Media literacy through collaborative production

Process

While we offer many separate services, our ideal working relationship allows us to customize our integration of media education to fit your learning environment and curriculum -- from planning and preparation, through collaborative production, and on to sharing and assessment.

Here's an overview of how that process typically works followed by a sample video production unit plan:

  1. Introduction & Planning with staff
    Outline long- and short-term goals of the production process and product; Assign staff & student roles; Establish a production schedule;

  2. Media Literacy Introduction
    Gauge your group's level of media literacy; Define "media messages", "literacy" and "media literacy"; Discuss media in our environment; Discuss the unique ways the media we are working with communicate, and compare to traditional print-based media; View and deconstruct related works -- both print and their digital media adaptations;

  3. Model the Production Process
    Full demonstration of the production process; Production design and planning, creating and editing within the chosen medium;

  4. Staff Training
    Professional development workshops related to relevant technology; in-class co-teaching & "scaffolding"; project-based collaborative production workshops;

  5. The Collaborative Production Process
    Participating youth and educators gain understanding of the technical steps and decision-making process of digital media production by collaborating with TMS staff to produce original works; youth and educators ‘adapt' written works into production scripts, write original scripts, or research and outline a production plan; participants may execute various technical production roles throughout, but understand and discuss all aspects of each production;

  6. Sharing & Exhibition
    Community screenings and Q&A sessions with participating youth; Publishing productions to the Internet;

  7. Assessment
    Observational assessment throughout each production; Intermittent group discussions throughout each production; Self-assessment by participating youth and educators following each production;

Sample video production process (in a K-12 environment):

  1. Planning
    Each step in our production process follows professional development workshops with teachers to familiarize them with scripting, storyboarding, camera operation, and video editing, and planning sessions to analyze their learning environment and understand how production will best fit;

  2. Demonstration
    TMS will demonstrate the production process by leading a short video production with students;

  3. Writing
    Youth research & write essays, or select a completed piece of writing (published or of their own) to adapt for the screen (TMS will also consult with teachers and students on Internet research best practices as well);

  4. Adaptation
    Students and teachers work with TMS staff to adapt student essays into a video scripts;

  5. Storyboarding
    TMS works with students and teachers to decide how their words will translate into pictures and sound by creating storyboards;

  6. Shooting & Gathering
    Students work with TMS and their teachers to shoot video, gather images from the Internet and elsewhere that correspond to their video script and storyboards;

  7. Capturing & Importing
    Students capture video onto the computer, record any necessary narration, and import the video and other media they've collected into their video editing program;

  8. Editing
    Students pear down their collection of raw video footage and other media, and assemble the media elements according to their video scripts and storyboards;

  9. Compression & Uploading
    Students & Teachers work with TMS to compress their final production for display on DVD players, the Internet, or other media;

  10. Distribution
    Once the videos are complete and ready for show, TMS will help you present them to your community through on-site projections, and streaming video on your website and themediaspot.org;

  11. Reflection
    Students will reflect on their production experiences on class blogs or blogs on themediaspot.org, and answer questions about their productions at live screenings and on assessment surveys;

  12. Assessment
    When the process is complete TMS will meet with your staff to assess how well we met your goals, review the process and make a plan for how the video and process will fit into your future plans;