how to communicate their message. This idea would explore representation, and would encourage critical analysis as students develop their scenes. They would need to seriously analyze their scenes and determine what their scene is really telling about and what messages are being conveyed. Student would also need to know who their audience is. They would select a specific audience and design their adaptation for that audience.

This idea would be better for an entire unit, not just one specific activity. I guess the final activity would be the creation of the film. I know this idea isn’t fully fleshed out, but I think that there is potential to address all the key concepts that Buckingham writes about.

I hope that this activity is an exciting way to teach a theatre or English text through, and I think that aligning it with Buckingham’s principles would only make it stronger as an activity to teach media literacy.

Illuminated Texts: The Gateway to In Depth Media Analysis and Creation

My activity builds on Buckingham's "Translation" concept - I want my students to "translate" a short story into an "Illuminated Text." An Illuminated Text (IT) is the retelling of a story using words, color, animation, and sound, and is created with Power Point or Adobe Flash. For an example of an IT, visit this website and click on the "QuickTime" version of Hemingway's short story, "Cat in the Rain," or click here for an Illuminated version of a portion of Orwell's "1984." Also, here is an example of an IT for which the story itself was written by the student, who then translated her own composition into an IT.

 This activity will highlight the transition from text to visual medium, and could be used as a stepping stone to a film making project. The activity would be carried out as follows:

1.) Students would read a short story or a poem. While they read they would take notes on/highlight specific words or phrases that stood out to them for their descriptive nature or for their emotional effect. Students would compare notes, and a class discussion would ensue with the teacher guiding the students in order to discover how authors move their audience.

2.) Students would then watch an Illuminated Text for the short story/poem that they read. The students would view once and just watch; during the second viewing, students would take notes/fill out a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting the two tellings of the stories. The teacher would help the students to see what each medium has to offer and how the text is visually translated onto the screen. Students should also take note of the music and what it adds to the overall tone/presentation.

3.) Have students repeat Steps 1 and 2 with a different text if additional analysis practice is needed.

4.) Students take what they've learned from other texts and select a poem or short story and translate it into an Illuminated Text. Post students' texts onto an online blog, have a class viewing day, or have a viewing with students from other grades or classes so that students will have an authentic audience.

5.) Students should write a reflection in order to review what they learned about text, visuals, music, and how the two can work together to tell a story. If appropriate, students could be encouraged to make some observations about other media where different mediums (visuals, text, music) are blended together. This portion of the reflection could be used by the teacher to gauge what students have already noticed about other blended media.

Post of Ideas

Although these ideas don't really tie into the final unit that our group is doing, I thought they could be used as another unit.

My first idea inspired by Buckingham would be to have students research and compare the three largest daily newspapers in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Daily Herald and the Deseret News (or ones from the area in which I teach if it's not in Utah). The goal would be to have students compare and contrast the different papers according to Buckingham's four key concepts: production, language, representation and audience. Students would begin by researching how the different newspapers compare when they write about similar topics or news stories. They would do this by using both the daily newspapers AND looking at the newspaper's websites.
We would also look into the different audiences that the newspaper is appealing to. This information would be found through student research and I could also contact a reporter or editor from one or more of the papers to come and talk to my classes or at least answer some questions via e-mail. We could also look a little bit at how these Utah papers do things compared to larger papers like the New York Times or the Washington Post. I could read excerpts from the book Page One or the Kingdom and the Power about the New York Times.
The final part of the unit would be to research the difference in production for all the papers. We could research how papers are generally produced and I could even show the first few minutes of the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times and then we could contact the three newspapers and ask for information about how they produce their papers. Finally, we would take a field trip to the offices of one of the papers and take a tour. The final assignment would be for students to write a reflection on what they learned about the newspaper world and what they think will happen to newspapers in the future. This would be a good way for students to learn about the news that they consume - especially because one of the main text types that adults are exposed to is the news. This assignment would help them to be aware of how reporters and the news industry goes about finding and reporting on news stories. As adults, this would help them to decipher the hidden spin that is a part of a lot of news stories and it would help them to learn how to find credible news in their own lives.

My other idea would be to have students compare a play with it's movie adaption or multiple movie adaptions. We wouldn't necessarily have to watch all of the movies but we could read the play as a class and then as we read a scene we could watch a movie adaption about it. That way we get to see how things are altered to make sense for a movie versus a play on a stage. We could talk about how different things work for each type of media. I would also utilize individual and group work to have students analyze each interpretation and compare it to the other ones we have seen. The final project would be for students to write a persuasive essay about which interpretation they feel was most accurate to the author's intentions and why. Or for a theater class, I would have students perform a monologue from one of the characters in the play, but they would have to perform it as the character is presented in their favorite interpretation. Instead of writing a five paragraph essay, I would have them turn in a well-written paragraph when they do their monologue that explains why they chose the interpretation that they did. They would also have to provide a quick explanation for the class. E.g. "I'm _______ character from ________ interpretation. I chose this because ____________." You could do more activities to help students with their monologues, but the ultimate goal would be for them to perform using the information they glean from a particular interpretation of the play. Also, if their favorite interpretation is the actual play itself, unfettered from other people's ideas, that could work too. I hope that all makes sense.
Neither of those really have to do with Whirligig, but they could be used as other units that incorporate media and Buckingham's ideas.

Classroom Case Study

I was intrigued by Buckingham's thoughts on case studies, and it got me thinking about having my students do case studies (individually or in small groups) on a single broad topic, with each case study dealing with a more specific aspect of that topic.  For example, the class project could be about Joss Whedon, but individuals/groups might choose subjects such as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film/TV show/graphic novel), Dark Horse Comics, the dynamics of working with family in the industry, writing, directing, creating properties, musical composition and scoring, and so on.  I think it would be really interesting to see how the different topics feed into and inform one another.
I think a great way to begin such a project would be to have students brainstorm media topics, properties, and/or personalities in which/whom they're interested, then brainstorm different approaches they might take to studying the topic of interest.  (Hopefully, the class would latch onto one thing they're more interested in than the others through this process, but of course they can be steered that way if/when need be.)  Once a broad topic has been chosen, students could simply put their name down for the narrower topic they'd like to look into in their case study, and whether they'd like to do so on their own or as a group.
Once the case studies have been completed, the students should come up with a presentation for the class that includes some media (for example, if a student chose Dark Horse Comics, she might choose to produce her own comic, illustrating what she learned).  After all the case studies have been shared and discussed, discussion could then move to how the information and insights gathered inform the broader topic with which we began.
A fantastic final step would be to use the students' case studies and the media they've generated to create a single presentation, performance, or media event incorporating everything they've learned.

Done?

My idea would be to take a play text and use the students to research/discuss in detail, using Buckingham’s 4 areas of media analysis. This would work well as part of an advanced directing unit I think. I had the idea that it might be a good idea, instead of just using a typical Shakespeare text (although that could still work), to use something political, or something that had an impact on people, changed their minds. The first text that came to my head was Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and the prisoners of the San Quentin jail. This was the first place that this play was truly successful.

The students would read the script (and if possible, seeing a rendition of it might be good as well), then analyze it via the four media literacy areas – Production, Language, Representation, Audiences. This would help them to become very familiar with the script, but also to dig deeper and understand what the script is really trying to say, what the playwright intended it to say, and what audiences (either intended or not) are likely to get from it.

They could then turn this technique on other texts (though starting with something that was impactful to a specific audience will help them get the gist of it first I think), and create the proper meanings that they want to for their plays by attracting the right people for their audiences by advertising properly, and crafting a product for the audiences that they have, typically their neighbors.

Teaching Idea

A teaching idea for our units of instruction, inspired by the Buckingham reading seems like it should come more naturally than what I’m finding to be the case. Part of that is I feel like Buckingham just reiterates what Hobbs says, but just in a different way. So I’m going to take my inspiration from Buckingham in the fact that the different facets of understanding the media she talks about are present inside the teaching idea in one way or another. Those aspects she says we ought to focus on include: production, language, representation and audiences.

Our unit of instruction is focusing on storytelling through different media. One idea I had for this would come early on in the structure of the unit. Have 5 different media bits placed in different areas of the room (this can include a two minute clip from a podcast, a 2 minute portion of a music video, a photo essay, a written creative brief, non-fiction essay and a newspaper column). Have the students get into groups around each media. Give them a few minutes to just purely encounter the media, telling the students they only need to read the media and not necessarily delve any deeper than that with this first look at it. Then after everyone has looked over their specific medium, ask them to look at it again, only this time talking to each other about what makes this medium unique from other types of media. Have them write some of their findings down on a piece of paper for the group or a group worksheet you provide (tell the students they will report their findings to the class). Have the students look at their media again and this time talk to each other about what they think the story being told is and what the message of that story is. How does this medium tell the story specifically? Who is it for? All of these things are written on the worksheet. Have the students come together and share their media and findings. After each presentation, ask the students in general this question: How is performance a part of the way this medium tells its story? I think this connection needs to be partly made because it is a theatre class and the final goal would be to get the students to create their own story told through some sort of medium with a performative element (this goes along with the idea that you’ve talked about the fact that you can construe many many different things to be performance, writing an essay is a type of performance).

This teaching idea supports the ideas of representation and language and audience. Audience is found in the question of “who is this for?” language is present as the students investigate how the story is told specifically in the medium. And representation is maybe the trickiest, but I think it is most prevalent in the asking the students how performance is present in the creation and the actual product of the medium. How does the author represent himself in the piece? How is it a performance of the author’s identity or her perception of others’ identities? Those really are the most interesting questions to me inside of a secondary theatre class. But it would require quite a bit of background knowledge

This is the last post. So last. The lastest. So last.

Buckingham sure has a lot to say, doesn't he? Most of what he says is good for a new teacher trying to learn how to approach media literacy in the classroom, but I also think that he has a way of writing that makes it seem like he is the know-all end-all of this subject area. Maybe I am alone in this, but I was a bit nettled as I read. If he is trying to teach this to people that do not know much about it, perhaps he should keep his tech vocabulary reigned in more, and I disliked how he was always telling me what students "should do" in order to learn ________.

Tone aside, I got some ideas from this reading, and the one I am most interested in is one about language in media. You see, where I am from in Washington there are no high schools with a film program. At least if there are I have not heard anything about it. In my drama class we touched on it a little bit, because it was drama and not theatre specifically (though the focus was obviously on theatre, because it's the best). I am planning to teach a unit on film in my own theatre class and I feel like it is a great way to tie in all of those language questions he mentions. The language of film has always been an interest of mine. It is a language most of us know subconsciously now; it is one that most people do not put much thought into understanding - you just do. When you grow up with a language, you don't really ponder too much about how you understand it or why it is the way it is. It just... is. So I intend to have my students really think about the language that the cameras speak, and I want to bring in commercials and news reports into it.

For my film unit I plan on opening with clips from different genres of movies and asking the students to identify what genre it is based solely on the few screen shots or segments of the movies they see. The conversation will turn into a discussion about what clued them into what genre each clip was. I am hoping that an in-depth discussion will occur about the different messages each camera angle, lighting choice, and music track sends. This activity would bring in the bullet points he creates with genre, conventions, choices, and codes. The thing I have in mind most right now is the final assessment of the unit, and the actual lesson plans would be created in order to reach that. My idea is that my students would have to create a short film (which would bring in audience and production ideas that he mentions). This film will be like a TV show on Hulu; it must have at least 1 commercial interruption, which the students will create and place on their own.

I am simply excited to be able to work with students using various forms of media. I use media in my lessons all the time anyway, so I don't know if I will want to have a unit focusing on media literacy. I plan to lace it all over my lessons, taking time to explain certain media creators (such as Photoshop, Garage Band, etc.) only when it must be explained for a project. I am guessing most of my students will be able to use a lot of the things I will teach them to use either way. I am looking forward to learn more about different types of media as they become available so that I can tie it directly into my curriculum.

The Last Post

Buckingham had many ideas, to say the least.  The reading was interesting, and though I quite appreciated the teaching strategies at the end, what I most liked about this reading were the areas Buckingham defined when describing the field.  It is those that I would look to and utilize in my own classroom.  I utterly loved the questions he asked after each designation. 

In general, I think it would greatly benefit any teacher and any classroom to take each of these areas and each of these questions, and then form activities and classroom discussions around each one.  The questions are beautifully structured in that they are open-ended, invite the students to think, and are likely to inspire immediate opinions in the reader or listener.

For example, under “Studying Representation”, the question asked about the category of “Presence and Absence” is, “What is included and excluded from the media world?  Who speaks, and who is silenced?”  Before class, I would find a number of images and advertisements (some could even be playing on computers or iPods) that lend themselves well to the above question.  The question itself would be written on slips of paper and given to the students as they entered the classroom.  Upon receiving the paper, they would be instructed to read the question and ponder upon it as they slowly and silently walked around the classroom, looking at the images and advertisements provided.  (Judge how long the class needs, as it will vary with each class.)  When finished, the students would be asked to sit and write an answer to the question asked on the paper.   When all have had time to ponder, split them into groups to discuss their answers.  Eventually, each group will briefly present their answers/what they feel is most important to the class.  They would be given large pieces of paper so that they could write down their thoughts or create a poster to help them with their presentation. 

This is just one example of what could be done with the categories and questions provided by Buckingham.  However, I would not recommend just using his categories and questions; I would find and teach my own.  And, it must be noted, that doing an activity for every question could take a lengthy amount of time.  I would choose what subjects I feel are most important and go from there.  I may also spend more time on one activity and subject than I do on another. 

As for his strategies on teaching, I love that, as stated, “Broadly speaking, they all begin by recognizing the validity of the fact that students already know about the media; and they all involve active learning on the part of the students.  Nevertheless, they also implicitly assume that there are things students do not know, and that they need to learn.”  I have to admit, I struggle to find fault with that statement.  However, one thing that I must point out is that in today’s world, students know more and more about media and technology—often they know more that the adults that surround them.  I would adapt his teaching strategies to give the students a chance to teach what they know, as well as explore what they may be unfamiliar with. 

However, all is not roses and cotton candy—I did disagree with some of what Buckingham wrote and described.  For example, I strongly disagree with the wording of some of Buckingham’s teaching strategy descriptions.  For example, when speaking about textual analysis, he states (after telling the reader in detail how the students should describe the text), “Only when this process of detailed description is complete should the students move on to the second stage of textual analysis, where they are invited to consider the meaning of a text.”  Why?  Why?  Why in the world would you wait to invite students to find meaning in what they see?  I recognize the advantages that can come from having the students describe what they see, but in my classroom, as stated above, I want to give the students the opportunity to teach, because when a student teaches, they will retain more information.  Only by finding meaning, and then by describing why it means something to them will they truly learn, and remember what they saw.  And, in the process of teaching about the meaning they find, they will describe what they see as well, thereby fulfilling the first step that Buckingham states is so essential.

In short, Buckingham provides an excellent starting point, wonderful categories and questions, and some good ideas when it comes to teaching strategies.  He also provides an excellent place to start when trying to teach Media Education. However, Buckingham is not God, and therefore, as a teacher, I will take the good stuff, and as for the rest, I will take it with a grain of salt.  

Audition Simulation

I was intrigued by the section on simulation in the reading. We use simulations a lot in theatre lessons because the easiest way to understand something is by doing it (this can apply to a variety of subjects). For example, simulations could be used in lessons about the audition process and casting. Before doing this lesson make sure that all the students have a general gist of the story and the characters for the play you are working on in class. Also make sure that every student has done research on a monologue they would recite for this audition (something they know well enough to not have the paper glued to their nose but not necessarily memorized). Start the class by selecting four students to simulate a panel of judges casting for the show Much Ado About nothing (or whatever play you are working on). During the audition process be a director (teacher in-role) and after every monologue, or couple of monologues talk to the judges and ask them what they think and why that person would be good or not in the show. Rotate through judges and auditioners—you can switch after every four monologues or so. At the end of the simulation you can have a really good discussion about the auditioning process, students fears, and the difficulties of casting a show, especially when those who are auditioning are people you know. You can also analyze what is most important about the auditioning process for each student. The next class students could bring in media works (blogs about auditioning, pictures, videos, etc) that could help to solve some of the problems that were mentioned in the discussion the previous day.