Lesson Plan: Creating A Floor Plan for “To Kill A Mockingbird” Courtroom Scene
Developed by Frank W. Baker,   Email:  fbaker1346@aol.com

The new Common Core ELA Standards make a direct reference to film in 8th grade:
“Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choice made by the director or actors.”

So here is an activity that you might be able to use in support of that standard. The activity involves a scene from the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird.”  In this scene, set inside the courtroom, Atticus has just lost the case and his client, Tom Robinson, has been led out to jail.  Author Harper Lee has been quoted as saying that she sat in the balcony of the Monroeville, Alabama courthouse many times, watching her father argue cases, so this scene might have some basis in fact.

The activity asks participants to assume the role of the director who must decide how to photograph (film) this scene.

Participants will first read the scene directly from the novel:
NOVEL VERSION:

The lower level of the courtroom empties but the upper level, filled with black people, stand and wait for Atticus to depart. The black spectators respect Atticus for his effort and his obvious convictions. Scout describes the scene: Someone was punching me, but I was reluctant to take my eyes from the people below us, and from the image of Atticus’s lonely walk down the aisle.  “Miss Jean Louise? ” I looked around.  They were standing.  All around us and in the balcony on the opposite wall. ..the Negroes were  getting to their feet… Reverend Sykes’s voice was as distant as Judge Taylor’s: ‘Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s  passin‘.'” Pg 281, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Copyright 1988, Grand Central Publishing

Participants will next read the scene from the play:
PLAY VERSION:

Source: pg 88, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, by Christopher Sergel
Copyright, The Dramatic Publishing Company

Participants will next read the scene as it was written for the screenplay:
SCREENPLAY VERSION:

Screenplay ©1963  A Pakula-Mulligan, Brentwood Productions Picture

Ask students: what is the same and what is different between the novel, the play and the screenplay?  What elements do the novel, play and the screenplay include, exclude?   Are other elements missing? If so, what are they?  If your students were to re-write the scene, to include other elements, what might that look like?

Participants will
A) use a floor plan of the courtroom.
Below you will find the floor plan of the actual courtroom from the Monroeville Alabama museum.  Attention should be given to what exactly are the quintessential elements of a courtroom. Is it described fully in the novel?  If students have been paying attention, then they must know that there was a judge (seated at the judge’s bench); there was a jury (seated in a special area); that both the prosecution and defense sat at tables, separated by the crowd seated on the first level as well as the blacks relegated to the balcony.

B) strategically place “cameras” along the floor plan.
They can use large capital letter Xs to indicate that placement.

C) they will make a list of the shots each camera will get and storyboard (draw) those shots.
They should be as specific as possible.
They should be able to explain and justify why a camera has been placed where it.
What shot will that camera get? (jury, Atticus, Judge, balcony, Scout, etc)
What kinds of shots will they be and why? (wide, medium, close up)?
Will the cameras shoot up, down, both?
Will the camera move, if so how and when?

Cinematography Handouts;  types of film shots; camera angles;  camera movement
Storyboard: download this storyboard template for students to document their shots

Playing back the scene from the film
If possible, after students have created their floor plan and explanations, they can watch and study the way the scene was shot from the film. It can be found on the website  MOVIECLIPS
http://movieclips.com/tmJG3-to-kill-a-mockingbird-movie-your-fathers-passing/

Have your students count the number of separate SHOTS.
Have your students consider how camera shots can be used to reveal point-of-view.
Have students consider the type of music used and how that music contributes to or takes away from the mood.
Now ask students to consider, after watching the scene from the film, what elements come to life on the screen that might not on paper in either the novel or the screenplay?

Helpful Handouts: The 5 Stages of Shooting a Film Scene
Cinematography Coverage – Film School Online

Actual Floor Plan: Monroeville AL Courtroom

Source: http://www.tokillamockingbird.com/uploads/MuseumGuide.pdf

Frame Grabs From The Scene:  Stand Up Your Father’s Passing

1 2345

6 7 8 9

TKAM Art Director Henry Bumstead’s Original Storyboard Drawings

Ask students to compare the boards (below) with the frame grabs from the film (above)

Source: Monroeville County Courthouse Museum

A SHORT LIST OF ESSENTIAL RESOURCES

Association for Media Literacy, Toronto

Prepared  by  Barry  Duncan (reprinted with permission)

Organizations

The Association for Media  Literacy aml@interlog.com  Web site www.aml.ca   Toronto based but serving Ontario and beyond. Includes resource lists, newsletters and special events for members. Membership is $30.00  AML is your key to keeping up-to-date in media education.

National Telemedia Council sponsors special events and publishes three times a year “Telemedium, the Journal of Media Literacy.” These are generally  theme issues such as  “ Media Education and Global  Studies,”  providing outstanding- in depth  resources for media  teachers.  Inquire about back issues. NTC  1922 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (608) 218-1183 NTelemedia@aol.com

American groups include AMLA and ACME  Go to websites for membership and more information

————————————————————————————–

N.B. Many of the titles listed  are not readily available in your local bookstore and may have to be specially ordered. In Canada, Theatre Books, a Toronto bookstore, specializes in media literacy resources: 11 St. Thomas Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2B7. Phone: (416) 922-7175; Toll-Free: 1-800-361-3414; Fax: (416) 922-0739.  Ask for their media catalogue.

Resources  for  Getting started

To keep up on all the media, a subscription to Entertainment Weekly is essential. After 25 weeks you will have enough copies for a class set. Teachers and librarians should also consider subscribing to Rolling Stone,

Media Awareness Network, www.media-awareness.ca Canada’s premier media education Web site, contains thousands of lessons, essays, tip sheets, and backgrounders as well as related industry information to help teachers integrate media education and Internet literacy across the curriculum. The site gets over 500,000 unique visitors a month  “Barry’s Bulletin” by Barry Duncan, a 3 times a year digest of teachable moments, reviews and special events is on  this site. To access, go to  website for site map.

Andersen et al. “Media Studies K-12” Toronto District School Board, 2005  A compendium of useful resources, from studying Harry Potter to video production, from ways of integrating media in various disciplines to techniques for evaluation.

Beach, Richard “teachingmedialiteracy.com: A web-linked Guide to Resources and Activities” Teachers College Press, 2007. ( In Canada, order through The  University of Toronto Press.) This 130 page book, written by U of Minnesota prof,  covers all the key issues and skills to foster media literacy in the classroom. The blend of scholarship and practicality is admirable. Allows you to develop curriculum units in media studies A must have resource!

Media Literacy Resource Guide. Ministry of Education, Ontario, 1989. Order from the Government of Ontario Book Store, 5th Floor, 880 Bay Street, Toronto ON M7A 1N8 ($7.00) (416) 326-5300 or 1-800-668-9938    A bargain at $10..00, buy it while it lasts!

Considine, David. Visual Messages: Integrating Imagery into Instruction. 2nd edition, Englewood, Teachers Ideas Press, 1999. An essential resource for media teachers, the book covers all the important media issues and provides recent examples for illustration.

Buckingham, David. “Media Education: Literacy, Learning and Contemporary Culture,” Polity,  ( Blackwell is North American distributor) 2003.   This is the best general background  book  to address the numerous debates in media education.  A comprehensive book, it  covers all the hot topics from ideology to using the new digital media.  Order from Amazon.com or Theatre Books.

Worsnop, Chris. Screening Images: Ideas for Media Education. (second ed.), 1999 Wright Communications, 2400 Dundas St. W. Unit 6 Suite 107, Mississaga, Ontario L5K 2R8, 1999. A brief introduction to media education

Orbit magazine vol 35, no 2, 2005  42 articles on media literacy an amazing cross section of material and opinion. order a copy  Orbitmagazine@oise.utoronto.ca

Media Text Books and Kits

Media Sense: a MeadowBooks component, Thomas Nelson, Toronto, 1998.  Three activities – based media books for elementary school kids, age 8-12 ( levels 4, 5, 6 ) Numerous practical activities throughout. One of the few useful text books for elementary teachers.

Duncan, Barry, Janine D’Ippolito, Cam Macpherson and Carolyn Wilson : Mass Media And Popular Culture (Version Two)Toronto. Thomas Nelson, 1996. After an introductory section that provides a conceptual framework for the study of media, the text is organized by themes e.g. Representation, Global Citizen, Selling Values, New and Converging Technologies. There is a binder of supplementary readings and useful, black line masters. There is also a set of four videos, “Scanning Television” Part One and Two  which correlate with the themes of the text.

Ali, Dominic. “Media Madness: An Insider’s Guide to Media” Kidscanpress. 2005    A Canadian text  pitched to elementary  kids, it  is a graphically compelling work which should  be an immediate success with students.

Graydon, Shari: “Made you look: How advertising Works  and Why you should know.” Annik Press, 2003. Canadian media educator Shari Graydon  has published two important and readable books for grades 4-8.

Graydon, Shari  “In your Face: the Culture of Beauty and You.” Annik Press, 2005. From lipstick to total makeover, this book, aimed at elementary students, is a well researched perspective on the perils of the culture of beauty.

Wallace, Shelagh: “The TV Book: Talking Back to Your TV”, Annick Press, 1997 Chris Worsnop prepared activity section for a book that is brief but still useful for grades 4-6

Advanced Media Literacy  for Teachers

Buckingham, David ed. Watching  Media Learning. London: The Falmer Press,1990.  Buckingham, David ed. Teaching Popular Culture: Beyond Radical Pedagogy  Routledge, 1998. Masterman, Len.   Media Education in 1990’s Europe: A Teacher’s Guide. 1998, NY Manhattan Publishing Co. A short overview of  UK guru Len Masterman’s  insightful ideas.

Tyner, Kathleen. Literacy in a Digital  World: Teaching   and Learning in the Age of Information. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998. Here is  thoughtful  and ultimately visionary analysis of both American and global achievements concerning multi- literacies: computer, critical, information and media literacy.

Film

Bone, Jan and Ron Johnson. Understanding  the  Film: An Introduction to Film Appreciation. National Textbook Company.

Bordwell, David and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An introduction. 6th edition, 1998, McGraw Hill. The choice of many colleges and universities for a comprehensive, introductory film course.

Film Study  Guides  for  High School Written for Pacific Cinematheque and distributed by Open Learning Agency, these include study guides for individual films e.g. “The Sweet Hereafter” and various themes and genres e.g. Women in film, Genre and the Westernwww.cinematheque.bc.ca

Film  Education, Alhambra House, 27-31 Charing Cross Rd, London WC 2H OAU is a registered charity supported by the film industry in the UK. It publishes a variety of free teaching materials and outstanding study guides, many of which can be downloaded from the web sitewww.filmeducation.org

Media Representation  and  Social and Cultural   Issues

Andersen, Neil, Carreiro, P & Sinclair,D. Responding to Media Violence: Starting Points for Classroom Practice K-6. Pembroke Publishing, 1998. A sensible, thoughtful approach to media violence  with appropriate curriculum directed to elementary teachers.

Barker, Chris. Television, Globalization and Cultural Identities. Open University, 1999. A useful  book on media and identity formation in  global contexts.

Douglas, Susan. Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. Times Books, 1994. A lucid overview of the representation of women in the media.

Kilbourne, Jean. Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. Simon & Schuster, 2000 . An influential American gender critic makes the case for the insidious influence of gendered advertising.

Pungente, John and Monty Williams. Finding God in the Dark: Taking the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to the Movies     Stimulating methodology for discussing film

Media and Youth

Dell Vecchio, Gene. Creating Ever-Cool: A Marketer’s Guide to a Kid’s Heart. Pelican Publishing, 1999. All the amazing techniques for creating brand loyalty in kids from a professional marketer.

McDonnell, Kathleen. 2001 Honey, We lost the Kids: Re-thinking Childhood in the Multimedia Age. Second Story, Toronto, ON  2001. A must – own book for both parents and teachers which takes a positive view of the role of popular culture in the lives of young people.

Quart, Alissa. Branded: The Selling of Teenagers, Perseus Press, 2003. Sutherland, Anne and Beth Thompson. Kidfluence Why kids today mean Business. McGraw-Hill, 2002.  These two new books are essential  reading to understand the impact of marketing on youth today

Rushkoff, Douglas. Playing the Future: How Kid’s Culture Can Teach Us To Thrive in an age of Chaos. Harper-Collins, 1996.  How kids create meaning in pop culture

Literature  and Media

 

Fulford, Robert. The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture. CBC ( Anansi Press) 1999. Broad perspective on the elements of narrative, from novels to the news.

Hirschman, Elizabeth. Heroes, Monsters and Messiahs: Movies and Television Shows as the Mythology of American Culture. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2000. Given that the majority of media teachers also teach English, this eminently readable book should help to fill a gap in bringing mythological constructs ( Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung and Levi Strauss) to popular culture texts such as Star Wars, Titanic, ER and Seinfeld.

Digital Expressions: Media Literacy and English Language Arts. Ed Hammett and Barrell ( Detselig Enterprises, 2002.)  A range of articles ideal for English teachers embracing multiple Literacies

 

Media Activism  and Resistance including Global Studies

 

The Idiot’s Guide to World Conflicts by  Peter  Strauss (Alpha, 2002) a lucid overview of global hotspots

The Globalization Reader ed. Frank Lechner, Blackwell, 2004.

The most useful and comprehensive view of the topic

Barker, Chris. Television, Globalization and Cultural Identities. Open University, 1999. A useful  book on media and global issues providing excellent models of analyis.

Barlow, Maude and Tony Clarke: Global Showdown: How the New Activists are Fighting Global Corporate Rule. Stoddart, 2001.

Cowan, Taylor: Creative Destruction: How Globalization is changing the World’s

Cultures,, Princeton, 2002 Posits that globalization is not nessarily in conflict with cultural diversity.

Hazen, Don ed. We the Media : A Citizen’s Guide to Fighting for Media Democracy, The New Press, 1997.  A great resource for activists.

Klein, Naomi. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Alfred Knopf Canada, 2000. Toronto cultural critic, Naomi Klein has written a brilliant, well researched book on the processes and impact of the culture of branding, through following the ‘logos’ to their origin in  corporatized politics and ultimately to  Asian  sweatshops. A must have book !

Langlois, Andrea. Autonomous Media : activating Re sistance and Dissent, 2005, Cumulus Press ISB-N N-O-9733499-4-8

Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America. Wm Morrow, 2000. Lasn, the founder of Adbusters Magazine explores the why and how of doing oppositional critiques, including their famous parodies and other tactics of resistance.

McChesney, Robert  W. The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century, Monthly Review Press, 2004. A  thorough  overview of issues raised by corporate media.

Moore, Michael. Downsize This: Random Threats from an Unarmed American. Harper, 1997  and Stupid White Men, 2002. Funny and irreverent comment on social and media trends.  Supports  his  Oscar winning film, Bowling for Columbine.

Steven, Peter. The No-Nonsense Guide to Global Media – Peter Steven ( New Internationalist ) a short, very accessible  view of the impact of media globally

Rebick, Judy. Imagine Democracy. Stoddart, 2000.Well known  Canadian feminist presents her very personal anti-corporatist vision for a society that values its people.

Critical Literacy, Multilliteracies,  New Literacies

 

Critical Literacy: Enhancing Students‘ Comprehension of Text by Maureen McLaughlin and Glenn Devoogd , 2004 Scholastic. Ideal introduction to the topic

Critical Literacy and the Aesthetic: Transforming the English Classroom Ray Misson and Wendy Morgan (National Council of Teachers of English), 2006.

Critical Pedagogy: Notes from  the Real World 3rd edition, 2005  by Joan Wink,Pearson 2005.

Travel Notes from New Literacy Studies; Instances of Practices ed Paul and Rowsell,  Multilinqual Matters, 2006

New Literacies: Changing Knowledge and Classroom Learning by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knoble. McGraw Hill, 2003.

Literacy and Education: Understanding the new Literacy Studies in the Classroom, Paul Chapman Publishing, 2005.

New Literacies in Action: Teaching and Learning in Multiple Media by William Kist, Teachers College Columbia Press, 2005

Getting Beyond I like the Book; Creating Space for Critical Literacy in K-3 Classrooms  by Vivian Vasquez, International Reading Association, 2006

Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations

Stauber, John and Sheldon Rampton. Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry. Common Courage Press, 1995.  A powerful indictment of the public relations industry

Popular Culture Analysis

 

Clark, Lynn Schofield. From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural. Oxford University Press, 2003. Makes the important connections between teen’s interest in the supernatural and the media stories such as Buffy the Vampire.

Jenkins, Henry. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. Routledge, 1992. How fans negotiate meaning and create their own culture. An ideal preparation for teachers wishing to understand the obsessive pop culture pleasures of their students.

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where old  media and new media Collide, New York University, 2006  Important account of the new media such as TV’s Survivor , video games, blogging and  Harry Potter.

Diamond, Greig and Geoff  Pevere. Mondo Canuck: Popular Culture in Canada. 1969 Out-of-print). A well balanced account of Canadian pop culture from Wayne Gretsky to Anne Murray.

Communication Technologies

 

Howard, Sue ed. Wired-Up: Young People and the Electronic Media. Routledge, 1998. This anthology is designed as an accessible introduction to important research   regarding  new communication technologies.

Sefton-Green, Julian ed. Digital Diversions: Youth Culture In the Age of Multimedia. Routledge, 1998 This anthology was written by teachers and academics who have conducted empirical research. Here are the ideas that don’t get talked about in those typically uncritical, utilitarian workshops on computer literacy.

McLuhan, Eric and Frank Zingrone. Essential McLuhan, Anansi, 1995. Good cross section of McLuhan’s writings

Pop Music

 

McKeen, William. Rock and Roll is Here to Stay: An Anthology. Norton, 2000.  A comprehensive collection of articles.

Richards, Chris. Teen Spirits: Music and Identity in Media Education. Routledge, 1998. The author provides concrete accounts of media and pop music  studies in the classroom..

Media Industries and Corporate Control

 

Andersen, Robin  and Lance Strate ed. Critical Studies in Media Commercialism. Oxford University Press, 2001.This  invaluable source book, presents 23 essays, ranging from advertising to corporate mergers and the dangers of commercialized  media in the classroom.

McChesney, Robert  W. The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century, Monthly Review Press, 2004. A  thorough  overview of issues raised by corporate media.

Winter, James. Democracy’s Oxygen: How Corporations Control the News. Black Rose Press, 1997. An important book on the corporate elite such as Conrad Black and Paul Demarais and on the complicity between government and corporate media  interests in Canada

Student Media Production

 

Goodman, Steve. Teaching Youth Media: A critical Guide to Literacy, Video Production, and Social Change, Teacher’s College Press, 2003.

Hitchcock, Peter. Videography: A Guide to Making Videos. Peter Hitchcock Productions, 1992. This is a popular introductory book for covering the important elements in making videos. Two videos relating to the book are also available.

Periodicals

By all means access the media coverage in newspapers and mainstream publications such as Macleans, Time, Newsweek and other mainstream publications, but read all of them with a grain of salt. In the pursuit of balance, try to investigate some of the more specialized and/or alternative publications listed below.

ADBUSTERS, 1243 West 7th Ave., Vancouver, BC V6H1B7 (http://adbusters.org/magazine/)  In spite of its media bashing proclivities, it is the favourite magazine in media classes, for its articles on environment, media control and the perils of TV.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: PO Box 60890, Tampa, Florida 33660-0890, USA (1-800-828-6882 www.ew.com ) Your guide to staying on top of the media circus. Covers film, video, television, books, web sites. Charts on the top weekly hit parade in film and TV are invaluable for teachers.

EXTRA: 130 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001 1-800-847-2993 (www.fair.org)

Short readable, (typically, one pagers) fair – minded critiques of the media, what gets left out, how to look at current coverage of key issues and how trends get started. An invaluable resource.

THE NATION: (www.thenation.com) The best known American left- leaning periodical. Published bi-weekly, it contains lively, provocative articles on social, political and cultural concerns. Often features timely articles on corporate media.

THE NEW INTERNATIONALIST: ( www.newint.org) Takes important social issues and presents them in an easy -to – understand way. Special issues have looked at the inside story about public relations and an expose of the Disney kingdom.

ROLLING STONE biweekly (RollingStone.com) Contains commentary, reviews on music and popular culture. Frequently has in-depth articles on the media

Non-Print Resources

Adfilms (www.adfilms.com)  “Cannes advertising Festival Winners 1993”  includes teaching guide  $30.00 and “Best Commercials of the Century” 90 minutes, $99.00.

Buy Me That I, II, III. Three programs that serve as a child’s survival guide to TV advertising. Center for Media Literacy

Cable in The Classroom offers copyright cleared, commercial free, educationally relevant French and English television programs for elementary and secondary schools. Teachers are free to tape programs of interest and replay them in class. Cable in the Classroom, 909 – 350 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X7. (613) 233-3033. www.cableducation.ca

CBC: Inside The Box. 6 videos on Documentary, News, Children’s TV, Drama, The Consumer, TV as Art. CBC Enterprises, Box 500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6.

Media Education Foundation Video Catalog ( www.mediaed.org) In Canada represented by Kinetic Video, 511 Bloor St. West Toronto, ON M5S 1Y4 (416) 538-6613 ( kineticvideo.com ) videos on critical media and cultural studies topics such as gender stereotyping (e.g. Still Killing Us Softly), Disney, violence, and tobacco advertising. Recent videos are on Klein’s “No Logo and Stauber’s  “Toxic Sludge is Good for You.”

Four different National Film Board video packages I) Constructing Reality; 2.) Images and Meaning; 3.) Media and Society 4.) Live TV includes outstanding guides which cover various aspects of the media. Ideal for doing units on the documentary. Teachers should have a copy of the latest NFB catalogue and the brochure describing the media education videos. 1-800-267-7710 NFB Customer Services, PO Box 6100, Station A, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3H5.

Scanning Television One and Scanning Television second version ( 2003) an outstanding- must have-  resource. Created by Neil Andersen and John Pungente SJ, this best selling, package consists of four videos containing over 50 video examples.  An excellent teaching guide suggests some imaginative projects and debates. The themes of the videos- Representation, Global Citizen, Selling Values, New and Converging Technologies – all correlate to the text book, Mass Media and Popular Culture Toronto: Harcourt Canada. (1996) 1-800-387-7278.

Webasites and CD-ROMS

The following two online media education services are invaluable: Book mark immediately ! They contain lesson plans, media literacy standards, evaluation rubrics, bibliographies, short articles on the media, information on media education associations and upcoming events.

The Media Awareness Network, 1500 Merivale Rd. 3rd Floor, Ottawa, ON K2E  (613) 224-7721, (613) 224-1958 (Fax) : www.media-awareness.ca MNet continues to expand its outstanding services in web awareness and media literacy   For “Barry’s Bulletin,” type ‘Barry ‘ in the search box.

• The University of Oregon web site (http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/Homepage) has links to media literacy sites around the world, Viewing
  standards, lists of media education associations and other valuable resources. To get on their lively, controversial list serve, contact media-l@nmsu.edu Send E-Mail leaving subject line blank, type subscribe + your name and position.
• Media Channel  (www.mediachannel.org ) Finding critical and oppositional points of view about the media is often difficult as the mainstream media will decline to distribute information that is not in their own best interests. This relevant, trenchant and extremely well designed website changes on a weekly basis and maintains a global perspective on media issues.
• British Film Institute (bfi.org.uk./education/classroom)   valuable media resources from the UK.

 

www.imdb.com The Internet Movie Data Base is the most comprehensive site for researching films. There is  wealth of information on individual titles, film critiques, acting , directing, producing and material on movie genres.

www.mrqe.com/lookup – Film reviews – primarily of recent films.

www.mediaandwomen.org; Mediawatch  www.mediawatch.ca

New moon magazine www.newmoon.org; Teen voices   www.teenvoices.com

 

Some of the following  web sites represent the best in alternative media reporting as well as  the work of progressive magazines like  Extra, the Nation and on-line magazines like Salon.

indymedia.com ; alternet.org;   mediachannel.org ; commondreams.org; Fair.org ;  straightgoods.coml;   rabble.ca;  mojones.com thenation.com;

utne.com;  salon.com;  rabble.ca;  Nologo.org  (updates on Naomi Klein’s  ground breaking book  No logo);  Tompaine.com ;  Inthesetimes.com; tao.ca;   oneworld.org; zmag.org; Counterpunch.org;  Workingforchange.com; Oneworld.net  1• www.theonion.com – hilarious parodies and satire of events in the news

 

Between the Lines: Understanding the media through creative projects. Tyndal Stone CD-ROM Conceived and written by Neil Andersen and John Pungente SJ In Canada, BTL is available from the National Film Board As the Producer, editor and Director, students can create their own thought provoking media projects and discover the nature of mass media, its techniques and impact on society. A powerful resource for teachers of Art, Humanities, Communications, Journalism, English, Media Studies, Ethics and Social Sciences.

For further information, contact Barry Duncan ( 416) 233-8282 baduncan@interlog.com

 

• The Ad and the Ego
• Advertisements In Spanish
• Assignment Media Lit (Maryland State Curriculum)
• Association for Media Literacy Lesson Plans
• Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM)
• BYU Media Ed Database lesson plans
• Center for Media Literacy
• Chum TV Media Education Study Guides
• Core Concepts/Key Questions (handout)
• Creating Critical Viewers (curriculum)
• Critical Thinking
• “Don’t Buy It” Teacher Guide (PBS, pdf document)
• Education Resources (free downloadable curriculum Film Education)
• Essential Resources (recommended by ACME)
• Exploring Non-Fiction TV in Education
• FlashPoint (various curricula)
• Global Media Literacy downloadable curriculum
• How the Media Persuade: Verbally and Visually
• Incorporating Media Into the Curriculum
• Introduction to media literacy
• Kids and Media@ The New Millennium-An Analysis
• Lesson plan: Is our town a global village: developing media literacy in students
• Lesson plan: Investigating Junk Mail: Negotiating Critical Literacy at the Mailbox
  Lesson Plans: The Junk Mail Explosion: Why You Buy and How Ads Persuade
• Lesson Plans:  Media Literacy-Toward Youth Empowerment Through Mass Communications
• Look Again:  a teaching guide to using film & TV with 3-11 year olds (BFI)
• Mass Media & Consumer Culture (lesson plans)
• McRel Lesson Plans:  Critical viewing | Media production | Style and techniques in visual media
• Media Mindful
• Media Spot lesson plans
• Media Alert
• Media Education: The Quest for Media Literacy
• Media Moments
• Media Studies Teachers Online Resource Centre
• The Mediated Mind
• M Net: Lessons & Resources for Media Education
• Media Education Foundation
• Media Ed Lesson Plans (KQED)
• Media Literacy for Global Citizenship
• Media Literacy for Prevention, Critical Thinking, Self-Esteem
• Media Literacy In The Classroom (Newsweek)
• Media Literacy Online Project (University of Oregon)
• Media Lit Resources (Web English Teacher)
• Media Resources for Grades K-8
• Media Studies-Curriculum for Secondary Grades (Saskatchewan)
• Media studies Lesson plans (NY Times Learning Network)
• Mediawatch videos
• Messages and Meanings (NIE)
• Mind Over Media (Court TV’s Choices & Consequences)
• Moving Images In The Classroom (BFI)
• New Mexico Media Literacy Project
• Priime Time Today
• Reading Between The Lines: Media Literacy
• Resources For Change
• Resources for Teaching Media Literacy
• 70 Plus Ideas for Viewing & Representing
• Stay Free High School Media Literacy Curriculum
• Student as Media evaluator
• Teaching Current Events Via Newspapers, Magazines and TV
• Teaching Educators About Media Project
• Teaching Kits (Media Awareness Network)
• Teaching Media Literacy: Helping Kids Become Wise Consumers of Information
• Tools for Teachers
• TV&ME Media Literacy
• Video-Link Lesson Plans
• Words/Music/Images: Interpretation and Meaning
• YouthLearn Media Literacy Toolbox

Media Literacy Materials in Spanish
(NOTE: this is by no means an exhaustive nor complete list. If you are aware of other materials
(books, videos, curriculum etc.) please email me the details, and I will post them here:  fbaker1346@aol.com

Introduction to Media Literacy by Renee Hobbs  Hobbs, R. (2003).  Lo que docentes y estudiantes deben saber sobre los medios.
In R. Morduchowicz (Ed.) Comunicacion, medios y educacion: un debate para la educacion en democracia.  Octaedro: Barcelona, Spain (pp. 119 – 124).

The Spanish publishing house, “Ediciones de la Torre” has translated and published several
titles including: Len Masterman’s “La Ensenanaza de los medios de comunicacion”,
Kathleen Tyner and D. Lloyd “Aprender con los medios de comunicacion”, Robyn Quin
and Barry McMahon “Historias y estereotipos”, Mario Kaply “Una pedagogia de la comunicacion”,
Guillermo Orozco “Television y audiencias: un enfoque cualitativo”, Alfonso Gutierrrez Martin
“Educacion multimedia y nuevas tecnologias.”

In Mexico, the National Pedagogical University UPN has produced an entire media literacy
kit with video tape, audio cassette, anthology, and magazines.

In Spain, Roberto Aparici has published considerably through the UNED
(Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia).
The New Mexico Media Literacy Project has put out a Spanish version of its great CD’s
entitled, Medios y remedios –  la affabetizacion de los medios de comunicacion para la salud
in cooperation with the New Mexico Health Department.  It is listed on their website and publication
list. Details at  www.nmmlp.org   Download the curricula review for
Medios y remedios: La alfabetización de los medios de comunicación para la salud

PRIIME TIIME TODAY (http://www.primett.org)
has the first media literacy coloring book aimed at 5-8 year olds in both English and Spanish versions.

PTA Taking Charge of Your TV   http://www.pta.org/ptacommunity/takechargetv.asp
http://www.ciconline.org/enrichment/medialiteracy/takingcharge/default.htm

The Control Your TV website has a Spanish version,  http://www.controlesutelevisor.org/

CME California Campaign for Kids TV   http://www.cme.org/children/kids_tv/index_kids.html

Navigating the Children’s Media LandscapeA Parent’s and Caregiver’s Guide

This report released by National PTA and Cable in the Classroom provides tools to help parents take control of TV viewing and other media activities. Authored by the American Institutes for Research, the report offers: a guide to help families develop a comprehensive media plan that allows them to take greater control of their TV viewing, Internet and other media activities a chart with how to use media to support age appropriate development ideas and strategies to help parents and caregivers select and use media in ways appropriate for their children Download the report – English version  [PDF – 564 KB] Download the report – Spanish version [PDF –  551 KB]

One of my chief observations is that most K-12 school library/media collections have little, if any, texts (for students or teachers) about the media, let alone media literacy. That reason alone is why I authored two books. So here you will find links to existing web pages with specific book recommendations. Should you have questions, email me.

 General media literacy book recommendations:

• Books for K-12 students  (acquisitions for your student collection)
• Texts/Multimedia With Activities and Lesson Plans (resources for teachers)
• Books for educators (acquisitions for your professional collection)
• Newly published books posted here

Links to specific categories of books: 

•  Advertising
• Audience
• Bias
• Big Media
• Body Image
• Film/Film Studies
• Gender/Representation
• Information Literacy
• Magazines
• Media Effects
• Media Literacy
• News/Journalism
• Politics & The Media
• Pop Culture
• Propaganda
• Recent Trends in School Uses of Media & Technology (blogs, wikis, digital media, etc.)
• Semiotics
• Sex In Advertising & Media
• Television
• Video Games
• Video Production
• Visual Literacy
• Youth & Media
• War Reporting

Other Favorites

15th Edition A collection of some of the best articles dealing with issues in the media. Normally used in college courses, this text can also be helpful in discussions with students about media issues. Click on the book for details.	10th Edition This text is designed to cover two sides of an issue, with articles pro and con on issues. Click on the book for details.	Pearson/Longman (2005)
Dushkin, 1998	Media Ethics Issues & Cases (6th Ed)

Getting started 1:

• Introduction
• What is media literacy?
• Close reading of media texts

Getting started 2:

• Classroom resources and background

Schedule a professional development workshop:

Contact media educator, Frank Baker: fbaker1346@aol.com – Phone: (803) 582-8802

Articles: a compendium of articles (archived by year) in education/news related to media literacy

Books: many categories of books, including texts recommended for school library media center collections

Media education bibliography (2006)

Media magazines: publications/periodicals that cover the media

Mike’s Book Reviews: reviews written by media educator Mike Gange

ML Teaching Resources: links to online lesson plans/activities/resources

New & Emerging Trends: Media/technology uses in the K-12 Classroom

New & Noteworthy Media/Media Literacy websites

News about media: websites that cover media and media issues

Other websites: US and world sites on media literacy

Previous presentations: take a look at the topics and audiences

TV/Radio: programs about the media

Videos/DVDs: links to videotapes and DVDs for teaching

REVISED: streaming videos about media literacy

USING DOCUMENTARIES IN THE CLASSROOM

©2009 Frank Baker 

See individual program’s websites for teacher guides.

• Documentary (Grades 11-12)
• Producing Documentaries
• Documentary Curriculum (YouthChannel.org)
  
• Documentary Film Analysis Assignment
• Documentary Filmmaking (The Director’s Cut)
• Documentaries: Searching for Truth
• Digital Kids: Have your students become recorders of reality and create documentaries
• Filming Your First Documentary
• Interpreting A Short Documentary
• Know TV: deconstructing non-fiction television
• Using Documentary Films as an Introduction to Rhetoric
• Film and media studies: documentaries

Timely News:

• Dune, Power of Dog Editors Weave Tension Into Their Cuts
• 10 Genius Editing Decisions (video)
• Thelma Schoonmaker Discusses The Irishman
• Editing The Irishman
• Parasite Editors Discusses the Film
• Not Much Need for an Editor Here
• Just Mercy: Editing for Emotion
• Bohemian Rhapsody Editor Hates This Scene
• Inside an Editor & Negative  Cutter’s Journey: Orson Welles Final Film
• Dark Knight Chase Scene: Did Chris Nolan Break The Biggest Film Editing Rule?
• Dissecting Editing of “Get Out,” “I, Tonya,” “Blade Runner”
• Obit: Thomas Stanford, editor “West Side Story”
• Behind the Scenes: Editing “Baby Driver”
• Dunkirk, Post Editors On Creating Tension in Editing
• Cutting ‘Baby Driver” on Location In Real Time
• Editing: The Room
• The Big Short Editor Talks Montage and Fast Cuts
• Walter Murch On Editing and more
• Cut Here, Cut There, but It’s Still 3 Hours
• Editors: On The Journeys of Survival & Reinvention
  

David Fincher, the director of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” and Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, the film’s editors, break down a four-minute sequence that occurs early in the film. The narrative set-up: The journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is visiting the aging industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), who is asking him to investigate a decades-old mystery involving his niece Harriet.     

Recommended Resources:

• Apps For Video Editing
• Best Film Editing Sequences Of All Time
• The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (also via YouTube)
• The Cutting Room
• Editing (Film Analysis Guide)
• Editing (infographic)
• Editing (MyMedia Module 5)
• Editing (Thinking Film)
• Editing (Lesson Bucket)
• Editing and representation
• Editing Transitions tutorial (video)
• Edits and transitions (LoS)
• Elements of Editing (Elements of Cinema)
• Every Frame a Painting
• Film Editing
• Film Editing: Editing Movies
• Film Editing: A Hidden Art
• Film Form and Analysis (Sparknotes) includes cinematography; sound/editing; narrative
• Film Language: Use of editing
• Film Study Guide: To Kill A Mockingbird: EDITING
• Getting Started With Windows Movie Maker
• Grammar of Film Editing
• Harry Potter and the Magic of Editing (YouTube)
• Hitchcock on Cutting
• History of Cutting: The Birth of Cinema & Continuity Editing (Vimeo)
• How To Analyze Movies: Editing
• How-To Edit Your Film (FirstLight)
• How to Edit Your Film (FilmClub)
• How Video Editing Works (HowStuffWorks)
• iMovie: Basic Editing (stream)
• Inception of Editing: The Art of D.W. Griffith  (stream)
• Joy Of Film Editing
• Language of film analysis (cameras, editing)
• Make The Cut (editing a film trailer)
• Motion Picture Editors Guild
• Motion Picture Sound Editors
• Moving images: Cutting and Editing
• Perfect Cut: The Editing of Psycho
• 9 Extremely Effective Slow-Motion Film Scenes
• Photostory 3 Tutorial
• Principles of Editing (Elements of Cinema)
• Pudovkin’s Five Editing Techniques (video)
• 18 Best Video Editing Software
• The Soundman (1950 documentary)
• Understanding Film Editing
• Video Editing Basics
• Why Editing Works

 Lesson Plans: 

• Applying Editing Principles to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
• Editing/Transitions and D.W. Griffith
• Film Editing: Manipulating Time and Space (from the AMPAS Teacher Guide Series)
• Introduction to Film Editing

 Recommended Texts/Periodicals/Multimedia:

    

     

  

 

 

Recommended Resources:

• Frank’s Language of Film website
• Book Explores Coen Bros Language of Film
• Teaching Students About Film Careers & Cinema Literacy
• Basics of How To Read A Film
• Cineliteracy: The Rule of Thirds
• Close Reading Films (prezi)
• Close Reading of Film (pdf 21 pages)
• Cultural codes in non-fiction films
• DVDs That Help Teach Film Language
• Exploring Language Moving Images
• Film Analysis Guide
• Film Analysis in the Classroom Resource Kit (ACMI)
• Film Analysis: Production & Story Elements
• Film analysis worksheet
• Film & Reading Strategies (Reading In The Dark)
• Film Codes & Conventions
• Film Glossary
• Film Glossary Project
• Film In The Classroom (NYT Learning Network)
• Film Language (episode of American Cinema)
• Film Language: How Films Work
• Film Language Booklet
• Film Language Glossary
• Film Language Wiki
• Film Literacy: Analyzing Film Techniques
• Film literacy terms
• Filmmaking Process
• Film (media) literacy
• Five Minute Film Festival: Film Literacy (links)
• Guide to Film Analysis in the Classsroom (ACMI)
• Grammar of Film: Type of Shots
• Grammar of TV & Film see also link
• Group Questions for Viewing Film
• Guide to Cinematic Terms
• How to Read a Film (text/DVD)
• How To Read A Movie (Roger Ebert)
• How To Watch A Movie (Moviemaker)
• Introduction to Cinema Literacy 101
• Intro to Cinema Literacy 101: Viewing and Watching Films Critically
• Intro to Film Technique & Terminology (video)
• Introduction to Film Appreciation
• The Language of Film –(PBS)
• The language of film (Michael Wohl)
• The language of film
• The language of film (AMPAS)
• Language of Film (Pacific Cinémathèque)
• Language of Film (To Kill A Mockingbird)
• Language of film analysis (cameras, editing)
• The Language of movies
• Lessons in Visual Language (Video series)
• Lights, Camera, Action: A Grammar of Film for Media Literacy (pg. 10 Knowledge Quest)
• Lighting, Colour, Music: A Study of Film Elements
• Looking At Movies: An Introduction To Film
• Looking at Movies: Composing The Frame; Form & Content;  Shot Types & Implied Proximity;
• Making Movies: A Guide for Young Filmmakers
• Media Analysis     (infographic)
• Media Literacy: Reading Between The Frames (AMPAS)
• Mise en scene (Film Analysis Guide)
• Movie Lovers Guide to Film Language: Classic Scenes
• Movie Terminology Glossary (IMDB)
• Persisting Vision: Reading The Language of Cinema (Martin Scorsese)
• Questions Students Should Consider When Watching Any Film (FilmEducation.org)
• Reading A Film (Think Film)
• Reading a film sequence
• Reading Film: Decoding the Codes
• Reading Films Critically (handout)
• Reading Films in the Classroom
• Reading Meaning in Media Texts: Codes
• Rule of Thirds
• Seven Teaching Resources on Film Literacy
• Signs & Syntax
• Signs, Codes & Convention (How To Analyze Movies)
• Strategies for teaching film as text
• Teaching Film in HS English Class
• Technical and Symbolic Codes: The Elements of Film
• Technical codes in non-fiction films
• Ten Tools for Reading Film
• Thinking About Film: cultural codes; technical codes
• Thinking About Films
• Tips for Film Viewing
• Understanding the Language of film (ppt)
• Using DVDs to Teach Film Language
• Visual Grammar in Film
• A Visual Guide to The Language of Film
• Visual language of video and film
• Visual Literacy: Understanding Film Elements
• Visual Rhetoric/Visual Literacy: Writing About Film
• What is screen literacy?

Lesson Plans: 

• Analyzing Scenes in Film & Literature
• Film Language & Elements of Style(Film Foundation)
• Lights, Camera, Education (AFI)
• Reading Movies: Learning The Language of Moving Image Texts
• The Visual Grammar of Film

Recommended App:

The Close-Up Film Language Glossary provides clear and concise definitions of essential film language terms used in basic and advanced film courses. Though geared for use in high school (particular sixth forms) and higher education the glossary is appropriate for anyone generally interested in cinema, film and film analysis. The Close-Up Film Language Glossary contains a unique collection of ‘Visual markers’, which are visualizations of filmic means and techniques. Groups of visual markers provide a quick and comprehensive overview of important categories of film language. Additionally a collection of useful checklists which help you analyzing the different aspects of film language in classroom study or when writing a film studies essay can be obtained separately from within the app

Recommended Texts / Periodicals / Multimedia:
     

 

				Making Movies Make Sense

DVDs (some of which have text companions):

• Looking At Movies
• Film, Form and Culture
• How to Read A Film: Multimedia Edition
• The Art of Watching Films
• American Cinema: 100 Years of Filmmaking
• Moving Images Making Movies, Understanding Media
• Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
• Filmmakers on Film
• Story of Film
  

Altered Imagery (US Department of Defense)

Altered Images (Spain bombing photos altered in some European papers)

The Amazing World of Photo Editing Before Photoshop

Analyzing Media- Photo Essays (McDougal – Littell)

The Art & Science of Retouching: What Really Happens To Photos

As doctored photos flood the Internet, human vision struggles to keep up (LA Times)

At MIT, They Can put Words in Our Mouths (Boston Globe)

Before Photoshop: How Photos Have Been Manipulated For Years

Beware False Reality

The Camera Never Lies, But The Software Can (NYT)

Culture of manipulation

Detecting the Truth in Photos

Digital detectives discern Photoshop fakery (CSM)

Digital Fakery (Ottawa Citizen)

Digital Image Manipulation: A Compelling Means to Engage Students in Discussion of Point of View and Perspective

Digital Manipulation In The News

Ethics In The Age of Digital Photography
http://www.nppa.org/services/bizpract/eadp/eadp.html

Fake Or Foto Web site

Faking Images in Photojournalism
http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/geo.html

Faking It  (Newsday)  http://www.dancingicon.com/PDF/fakingit.pdf

“Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop”

Lying With Pixels (Technology Review, July/Aug. 2000)

The Manipulation of Truth in Art & Journalism

Manipulating Photographs: Can You Trust Photographs? Lesson Plan

Manipulating photos in a pre-Photoshop World

Mining: For Image or Truth?
http://www.kqed.org/ednet/lessons/plans/mining.pdf  (Adobe Acrobat document)

The Murky Road of Digital Retouching (Jean Kilbourne)

Newseum Exhibit OnLine The Commissar Vanishes
www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissar_vanishes/propaganda.htm

Perfect Touch Ups– (3/27/03)
Who said the camera never lies?
Magazines now have the power to make stars look flawless or ridiculous.

Photo Fakery: How to Spot Fake Photographs (National Geographic Society)

Photo retoucher exposes how models REALLY get airbrushed

Photographic images should not be relied upon, but even falsified photographs
can be illuminating for students of history

Photography in the Age of Falsification
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98may/photo.htm

A Photojournalistic Confession (8/03)

Photoshopping Reality: Journalistic Ethics in an Age of Virtual Truth  (12/06)

Posing Questions of Photographic Ethics (6/15)

Powerful news photographs – the kind that trigger deep emotions –
often help decide the course of history (12/03)

A QUESTION OF TRUTH: Photojournalism And Visual Ethics (08/06)

Remodeling for Perfection (4/03)

Seeing is no longer believing (2/05)

Seeing is no longer believing: Manipulation of online images (10-2020)

Shuttle Columbia, Explosion Photos
An accompanying email claims these photos were taken by an Israeli intelligence satellite.
Read why/how they’re faked.

Startup Reveals If A Photo Is Fake

Study Proves We Still Need to Talk About Photoshop

Teachable Moment: Photographic Truth In The Digital Era
http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/class/teamed3/photographic_truth.html

US News and World Report Special Double Issue July 9-16, 2001
pg 47, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t

Were the Moon Landings Faked?

What Did We Do Before Photoshop?

What’s Wrong With This Picture? (CJR)

When Seeing Isn’t Believing: Digital manipulation is becoming widespread. Is anyone nervous?

When The Camera Lies (Sept. 2006)

When Your Eyes Tell You Lies (Insight Magazine Oct. 2000)
http://www.insightmag.com/news/2000/10/16/Nation/Media.When.Your.Eyes.Tell.You.Lies-213320.shtml

The World’s First Faked Photo

Resources for Teaching Visual Literacy As it Applies to News & Journalism

PhotoShock: Ethics in Advertising (lesson plan)

NEW: lesson plan incorporating elements of this curriculum

---

Click the image on the left to go to a 6 minute video excerpt

from the curriculum Is Seeing Believing? How Can You Tell What’s Real?

---

A Newseum produced curriculum about the news, with special emphasis on photojournalism for students and teachers, grade 7-12

“This presentation for students visiting the Newseum helps the profession and the work of our association, and provides better understanding among all people of the vital role news images plan in our world today.”
Charles H. Cooper, Executive Director Emeritus, National Press Photographers Association

“This curriculum package is an excellent way to introduce students and the public to the tenets of journalism, and shows how the profession serves as an extension of the public.”
Greg Christopher, Executive Director, Society of Professional Journalists

Frank Baker’s review of this curriculum, as published by The Center for Media Literacy:

NEW TEACHING PACKAGE ON PHOTOGRAPHY TACKLES ISSUES OF DIGITAL MANIPULATION

 

Following a recent visit to the Newseum, a wonderful new museum devoted to journalism and news established by the Freedom Forum Foundation in the Washington, DC area (a must-stop on your next visit there), I discovered an outstanding 22-minute video and teaching kit created to help middle and high school students explore the artistic and ethical issues involved in “altering” photographs through digital imaging.

 

Now “Is Seeing Believing? How Can You Tell What’s Real?” is available to schools across the country through distribution arranged by the Center for Media Literacy in Los Angeles.   Teachers who utilize newspapers and/or mainstream news magazines (Time, Newsweek, etc.) in the classroom will be especially interested in using this affordable resource.

The video, a 22-minute excerpt of an hour-long PBS series entitled “Media Matters,” begins by explaining that in the traditional process of news photography over the decades, ” the image itself was rarely tinkered with.” But things are now different. “Today’s computer technology makes such alterations not only easy, but also undetectable. And it’s happening a lot…”

Following several recent controversial examples — the head of former Texas Governor Ann Richards placed on the body of another woman sitting astride a motorcycle; TIME magazine’s darkening the cover photo of O.J. Simpson’s mugshot, and National Geographic moving the Egyptian pyramids so that they appeared closer together — we hear from art designers and photographers, news editors and photojournalists exploring whether the manipulation was proper or warranted in each instance. Along the way students see exactly how a computer can alter a photograph seamlessly and perhaps most importantly, hear how even so-called experts are wrestling with the issues involved.

The large (24×36) full-color poster included in the kit is designed so that students examine different kinds of photos — ads, news, fashion, sports — and apply what they’ve learned about photo manipulation. The 18-page teacher’s guide is excellent and includes black line masters for several follow-up activities about media manipulation through history. I was fascinated to learn, for example, that during the Civil War, some photographers, not able to alter the images they took, instead moved bodies to improve the composition of their photos!

 

My one criticism of the video is the typical documentary dependence on “expert” voices and the absence of opinion and insight from audiences, particularly young people who are growing up in today’s image culture. Nevertheless I believe it is essential for students to develop critical viewing skills for photography and this new resource is an excellent start.

Teacher Guide Contents
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT “Is Seeing Believing?”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND FOR TEACHERS
HOW TO — USE THE VIDEO 

(NOTE: the video is an excerpt from the PBS series “Media Matters,”
the specific segment was called “Moving Pictures”
read a transcript of the segment here.)

INTRODUCING THE POSTER
HOW TO — USE THE POSTER PHOTOS 1-7
MORE PHOTOS TO PUZZLE OVER
TIPS FOR SAVVY NEWS CONSUMERS
STUDENT ACTIVITY ONE—IS IT NEWS?
IS IT NEWS WORKSHEET
STUDENT ACTIVITY TWO—IS THIS FOR REAL?
IS THIS FOR REAL WORKSHEET
WHERE TO FIND MORE
AFTER YOUR CLASS VISITS THE NEWSEUM

---

Now available: Ethics In The Age of Digital Photography (DVD: 1 hour)
produced by the National Press Photographers Association
Description: This 60-minute DVD by John Long offers suggestions for dealing with the
ethical implications of the electronic revolution in photojournalism. With some examples
of digital manipulation and the problems caused by altered images, this video touches on
the principles that support ethical decision-making.

The People’s Choice: Digital Imagery and the Art of Persuasion (lesson plans)