http://www.flickr.com/groups/ati2005 - photographs
http://tinyurl.com/6uhbv - ati evaluation
Richard Millwood keynote: presentation available @ http://improbability.ultralab.net/
Acting director Ultralab.
Potential - new capability augmented by tools. Growing global awareness in children & we should give them a chance to be moral leaders.
Society needs our children to be - Citizens, we want Peace, functional wealth - no pot of gold this can't be ignored. Culture.
From examinations we are rewarding - people who work alone, people who use memory but don't search, sit still & silent, only use paper and pens, forget.
Expression - what learners do
Evaluation - deciding if it's right.
Audience - thinking thoughts in response to listening watching or reading - does it make sense to me.
Presenter - speaking playing performing or doing - do other people understand me? Very important to do for extra feedback.
Writing, drawing, proving, planning or computing - feedback in a formal way.
Learning: to fulfill potential, to satisfy needs, together.
seeking for evaluation, persisting with different formulations until satisfied with feedback. Articulation of what you are trying to do is a learning process. Learning through explaining ideas to other people. Expression very important.
License to give children expressive, creative activities with group evaluation.
Learning with ICT:
inspire motivation - not just a better pencil. Culture of tools - civilization is founded on tools - live & breath tools. ICT in its widest forms is not just something on the side it is symbiotically linked to learning AND everything we do. It is functional!
enhance expressive creativity
empower evaluation
support perserverence
Tests for learning with ICT: expressive creativity + evaluative power
Dimensions in creative work:
Audience: articulating to others - self indulgent
Narrative: telling a story - effecting a reaction
Control: author determines - audience chooses
Last dimension newest. We are now a nation of channel hoppers - why? Because we have the tools to make choices. But at the other extreme we like the cinema. How do we design for the end of the spectrum where the audience make all the choices? That's the challenge.
Creative about...
strategy, creativity, vision, management,research,costs,conceptualization, collaboration, critique, development, evaluation, production, presentation.
What creativity means - lots of time and space.
Productivity v Creativity
Educational strategies...
QC - QA
teaching machines - learning tools
standardization - standards
interaction - participation
predictability - innovation
content - community
ivory tower research - practitioner research
piecemeal - joined-up
societal outcomes...
low value economy - high value economy
cultural conservation - cultural enrichment
dumbing down - smartening up
Why do we do creativity - not just for learning but for society.
Timescales: 10-20 years we are at the beginning of a revolution in education.
Challenges:
Unleash creativity...
...And collaboration
Rethink assessment - the biggest brake on change
trust the next generation...
...and teachers!
Discussion
Standards - need for open standards agreements to allow easier archiving and retention of work.
Tools - capability to become the heart of the education process. Is there any possibility that the politicians and society can embrace this? Need for this to be driven.
Assessment - deforming creativity. Models of learning matched in simplicity only bY models of assessment. Need to encourage and build on practicioner knowledge - critical mass could then allow practicioners to drive change.
Rethinking assessments is the challenge.
Mini ATI with David etc for all of SED advisors - link advisors etc.
My final note there of the keynote session reflects how I felt - that if we could just get some of our school advisors on one of these courses it could make such a difference. One of the big frustrations that we always have is that we have all this tachnology at our fingertips, but getting the message out to school leaders can be so hard - even something as technically simple as giving away some free software can be fraught with negativity - why? what does it do? whay would we need that? what if it doesn't work?
It seems that many of the educational thinkers in ICT are also thinkers in creativity and empowerment, though the challanges seem immense at the moment.
15 April 2005
14 April 2005
ATI 2005 day 3
Day 3: project day
Course evaluation - tinyurl.com/6uhbv
Day 3 is very much a do what you want day where in addition to learning new skills on an almost need-to-know basis indiviuals really get to grips with the processes of creating films rather than focussing on skill aquisition.
There were a couple of key group learning moments in this day just like last year. A group of us were trying to animate a sequence with a book opening and a page crumpling up. After much head scratching a passing peer suggested off-hand that it would be much quicker to just film the book opening (rather than animate it and then just animate the crumpling page.
The second one was that it isn't always necessary to do things in order. By crumpling up the page and animating the sequence in reverse it was far easier than tring to animate a piece of paper crupling into a ball. THe final shots were done with some increasingly less creased photocopies.
All of these were almost eureka moments that individually, or even as a small group we might have struggled to solve in the available time, but the large community came to our rescue pitching in ideas and possible solutions. In turn we through our own ideas into other peoples projects.
I also managed to find time to be filmed by various other groups and to complete a film to music sequence (all six 1/2 minutes) of one of our bands songs. I was really just doing it for pleasure but was persuaded to submit it. Definitely worth doing - seeing it on the big screen was something else! And it got applause!!! Just shows how important that evaluation stage is.
Course evaluation - tinyurl.com/6uhbv
Day 3 is very much a do what you want day where in addition to learning new skills on an almost need-to-know basis indiviuals really get to grips with the processes of creating films rather than focussing on skill aquisition.
There were a couple of key group learning moments in this day just like last year. A group of us were trying to animate a sequence with a book opening and a page crumpling up. After much head scratching a passing peer suggested off-hand that it would be much quicker to just film the book opening (rather than animate it and then just animate the crumpling page.
The second one was that it isn't always necessary to do things in order. By crumpling up the page and animating the sequence in reverse it was far easier than tring to animate a piece of paper crupling into a ball. THe final shots were done with some increasingly less creased photocopies.
All of these were almost eureka moments that individually, or even as a small group we might have struggled to solve in the available time, but the large community came to our rescue pitching in ideas and possible solutions. In turn we through our own ideas into other peoples projects.
I also managed to find time to be filmed by various other groups and to complete a film to music sequence (all six 1/2 minutes) of one of our bands songs. I was really just doing it for pleasure but was persuaded to submit it. Definitely worth doing - seeing it on the big screen was something else! And it got applause!!! Just shows how important that evaluation stage is.
13 April 2005
ATI 2005 day 2
Day 2 - Workshop Day.
Day 2 began with a keynote by Gerry Holsgrove, a writer and performer, which I missed as I had to dash back to Brum overnight. I have been told that one of the key elements was that teachers should ensure that pupils' creativity is expressed and that teachers' don't impose their creative ideas on pupils.
Podcast of it here :)
Day 2 Keynote
The remainder of the day is mostly manic - four workshop sessions between 9.30 am and 8.30pm. There was a wide selection of courses available, so the following can only cover those that I attended and shouldn't be taken as a prescriptive list :)
Session 1: Advanced DV Techniques with Oscar.
This session concentrated on film and animation production and how to shoot better footage and capture better sound. It was very much an open session; Oscar had prepared a list of what he thought were interesting topics and the group chose from these.
The session began with camera technique and how to shoot better images. The group discussed the ways in which depth of field and focal length could be used to separate the foreground subject from the background. We then used these techniques to film some footage in groups.
We then discussed sound and some equipment and techniques for capturing better sound - there was lots of input from the group on this on how to solve problems.
Finally Oscar demonstrated how to film with green or blue backgrounds for chromakey work. The key factor is producing an evenly lit backround, whilst avoiding shadows from the lighting on the subject. We also discussed the use of subject lighting and what to avoid (flourescent lights & mixing of light types).
Session 2: iLife in the Curriculum with John
This was an even more open session. Much less practical than other sessions, but much more student driven. It concentrated primarily on what was a creative project and how could it be realised. We were asked initially to list what we thought made a good creative project and then we discussed various aspects of these answers.
My initial responses:
1. Engagement - in making and viewing
2. Do-able in given time with available resources
3. Appeal to a broad spectrum of learners and learning types (multiple intelligences, personalised learning & individualisation)
4. Storytelling - a narrative gives focus
Other responses:
Ease of manageability - kit, time, task, individulisation
Media skills - photography and art links
Creativity & problem solving
We discussed these ideas as a group and reflected upon them throughout the remainder of the session.
We then looked at the idea of a project being more than a single activity leading to an outcome. We also looked at how exact, unambiguous instructions lead to exact replicas, whilst a list of parameters only would lead to students "filling in the blanks" and relating the instructions to their own experiences and ideas and would thus allow them to be creative. As an example we analysed a series of adverts - what made them similar what made them different? How were they constructed? How would we create a task to create similar adverts without being prescriptive.
Some ideas for creating projects were put forward such as using a random selection of ideas in a randomly selected style using slips of paper. We also looked at projects based upon emotions such as creating film to go with emotive music such as Holst's Planet Suite or creating music with a similar goal - to portray emotions.
Such project focus on doing rather than an academic model.
There was much discussion also of how this model of teaching and learning fits into the current model of assessment. At one end of the spectrum of views was the belief that the current models of assessment are just wrong: that criteria assessment models are never going to produce citizens of the future with real creative abilities. At the other end was the belief that the current model is, if not the best model, then model that we have and that whilst the idea of letting pupils have free reign is laudable it still has to be marked and that has to fit into the current educational process.
Personally I'm an idealist - I'm with Illich to a certain extent. It would be nice to have education that taught children how to think and create rather than how to pass GCSEs. Yes language and numeracy and science are important, but surely those skills (and they are just skills - a means, NOT an end) can be taught by doing other more creative things.
Quote of the session was from a child in a film - "Try it and delete it if it doesn't work". There's a lesson for all of us there about experiential learning.
My list of final responses to the question, "What makes a good project?"
1 Cross-curricular activity and collaberation
2 Embedded ICT - ICT is a tool, a fantastic and wonderful tool, but it's what it enables students to do that is truely wonderful.
3 Personalised learning centred on creativity.
Optional Session: Advanced Final Cut Pro with David
See, even when given the option of a bit of free time I'll go to a lesson. To be honest this was more of a play session for me. As David remarked, I probably know more about editing with FCP than he does, but since most of my work is firmly rooted in factual presentation I don't get to play around with chroma key effects very much.
This session was, like Oscar's, built around the idea of taking a selection of topics, investigating the tools available and how to use them and then actually using those tools ourselves to explore how we might use them in our future work.
It occurs to me that these sessions, like many IT related subjects could become very didactic if not handled well. Computer software will only react to set commands and if you want to achieve an effect you almost have to work in a certain way. So that using the tool becomes, if not drill, then at least a series of definite instructions. The challenge in teaching these skills is to keep in mind, and to develop in the students minds, that these are just skills, like using a spade or planting a seed. The real creativity lies in the application of these skills, along with other skills such as writing, speaking, operating a camera and acting that combine in synthesis to create a narrative in exactly the same way that using the skills of digging and planting combine with others to create a garden.
Perhaps the real issue in current education, particularly for schools, but increasingly in post-16 and FE is that the methods used to guage the attainment both of the student and of the institution focusses almost exclusively upon the aquisistion of skills and not upon the ability to synthesise and create. Much of the current administration's focus is upon "learning skills" to enable people to "find jobs". Is that what education should be about?
We run an annual digital storytelling competition in the West Midlands. More and more schools are submitting entries and we have begun to run training for those schools that wish to take part to teach them how to use the tools which they can then use to produce the stories. Though I am always amazed at the quality of entries each year, given the short amounts of time that these films are usually produced in, I'm still disappointed that the training that we do focusses almost exclusively on the skills of cutting and pasting clips of film and not on the process of speaking through the medium of film. It is a little like signing up for a class in creative writing only to be shown how to type, cut and paste words in a word processor. Obviously these skills are necessary to write using a word processor or to edit film on a computer, and learning new skills can speed up or ease the production process, but it is still the process that generates the outcome, not the skills.
I think that is why I love the ATI so much. Day 1 is always about the process - go and make a film, go and write a soundtrack to a film. Yes, we'll teach you just enough skills to do what you want to do, but it's the outcome that is important. People may have been bored rigid by the umpteenth version of the Cardiff film at teh end of day 1, but it was the film that was being critiqued, not the skills used to produce it. I'd hazzard a guess that no-one could tell which was made using Garageband and which was produced using Soundtrack (or Logic for that matter!).
Session 3: Podcasting and internet radio with Sean & Adam
Given that this was the final session of a very long day I was having real problems just listening to what Sean was saying about these new technologies let alone creating any media.
Sean's was probably the most cutting edge of the day's sessions. Some of the attendees felt that it was a little too vague, but I felt that it was possibly the most interesting and stimulating - perhaps I've just spent too much time editing video!
Podcasting is the merging of internet radio and blogging; it allows audio weblogs in mp3 format to be posted to a blog site. This isn't particularly new - the great thing is that by generating an RSS feed of the blog it is possible for clients agregator software to automatically download new content from subscribed sites. Once downloaded the audio files can be automatically copied to an mp3 player allowing you to listen to then away from the computer. This is probably what has led to their rapid growth more than anything else - there are not only music podcasts but current affairs shows, chat shows, technical shows and light entertainment shows all in podcast form.
Of course you can listen to podcasts on a computer. Also, although the name may imply otherwise, you don't have to use Macs and iPods to create and listen to podcasts. Podcasts are mp3 based and can be created by any software capable of creating audio files in that format (for instance the wonderfully free Audacity). Similarly podcast agregators are available for most computer platforms and will work with any mp3 player.
Podcasting is definitely something I'm looking forward to trying and it will certainly make producing "radio" programmes easier for schools.
The session also looked at the production of media for newer GPRS and 3G mobile phones. Neat, but limited at the moment until more people own phones with the capability (or perhaps sour grapes as don't have one!!). For those that are interested the latest versions of QuickTime can now compress video files into a format that can be downloaded to these phones.
Day 2 began with a keynote by Gerry Holsgrove, a writer and performer, which I missed as I had to dash back to Brum overnight. I have been told that one of the key elements was that teachers should ensure that pupils' creativity is expressed and that teachers' don't impose their creative ideas on pupils.
Podcast of it here :)
Day 2 Keynote
The remainder of the day is mostly manic - four workshop sessions between 9.30 am and 8.30pm. There was a wide selection of courses available, so the following can only cover those that I attended and shouldn't be taken as a prescriptive list :)
Session 1: Advanced DV Techniques with Oscar.
This session concentrated on film and animation production and how to shoot better footage and capture better sound. It was very much an open session; Oscar had prepared a list of what he thought were interesting topics and the group chose from these.
The session began with camera technique and how to shoot better images. The group discussed the ways in which depth of field and focal length could be used to separate the foreground subject from the background. We then used these techniques to film some footage in groups.
We then discussed sound and some equipment and techniques for capturing better sound - there was lots of input from the group on this on how to solve problems.
Finally Oscar demonstrated how to film with green or blue backgrounds for chromakey work. The key factor is producing an evenly lit backround, whilst avoiding shadows from the lighting on the subject. We also discussed the use of subject lighting and what to avoid (flourescent lights & mixing of light types).
Session 2: iLife in the Curriculum with John
This was an even more open session. Much less practical than other sessions, but much more student driven. It concentrated primarily on what was a creative project and how could it be realised. We were asked initially to list what we thought made a good creative project and then we discussed various aspects of these answers.
My initial responses:
1. Engagement - in making and viewing
2. Do-able in given time with available resources
3. Appeal to a broad spectrum of learners and learning types (multiple intelligences, personalised learning & individualisation)
4. Storytelling - a narrative gives focus
Other responses:
Ease of manageability - kit, time, task, individulisation
Media skills - photography and art links
Creativity & problem solving
We discussed these ideas as a group and reflected upon them throughout the remainder of the session.
We then looked at the idea of a project being more than a single activity leading to an outcome. We also looked at how exact, unambiguous instructions lead to exact replicas, whilst a list of parameters only would lead to students "filling in the blanks" and relating the instructions to their own experiences and ideas and would thus allow them to be creative. As an example we analysed a series of adverts - what made them similar what made them different? How were they constructed? How would we create a task to create similar adverts without being prescriptive.
Some ideas for creating projects were put forward such as using a random selection of ideas in a randomly selected style using slips of paper. We also looked at projects based upon emotions such as creating film to go with emotive music such as Holst's Planet Suite or creating music with a similar goal - to portray emotions.
Such project focus on doing rather than an academic model.
There was much discussion also of how this model of teaching and learning fits into the current model of assessment. At one end of the spectrum of views was the belief that the current models of assessment are just wrong: that criteria assessment models are never going to produce citizens of the future with real creative abilities. At the other end was the belief that the current model is, if not the best model, then model that we have and that whilst the idea of letting pupils have free reign is laudable it still has to be marked and that has to fit into the current educational process.
Personally I'm an idealist - I'm with Illich to a certain extent. It would be nice to have education that taught children how to think and create rather than how to pass GCSEs. Yes language and numeracy and science are important, but surely those skills (and they are just skills - a means, NOT an end) can be taught by doing other more creative things.
Quote of the session was from a child in a film - "Try it and delete it if it doesn't work". There's a lesson for all of us there about experiential learning.
My list of final responses to the question, "What makes a good project?"
1 Cross-curricular activity and collaberation
2 Embedded ICT - ICT is a tool, a fantastic and wonderful tool, but it's what it enables students to do that is truely wonderful.
3 Personalised learning centred on creativity.
Optional Session: Advanced Final Cut Pro with David
See, even when given the option of a bit of free time I'll go to a lesson. To be honest this was more of a play session for me. As David remarked, I probably know more about editing with FCP than he does, but since most of my work is firmly rooted in factual presentation I don't get to play around with chroma key effects very much.
This session was, like Oscar's, built around the idea of taking a selection of topics, investigating the tools available and how to use them and then actually using those tools ourselves to explore how we might use them in our future work.
It occurs to me that these sessions, like many IT related subjects could become very didactic if not handled well. Computer software will only react to set commands and if you want to achieve an effect you almost have to work in a certain way. So that using the tool becomes, if not drill, then at least a series of definite instructions. The challenge in teaching these skills is to keep in mind, and to develop in the students minds, that these are just skills, like using a spade or planting a seed. The real creativity lies in the application of these skills, along with other skills such as writing, speaking, operating a camera and acting that combine in synthesis to create a narrative in exactly the same way that using the skills of digging and planting combine with others to create a garden.
Perhaps the real issue in current education, particularly for schools, but increasingly in post-16 and FE is that the methods used to guage the attainment both of the student and of the institution focusses almost exclusively upon the aquisistion of skills and not upon the ability to synthesise and create. Much of the current administration's focus is upon "learning skills" to enable people to "find jobs". Is that what education should be about?
We run an annual digital storytelling competition in the West Midlands. More and more schools are submitting entries and we have begun to run training for those schools that wish to take part to teach them how to use the tools which they can then use to produce the stories. Though I am always amazed at the quality of entries each year, given the short amounts of time that these films are usually produced in, I'm still disappointed that the training that we do focusses almost exclusively on the skills of cutting and pasting clips of film and not on the process of speaking through the medium of film. It is a little like signing up for a class in creative writing only to be shown how to type, cut and paste words in a word processor. Obviously these skills are necessary to write using a word processor or to edit film on a computer, and learning new skills can speed up or ease the production process, but it is still the process that generates the outcome, not the skills.
I think that is why I love the ATI so much. Day 1 is always about the process - go and make a film, go and write a soundtrack to a film. Yes, we'll teach you just enough skills to do what you want to do, but it's the outcome that is important. People may have been bored rigid by the umpteenth version of the Cardiff film at teh end of day 1, but it was the film that was being critiqued, not the skills used to produce it. I'd hazzard a guess that no-one could tell which was made using Garageband and which was produced using Soundtrack (or Logic for that matter!).
Session 3: Podcasting and internet radio with Sean & Adam
Given that this was the final session of a very long day I was having real problems just listening to what Sean was saying about these new technologies let alone creating any media.
Sean's was probably the most cutting edge of the day's sessions. Some of the attendees felt that it was a little too vague, but I felt that it was possibly the most interesting and stimulating - perhaps I've just spent too much time editing video!
Podcasting is the merging of internet radio and blogging; it allows audio weblogs in mp3 format to be posted to a blog site. This isn't particularly new - the great thing is that by generating an RSS feed of the blog it is possible for clients agregator software to automatically download new content from subscribed sites. Once downloaded the audio files can be automatically copied to an mp3 player allowing you to listen to then away from the computer. This is probably what has led to their rapid growth more than anything else - there are not only music podcasts but current affairs shows, chat shows, technical shows and light entertainment shows all in podcast form.
Of course you can listen to podcasts on a computer. Also, although the name may imply otherwise, you don't have to use Macs and iPods to create and listen to podcasts. Podcasts are mp3 based and can be created by any software capable of creating audio files in that format (for instance the wonderfully free Audacity). Similarly podcast agregators are available for most computer platforms and will work with any mp3 player.
Podcasting is definitely something I'm looking forward to trying and it will certainly make producing "radio" programmes easier for schools.
The session also looked at the production of media for newer GPRS and 3G mobile phones. Neat, but limited at the moment until more people own phones with the capability (or perhaps sour grapes as don't have one!!). For those that are interested the latest versions of QuickTime can now compress video files into a format that can be downloaded to these phones.
12 April 2005
ATI 2005 day 1
Day 1 of the Apple Teacher Institute 2005.
This is my third attendance at the ATI having been in 2003 & 4. It is a four day residential course/workshop/seminar on digital media and the curriculum.
The teaching for day 1 begins after lunch with the usual preliminaries and then a keynote lecture by Neil Brand an actor and film composer.
We were taken on a journey through film and sound examining the relationship between score and visuals and prompting us to think about how sound can be used to reinforce the visuals or to run counter to the visuals (Vertigo, Mississippi Burning, an early film about four people in a Berlin Park). Neil used film to demonstrate the points he was making asking us to work through the "spotting" process. At various points he would stop the film and ask us what we though the film or music were trying to convey and what we thought would happen next.
We examined the titles for "Speed"; Neil showed us how, although the titles (descending through a lift shaft) had little to do with the overall film the soundtrack subconsciously took us through the entirety of the film somewhat like and overture.
In the case of "Vertigo" when Jimmy Stuart was following the wife, the score was constructed to allay our sense of foreboding so that we felt the same sense of shock and surprise as Jimmy Stuart when the wife throws herself into the river.
The penultimate piece was purely an exercise in spotting - could we see the important scenes and pivotal moments in a few minutes of footage. What messages did the visuals convey and how did they maintain our interest?
The final piece looked at how music can be used to soften the impact of violence or disturbing scenes. In "Mississippi Burning" Alan Parker uses music over the scene of the black church-goers being beaten by the Klan members to initially soften the impact of the images. The soundtrack is at odds with the images and it isn't until the music stops dead that the whole horror of the scene rushes in at us.
Neil asked us to watch for this "trick" - in the hands of a director of Alan Parker's integrity it is a powerful storytelling tool, but it could also be used by a more unscrupulous director to manipulate the audience. An interesting observation was how much music is being used in news programmes...
The remainder of the day was spent learning to use Garageband and Soundtrack to create music for film. The session was organised as a seminar/workshop. It began with a taught session that covered the mechanics of the software. We were then left to work individually or in groups to create a soundtrack for a pre-recorded piece of footage with support from the tutor. This gave us time to reflect upon the task and produce a creative piece of work using the available tools.
We also had chance to discuss with others and to learn from each other. Much of the learning that went on was peer based with those with more experience of the software enabling others to achieve the results that they wanted.
The day culminated in the evening with a showcase of the students work for the day. Which gave everyone the chance to see their own work and to evaluate it in the context of others work. This evaluation session is a key factor in creative endeavours - not only is it the pay off for the hours of hard, sometimes frustrating, work, but it is also a learning opportunity. How did others approach the task? What did I do that was good? What was not as good? How would I do things differently next time? What have I learned? It really is a reflective process and fits very well with models of learning such as Kolb.
This is my third attendance at the ATI having been in 2003 & 4. It is a four day residential course/workshop/seminar on digital media and the curriculum.
The teaching for day 1 begins after lunch with the usual preliminaries and then a keynote lecture by Neil Brand an actor and film composer.
We were taken on a journey through film and sound examining the relationship between score and visuals and prompting us to think about how sound can be used to reinforce the visuals or to run counter to the visuals (Vertigo, Mississippi Burning, an early film about four people in a Berlin Park). Neil used film to demonstrate the points he was making asking us to work through the "spotting" process. At various points he would stop the film and ask us what we though the film or music were trying to convey and what we thought would happen next.
We examined the titles for "Speed"; Neil showed us how, although the titles (descending through a lift shaft) had little to do with the overall film the soundtrack subconsciously took us through the entirety of the film somewhat like and overture.
In the case of "Vertigo" when Jimmy Stuart was following the wife, the score was constructed to allay our sense of foreboding so that we felt the same sense of shock and surprise as Jimmy Stuart when the wife throws herself into the river.
The penultimate piece was purely an exercise in spotting - could we see the important scenes and pivotal moments in a few minutes of footage. What messages did the visuals convey and how did they maintain our interest?
The final piece looked at how music can be used to soften the impact of violence or disturbing scenes. In "Mississippi Burning" Alan Parker uses music over the scene of the black church-goers being beaten by the Klan members to initially soften the impact of the images. The soundtrack is at odds with the images and it isn't until the music stops dead that the whole horror of the scene rushes in at us.
Neil asked us to watch for this "trick" - in the hands of a director of Alan Parker's integrity it is a powerful storytelling tool, but it could also be used by a more unscrupulous director to manipulate the audience. An interesting observation was how much music is being used in news programmes...
The remainder of the day was spent learning to use Garageband and Soundtrack to create music for film. The session was organised as a seminar/workshop. It began with a taught session that covered the mechanics of the software. We were then left to work individually or in groups to create a soundtrack for a pre-recorded piece of footage with support from the tutor. This gave us time to reflect upon the task and produce a creative piece of work using the available tools.
We also had chance to discuss with others and to learn from each other. Much of the learning that went on was peer based with those with more experience of the software enabling others to achieve the results that they wanted.
The day culminated in the evening with a showcase of the students work for the day. Which gave everyone the chance to see their own work and to evaluate it in the context of others work. This evaluation session is a key factor in creative endeavours - not only is it the pay off for the hours of hard, sometimes frustrating, work, but it is also a learning opportunity. How did others approach the task? What did I do that was good? What was not as good? How would I do things differently next time? What have I learned? It really is a reflective process and fits very well with models of learning such as Kolb.
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