In a recent #SXSW Keynote by Adam Savage of MythBusters, he shared that movies do a great job of making art accessible to even the most art-ignorant of people (this is not a direct quote). He also discussed the importance of story for the STEM (STEAM) fields.
Although these are both alcohol commercials and I am not in anyway attempting to promote these products, I think one does a great job of telling a heartfelt story to sell their product. The other well...I think it is selling something else and the story doesn't make complete sense. At the end, I am left asking, "who the heck is Angus?" But, I'm sure that was intentional. I thought I would share these two advertisements to demonstrate the power of story in video. You tell me which video does a better job of it.
Although these are both alcohol commercials and I am not in anyway attempting to promote these products, I think one does a great job of telling a heartfelt story to sell their product. The other well...I think it is selling something else and the story doesn't make complete sense. At the end, I am left asking, "who the heck is Angus?" But, I'm sure that was intentional. I thought I would share these two advertisements to demonstrate the power of story in video. You tell me which video does a better job of it.
So, here is the ten dollar question (I wouldn't go so far as to call it a million dollar question), how does this relate to EdTech?
Similar to writer's workshop, students should be given the opportunity to create digital stories that could be shared, reflected on, revamped, and redistributed to a larger audience. With video production tools becoming more accessible through web-based tools, apps, and other software, teachers and students have the ability to communicate a brief but powerful message. Bernajean Porter had a fairly recent Tweet that touched on how teaching practices compare to traditional notions of what reading and writing should be in the classroom.
Literacy of any medium is the ability to READ [consume] & WRITE [produce] that medium. How many digital storytelling products have YOU made?
I have been working with students over the last few months on varying video-based projects, and I always favor the stories, acting, script-based, mini-Hollywood productions students attempt to create. Students' final products aren't always amazing; however, students can learn a lot from immersing themselves in the creative and iterative process of telling stories through video. And one amazingly creative project from a student can motivate the rest of the class to push their directorial capacity.
Would I show students these particular videos in my classroom? Absolutely not! But, I also teach elementary-level students. Still, age-appropriate videos similar to these would be beneficial for students to preview and then list "noticings" after watching 1-2 minute video using a powerful story. Then, have students use what they noticed to make their own videos.
What do you think? Ideas? Were these the absolute worst videos to use to demonstrate the Power of Story in Video? Do you have kid-friendly examples to share? If so, comment below!
