I've added one more "subject" to the list...here's the the final list:
1. Hildene (Robert Todd Lincoln home)
2. Northshire Bookstore
3. Southern Vermont Art Center
4. Dorset Playhouse
5. "Life After Dark" - Arts in the Businesses initiative.
6. Jano Grey - Potter
7. Alison Kibbe - Artist
8. Manchester Glass - Glass blowing
9. Chamber of Commerce - need sound on importance of the arts and creative economy initiative. These bites will be used as a segway between different subjects as well as start and finish of piece.
10. American Museum of Fly Fishing
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Update on Project
Some Notes:
1. I noticed on 5/19/07 that the Summer Service Project with GNAT-TV is posted on BBA's website under service learning w/ description of session and dates/time. A good step in the right direction!!
2. I emailed Jen Hyatt today (5/24/07) to check in and see how the sign-ups were going...expressing that because this project is part of my thesis project for Grad School that I needed to have an idea whether there was any interest. The response was that students have until June 11 to officially sign up, but there were already 2 students signed up and ready to go. Another good sign.
1. I noticed on 5/19/07 that the Summer Service Project with GNAT-TV is posted on BBA's website under service learning w/ description of session and dates/time. A good step in the right direction!!
2. I emailed Jen Hyatt today (5/24/07) to check in and see how the sign-ups were going...expressing that because this project is part of my thesis project for Grad School that I needed to have an idea whether there was any interest. The response was that students have until June 11 to officially sign up, but there were already 2 students signed up and ready to go. Another good sign.
Updated List of "Subjects"
Due to a snag in my work schedule, I won't be able to shoot the memorial day "Open Studio" - but that doesn't hurt the project, as a lot of these artists are always working in their studios. Also, after some thought, I don't think including the car show would be a good move. The intent of this piece is to focus on arts and culture that are going on all the time in the area, and the car show is just one of several events held every year...it isn't something that people would see if they were to come in the fall. Here's a list of the people/businesses that I intend to send letters to regarding this summer initiative:
1. Hildene (Robert Todd Lincoln home)
2. Northshire Bookstore
3. Southern Vermont Art Center
4. Dorset Playhouse
5. "Life After Dark" - Arts in the Businesses initiative.
6. Jano Grey - Potter
7. Alison Kibbe - Artist
8. Manchester Glass - Glass blowing
9. Chamber of Commerce - need sound on importance of the arts and creative economy initiative. These bites will be used as a segway between different subjects as well as start and finish of piece.
1. Hildene (Robert Todd Lincoln home)
2. Northshire Bookstore
3. Southern Vermont Art Center
4. Dorset Playhouse
5. "Life After Dark" - Arts in the Businesses initiative.
6. Jano Grey - Potter
7. Alison Kibbe - Artist
8. Manchester Glass - Glass blowing
9. Chamber of Commerce - need sound on importance of the arts and creative economy initiative. These bites will be used as a segway between different subjects as well as start and finish of piece.
Idea as to Day-to-Day Breakdown
Here's a breakdown of what I foresee the day-to-day breakdown being for this two week session:
Day 1 (Monday)
To Do:
1. Tour of GNAT - discuss "behind the scenes" roles of productions.
2. Get everyone acquainted.
3. Explain end goal of project - talk about parties already involved in the project. Find out if any students have particular wants as to the "subject" they focus on.
4. Show the group some of my work, talk about the way the story is told, talk about composition.
5. Shot composition - b-roll and interview. Do's and Don'ts. Follow this up by activity on composition (done in pairs, come back together and end to discuss).
Day 2 (Tuesday)
To Do:
1. "7 Deadly Camera Sins" - hand out from Garrett.
2. Review of composition from the day before.
3. Camera overview (Tripod as well). Prior to this lesson, I need to get a camera and take stills of it for a handout for students.
4. White balance - Why it's important (Activity)
5. Activity - Get kids into groups and have them shoot stuff around the student to get comfortable with gear, and to troubleshoot potential problems.
Day 3 (Wednesday)
To Do: Gather group for evening shoot of "Life After Dark" running 6pm-8pm (kickoff prior). Group should be assembled Monday as to prepare. Doesn't need to be everyone. Anyone not able to participate in evening event has the day off - evening shoot is activity of the day. It's possible shoot will start earlier than 6pm as there will be a kick-off to this new arts initiative.
Day 4 (Thursday)
To Do:
1. Review previous night w/ group - what worked, what didn't.
2. 2 Shoots to accomplish (1 hour each)
Day 5 (Friday)
To Do:
1. Morning shoot.
2. Morning - Touch base, see how every one's doing, talk about the week ahead. See if there are any problems, etc.
3. Evening shoot - Northshire Bookstore (possibility). Crew for this should be selected Wednesday or Thursday.
Day 6 (Monday)
To Do:
1. 2 Shoots to accomplish (1 hour each)
Day 7 (Tuesday)
To Do:
1. 1 shoot to accomplish
2. Shoot b-roll of downtown Manchester and Dorset area. (Dorset may be able to be done when we are in town shooting potential subjects earlier in project)
Day 8 (Wednesday)
To Do:
1. Final Cut Overview
2. Activity - have students begin to ingest and edit footage.
Day 9 and 10 are dedicated to editing things together and troubleshooting problems. Whatever doesn't get finished by the students I will finish on my own time. What's important is that the kids get a sense of the whole project.
Day 1 (Monday)
To Do:
1. Tour of GNAT - discuss "behind the scenes" roles of productions.
2. Get everyone acquainted.
3. Explain end goal of project - talk about parties already involved in the project. Find out if any students have particular wants as to the "subject" they focus on.
4. Show the group some of my work, talk about the way the story is told, talk about composition.
5. Shot composition - b-roll and interview. Do's and Don'ts. Follow this up by activity on composition (done in pairs, come back together and end to discuss).
Day 2 (Tuesday)
To Do:
1. "7 Deadly Camera Sins" - hand out from Garrett.
2. Review of composition from the day before.
3. Camera overview (Tripod as well). Prior to this lesson, I need to get a camera and take stills of it for a handout for students.
4. White balance - Why it's important (Activity)
5. Activity - Get kids into groups and have them shoot stuff around the student to get comfortable with gear, and to troubleshoot potential problems.
Day 3 (Wednesday)
To Do: Gather group for evening shoot of "Life After Dark" running 6pm-8pm (kickoff prior). Group should be assembled Monday as to prepare. Doesn't need to be everyone. Anyone not able to participate in evening event has the day off - evening shoot is activity of the day. It's possible shoot will start earlier than 6pm as there will be a kick-off to this new arts initiative.
Day 4 (Thursday)
To Do:
1. Review previous night w/ group - what worked, what didn't.
2. 2 Shoots to accomplish (1 hour each)
Day 5 (Friday)
To Do:
1. Morning shoot.
2. Morning - Touch base, see how every one's doing, talk about the week ahead. See if there are any problems, etc.
3. Evening shoot - Northshire Bookstore (possibility). Crew for this should be selected Wednesday or Thursday.
Day 6 (Monday)
To Do:
1. 2 Shoots to accomplish (1 hour each)
Day 7 (Tuesday)
To Do:
1. 1 shoot to accomplish
2. Shoot b-roll of downtown Manchester and Dorset area. (Dorset may be able to be done when we are in town shooting potential subjects earlier in project)
Day 8 (Wednesday)
To Do:
1. Final Cut Overview
2. Activity - have students begin to ingest and edit footage.
Day 9 and 10 are dedicated to editing things together and troubleshooting problems. Whatever doesn't get finished by the students I will finish on my own time. What's important is that the kids get a sense of the whole project.
Meeting with Frederick 5/18/07
Meeting time: 2pm at BCAT
Discussed:
1. Deliverables: All seem to be okay to this point. Frederic to let me know if something looks out of place.
2. I am to make a formal list of what will be handed to MCGC and advisor (i.e. what are the deliverables leading up to).
3. Talked to Frederic about the types of methods that he uses to keep the attention of students/adults that attend workshops at he has worked on before. Suggested that I mix up the "mediums" of delivery so that attentions can be kept.
Discussed:
1. Deliverables: All seem to be okay to this point. Frederic to let me know if something looks out of place.
2. I am to make a formal list of what will be handed to MCGC and advisor (i.e. what are the deliverables leading up to).
3. Talked to Frederic about the types of methods that he uses to keep the attention of students/adults that attend workshops at he has worked on before. Suggested that I mix up the "mediums" of delivery so that attentions can be kept.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Arts & Culture events interested in...
Here's a list of the Arts & Culture events that I currently would like to see featured in this piece that we will be compiling:
1. The Antique Car Show (Meaghan to shoot B-Roll, Students to shoot Interview, as event occurs before summer session)
2. Open Studio - 2 artists/artisans - Bill LaBerge, Furniture maker would be a great choice, and another local artist. (Meaghan to shoot B-Roll Memorial Day Weekend, Students to shoot Interview, as event occurs before summer session)
3. Dorset Playhouse
4. Life After Dark
5. Hildene
6. Southern Vermont Arts Center
7. Northshire Bookstore
I would like to find at least another 1-2 things to focus on that may have a bit more of the culture piece...but I think these are a good start.
1. The Antique Car Show (Meaghan to shoot B-Roll, Students to shoot Interview, as event occurs before summer session)
2. Open Studio - 2 artists/artisans - Bill LaBerge, Furniture maker would be a great choice, and another local artist. (Meaghan to shoot B-Roll Memorial Day Weekend, Students to shoot Interview, as event occurs before summer session)
3. Dorset Playhouse
4. Life After Dark
5. Hildene
6. Southern Vermont Arts Center
7. Northshire Bookstore
I would like to find at least another 1-2 things to focus on that may have a bit more of the culture piece...but I think these are a good start.
Meeting with Garrett 4/26/07
I met with Garrett on April 26th at 10am to discuss a few parts and pieces of the Summer Session. Here's what was discussed and what was accomplished:
1. Firmed up the dates for the session. We opted for a Monday-Friday from 9am-Noon, June 18-22 and 25-29. There is an understanding that a few of these days we will probably meet in the evening due to the timing of some of the arts and culture events that are going on in the community. For instance, Life After Dark, a new arts initiative starts at 6pm on June 20th...so I will probably ask a few students if they could join me that evening instead of during the day so that we could shoot the event.
2. Called and spoke with Jen Hyatt at Burr and Burton Academy. Jen Hyatt is in charge of all the Service Learning projects at the school...and we called to make sure that we made it clear we were definitely interested in taking part in the summer session. We also wanted to make sure that the dates that we were thinking of weren't conflicting with graduation, etc...or if she thought we should push things off to a later date. She confirmed that the dates seemed fine and that she would add us to the list that students will have access to to choose their summer service project.
3. Discussed a possible name for the Initiative. Garrett seemed to like "Arts Alive"...I will have to check with Beth Meachem, head of the Greater Manchester Arts Council to see if that will be a problem being that Burlington uses that name for there arts initiative in town that is similar to that of the "Life After Dark" campaign in our region.
4. I talked to Garrett about the editing portion of our Summer Initiative. GNAT-TV uses Final Cut Pro, which is a program that I am not familiar with. He is going to try and find time for one of his workers to give me the overview on the program (most important commands, etc). That way I will be prepared to teach the kids how to use the program which will be important for week 2 of the summer initiative.
1. Firmed up the dates for the session. We opted for a Monday-Friday from 9am-Noon, June 18-22 and 25-29. There is an understanding that a few of these days we will probably meet in the evening due to the timing of some of the arts and culture events that are going on in the community. For instance, Life After Dark, a new arts initiative starts at 6pm on June 20th...so I will probably ask a few students if they could join me that evening instead of during the day so that we could shoot the event.
2. Called and spoke with Jen Hyatt at Burr and Burton Academy. Jen Hyatt is in charge of all the Service Learning projects at the school...and we called to make sure that we made it clear we were definitely interested in taking part in the summer session. We also wanted to make sure that the dates that we were thinking of weren't conflicting with graduation, etc...or if she thought we should push things off to a later date. She confirmed that the dates seemed fine and that she would add us to the list that students will have access to to choose their summer service project.
3. Discussed a possible name for the Initiative. Garrett seemed to like "Arts Alive"...I will have to check with Beth Meachem, head of the Greater Manchester Arts Council to see if that will be a problem being that Burlington uses that name for there arts initiative in town that is similar to that of the "Life After Dark" campaign in our region.
4. I talked to Garrett about the editing portion of our Summer Initiative. GNAT-TV uses Final Cut Pro, which is a program that I am not familiar with. He is going to try and find time for one of his workers to give me the overview on the program (most important commands, etc). That way I will be prepared to teach the kids how to use the program which will be important for week 2 of the summer initiative.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Capstone Work to Date
Here's a list of my activities with the Burr and Burton students I have been working with with Garrett McCarey for his current Service Learning project. I have been attending and helping out with these sessions as to gauge the types of things that could be improved upon for my summer intensive.
MARCH
6th:
Activities - Went over camera in a simplistic way to make sure that they knew the important buttons, things to check, etc. We also covered a handout entitled "7 Deadly Camera Sins". Students were then asked to explain why each item listed on the handout wouldn't be a good thing to do as a photographer/journalist. We also covered the basics of the tripod that GNAT-TV uses. This was a pretty straight forward workshop on the "how to's"...and the students were encouraged to try out the camera and play with the buttons.
Thoughts - I would have liked to have seen framing and composition covered a little more in this session. Instead of handing the kids the camera and saying "go for it...try it out"...I would have liked to see a more structured approach. I think having fun and playing around is ok...but felt as though there were a few points that were missing a little depth (ie. rule of thirds, etc).
13th:
Activities - Students in this Service Program were to choose another service activity (ie. brothers and sisters, painting the local library, habitat for humanity) that their peers were working on and document the groups doing their service activity. The end product was to be a compilation of the service activities with commentary, etc. The meeting on this day was to touch base with the students involved in our service project and make sure that they had contacted the person in charge of their particular service program. We planned a few interviews as a result of the check-in.
Thoughts - While I liked the idea of making the students responsible for finding the contacts for these projects...I felt like you were setting the project for bumps in the road and failure. The students had so much on their plates that making contact with teachers they don't see at all in their day was asking a bit much. At the college level I could see students being in charge of their contacts...but in this setting students didn't follow through and it put the project on hold until they finished their end of the communication. I think dealing with kids at this age, setting things up for them is the smoothest plan.
20th:
Activities - Interview with Jen Hyatt, director of service learning. One student interviewed, one student was the photographer for the interview, and the other 3 took turns shooting the interviewer and the photographer (as to document their service learning project) for B-roll. Students learned the concepts of moving around to capture action and made sure that the interviewee felt comfortable. Students were asked to draft 10 interview questions for Ms. Hyatt and she was able to look at them prior to the taped interview.
Thoughts - While it was a good idea to have students come prepared with questions, some questions were missed along the way, so Garrett and I asked questions of Jen that would fill the gaps that the students didn't get to. Looking over the interview questions prior to actually going to the interview would have been a better approach to refine the questions that the students were looking to ask. It would have also given the students a chance to understand that their questions needed a little more depth.
APRIL
3rd:
Activities - Because the students weren't able to set up any interviews for their projects at this point, students interviewed themselves regarding their service learning project. We did 6 interviews...covering various learning projects that the students took part in last term and talked about their experience in the current term with GNAT-TV.
Thoughts - This was a frustrating activity. The students were making fun of each other while each other was being interviewed...and the interviewee couldn't focus. They weren't prepared with questions that wouldn't bring forth a yes, no, or short answer so there wasn't a lot of usable material that came out of this. I ended up asking questions of the students to ensure that there would be some material to use in the editing process. In the future, if you're going to do something like this, I think there is a need for separation of the students...and better preparation. I felt like the decision for the activity on this day wasn't thought out very well...and we were just trying to fulfill hour commitments to the program.
MARCH
6th:
Activities - Went over camera in a simplistic way to make sure that they knew the important buttons, things to check, etc. We also covered a handout entitled "7 Deadly Camera Sins". Students were then asked to explain why each item listed on the handout wouldn't be a good thing to do as a photographer/journalist. We also covered the basics of the tripod that GNAT-TV uses. This was a pretty straight forward workshop on the "how to's"...and the students were encouraged to try out the camera and play with the buttons.
Thoughts - I would have liked to have seen framing and composition covered a little more in this session. Instead of handing the kids the camera and saying "go for it...try it out"...I would have liked to see a more structured approach. I think having fun and playing around is ok...but felt as though there were a few points that were missing a little depth (ie. rule of thirds, etc).
13th:
Activities - Students in this Service Program were to choose another service activity (ie. brothers and sisters, painting the local library, habitat for humanity) that their peers were working on and document the groups doing their service activity. The end product was to be a compilation of the service activities with commentary, etc. The meeting on this day was to touch base with the students involved in our service project and make sure that they had contacted the person in charge of their particular service program. We planned a few interviews as a result of the check-in.
Thoughts - While I liked the idea of making the students responsible for finding the contacts for these projects...I felt like you were setting the project for bumps in the road and failure. The students had so much on their plates that making contact with teachers they don't see at all in their day was asking a bit much. At the college level I could see students being in charge of their contacts...but in this setting students didn't follow through and it put the project on hold until they finished their end of the communication. I think dealing with kids at this age, setting things up for them is the smoothest plan.
20th:
Activities - Interview with Jen Hyatt, director of service learning. One student interviewed, one student was the photographer for the interview, and the other 3 took turns shooting the interviewer and the photographer (as to document their service learning project) for B-roll. Students learned the concepts of moving around to capture action and made sure that the interviewee felt comfortable. Students were asked to draft 10 interview questions for Ms. Hyatt and she was able to look at them prior to the taped interview.
Thoughts - While it was a good idea to have students come prepared with questions, some questions were missed along the way, so Garrett and I asked questions of Jen that would fill the gaps that the students didn't get to. Looking over the interview questions prior to actually going to the interview would have been a better approach to refine the questions that the students were looking to ask. It would have also given the students a chance to understand that their questions needed a little more depth.
APRIL
3rd:
Activities - Because the students weren't able to set up any interviews for their projects at this point, students interviewed themselves regarding their service learning project. We did 6 interviews...covering various learning projects that the students took part in last term and talked about their experience in the current term with GNAT-TV.
Thoughts - This was a frustrating activity. The students were making fun of each other while each other was being interviewed...and the interviewee couldn't focus. They weren't prepared with questions that wouldn't bring forth a yes, no, or short answer so there wasn't a lot of usable material that came out of this. I ended up asking questions of the students to ensure that there would be some material to use in the editing process. In the future, if you're going to do something like this, I think there is a need for separation of the students...and better preparation. I felt like the decision for the activity on this day wasn't thought out very well...and we were just trying to fulfill hour commitments to the program.
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