Week 12: Activity #1 and #2

Element #1: Point of View

Salt
I think that the purpose of this story was to inform how salt is made. Perhaps these children created the video as part of a science or social studies project. This story is told by a child's point of view and through a child's voice. 

Fish Tank
I would have probably told the story from a student's point of view instead of an adult's.  I think that Val used the scrolling technique because it was more dramatic and allows the viewers to think more about the content.

Element #2: Dramatic Question

Are we making Guam ugly?
This was an interesting video. The dramatic question caught my attention along with the visual graphics and "pleasant" music. This question made me want to know more and kept my attention as I watched the video.

Seward Legend
This was a legend that was recreated by children. I'm not sure what the dramatic question was because I couldn't hear the children very well. To answer the question from the website, I recently watched Crazy, Stupid, Love and it had a surprise ending. I really enjoy getting a surprise ending, especially when so many movies that are made today have predictable endings.

Element #3: Emotional Content

Depression
The video begins with music that is emotionally "sad" and the images are of despair. Then the paradigm shifts, the music "brightens" and the images are more comforting. The text of the video helped convey this shift in emotions as well.

Elders
The first person point of view will hook viewers as well as discussion of a familiar subject to most, losing grandparents.

What is a stranger?
The message that makes this movie powerful is that it is something that we all fear. The dramatic question was: What is a stranger? I think that the video was predictable with images of adults who look like everyday people but could possibly be dangerous.

Element #4: The Gift of Your Voice

Salt and Poi
The impact of the narrator telling her story makes it more personal, which makes it more powerful and interesting for the viewer. It makes the audience feel that they are face to face with the storyteller.

Palauan Journeys
Having children narrate the story makes the images that are presented more powerful. It made me reminisce about my own childhood, even though the video was in a language that I do not know. Having the text presented makes it easier for the viewer to follow the story. I would encourage my students to include text in their videos. I think that the author included these images to magnify the message in the children's story.

Element #5: Soundtrack

Anuenue
When I think of a movie with a powerful soundtrack, I think of the original Halloween movie. The music helps to convey the plot in the movie and I get chills when I hear this music because it is just so eerie. It definitely makes your heart race!

Element #6: Economy

A Room for Maria
I think that the clips were timed appropriately for the most part, but there was a couple of incidents where the timing was off. The transitions seemed to be going backward (from right to left). I was able to think about what images would be included on the missing pieces.

Tara's Room
I could recognize the difference in sequence in this video. I like the transitions better, but the story doesn't seem to flow as well. I think that the clips were shown a little too long and maybe the narrator could have edited some parts of this story.

Dreams
I found this video hard to follow and it didn't flow well. The images were presented for two long and the story was jumbled.

Element #7: Pacing

Earthquake
The pacing of this story was quick which keeps the viewer from getting bored. I think that the narrator used breaks in speech adequately.

Small School
Humor is introduced through the images and music. The images at the end were shown too long and the break in the music just didn't seem right to me. These last images didn't really go with the rest of the video.

Activity #2

My dramatic question is going to be...Dear Grandma, your strength inspired me to get where I am today.
My opening line... Dear Grandma, I know you struggled throughout your life...