Articles referenced:
- Tapping Into Active Learning and Multiple Intelligences With Interactive Multimedia: A Low-Threshold Classroom Approach, (2008) by Tom Schrand
- Integrated Instruction: Multiple Intelligences and Technology, (2007) by Ian J. McCoog
- Multimedia Information and Learning, (1996) by Lawrence J. Najjar
------------------------------
Creating a movie is a form of expression that opens many doors for students of a variety of intelligences. As a result, I thought it was important to create a movie that would give students an overview of the whole movie making process. Making a movie can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it, depending on the quality of the finished product. Make no mistake that the process requires an investment of time, energy and planning. But the rewards that movie making can bring due to its ability to allow each student to utilize their learning style(s) can be amazing.
When making a movie, you need to start with a storyboard. This tool supports logical-mathematical learners because it helps them solve the problem of what is the best way to organize the story components so that it will make sense to the audience. The learner must answer questions about volume levels, types of transitions, video vs. still images, and when and where to deploy there various multimedia pieces throughout the movie timeline.
While not all movies involve dialog (our “introduction” project demonstrated how images can be a powerful medium for telling a story), many do and a movie’s script can make-or-break the success of the message being communicated. Script writing is where linguistic learners can shine and devise interesting ways of expressing ideas. For my movie, I wanted to show how the written word can be more powerful than the video, illustrated by the example of text stealing the spotlight in step three from yours truly.
Spatial and musical learners are valuable strengths in movie making since it is through these two mediums that all story components are communicated to the audience. In my final project I needed to find that happy medium between which visual/audio components best support the story and which components are just plain cool. Sometimes the picture-in-a-picture component was the best choice, other times it was using the green screen tool, and yet there were instances that involved going outside of the iMovie application to Keynote to introduce an animated component to the scene.
Bodily-Kinesthetic learners are presented with a unique choice when it comes to movie making, especially with the advancements in video-editing software: when should the actors try to use a real location for a scene versus creating a virtual location using green screen tools to best tell this part of the story? In my movie there were some scenes where it was just easier to find a real location to film the scene (e.g. the school stage and podium) while other times being able to travel virtually to another place using a green screen (e.g. the pirate/Harry Potter clips) was vital to the success of the scene.
In evaluating my final project with respect to multiple learning techniques, some interesting points came to mind. In Najjar’s paper he talks about “redundant multimedia” as a way to improve learning because its method, pace and type of interactivity is consistent. The beauty of movie making, especially an instructional movie like mine, is that the user can replay all or part of the video as many times as they want. While not part of my final project, I have seen strong evidence for this in providing support to my staff and their MLTI laptops. In this example, my old way of PDF tutorial documents were not utilized by staff, but when I created video “screencasts” of my tutorials instead my audience responded quite positively to learning via this medium because they could play, pause and re-play the video as many times as they needed.
Another learning technique that Najjar discusses, the dual coding of information, lends itself very nicely to the medium of movie making. According to the theory, information is processed via two channels: verbal information such as text or audio and nonverbal information such as imagery and sound. As students work through their movie, in both the storyboard stage and the editing stage, they must constantly evaluate which channel will best communicate the scene in support of the overall story. Sometimes a simple text slide can be more powerful than a video clip with green screen effects applied, or the right sound effect/soundtrack can help complete a scene. One of the benefits of our “The Making Of…” assignment was learning about movie soundtracks and how much work goes into its construction so to successfully support the scenes in the movie.
In conclusion, this final project has provided me with insight into the power that multimedia projects can have in reaching students with a variety of intelligences. Everyone has a story to tell, and students are no exception to this rule. If anything, middle school students have a greater need to tell their stories as they work to define themselves and what makes them unique. I hope that my How to Make a Movie project will be a helpful tool for teachers who want to integrate a movie component into their curriculum and that the skills I’ve learned in making a movie will make me a better support resource for both students and teachers in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment