Visual Media - Introduction
Visual media, such as art, photos, and movies, use special techniques called "rules of notice" to guide what viewers pay attention to and how they feel about what they see. Understanding these rules helps both creators and those trying to understand the messages in visuals.
Reading Media
In this lesson, students are introduced to the idea of “reading media” through a medium’s rules of notice and the maker’s framing choices of what to include and what to emphasize. After a modeled and then guided introduction to these ideas, students analyze a work to identify how it uses rules of notice and framing and consider what meaning these choices communicate.Editing Emotions
In this lesson, students learn about the history of film editing and how shot composition, juxtaposition of images and the use of rhythm and repetition in film editing can affect the emotional impact of a film. Students begin by watching a video on the basics of film editing and answering questions to aid their comprehension. They then view and analyze a slideshow demonstrating basic ways in which the "building blocks" of film editing can affect a film's emotional impact, and discuss how this can affect a film's rating. Finally, students create their own film and/or storyboard, using the editing techniques they've learned to produce different emotional effects with the same collection of shots.
Exposing Gender Stereotypes - Lesson
This is the first of three lessons that address gender stereotypes. The objective of this lesson is to encourage students to develop their own critical intelligence with regard to culturally inherited stereotypes, and to the images presented in the media - film and television, rock music, newspapers and magazines.
Villains, Heroes and Heroines - Lesson
This lesson introduces students to some of the myth-building techniques of television by comparing super heroes and super villains from television to heroes and villains in the real world and by conveying how violence and action are used to give power to characters.