POINT OF VIEW:
VIDEO PRODUCTION FOR PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION

CURRICULUM FOR THE YEAR

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN...

POINT OF VIEW: VIDEO PRODUCTION FOR PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION: Students will become aware of the ways in which video can be used to promote ideas, products and points of view, while at the same time becoming proficient with video arts as a persuasive tool for expression and communication.

WHY A VIDEO CLASS? Video is an art form. But it's also a fundamental communication tool for future workers and lifelong learners who will need more than text literacy to succeed in the 21st century. They must be able to express opinions and convey information through visual and video formats, as well as becoming discerning consumers of media.

ONE + ONE = MORE THAN TWO

UNIT 1: COMMUNICATING WITH VIDEO

Students will be introduced to the technology and aesthetics of video cameras and video editing. There will be introductory lessons in which each team of students must videotape a series of sample shots and then must edit footage to music.

After viewing "Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing," as well as film sequences with powerful editing choices (i.e., 3-way gunfight in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly") students will develop a better understanding of the evolution of editing styles from different historical eras and cultures.

The class will also be shown sample student videos to help them begin generating their own ideas for future projects. This unit culminates with students creating "Video Postcard" tours of different parts of the school campus.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will be able to:

• Use a video camera to videotape industry-standard shots (wide shot, medium shot, high-angle, etc.)
• Understand good shot composition (two-thirds rule) and principles (180-degree rule)
• Use video editing software and understand the principles of effective edits
• Demonstrate consistent teamwork and workplace skills with hands-on projects

UNIT 2: COMMUNICATING INFORMATION

How can choices made by video artists most clearly communicate information? How can these choices enhance understanding of information? How can video artists reinterpret or distort information (create a new reality)?

Students will be introduced to storyboarding and learn about the ways filmmakers play with time and create false realities. Teams will demonstrate their understanding of evocative images and well-timed editing by producing "implied action" videos (someone hit by a bus, falling down stairs) and then "metaphorical montages," which condense time and show evolution through carefully selected imagery (reference marriage montage from "Up").

Finally, students will be challenged to use video as an instructional tool by creating a How-To Video demonstrating a step-by-step process.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will be able to:

• Draw storyboards that can create a false reality or clearly convey information
• Manipulate images and video footage to distort time and evoke viewer response
• Create clear step-by-step instructions in written and video format that will be understood and followed by viewers

UNIT 3: PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION

Students will focus on the ways in which media can influence audiences or express points of view. This will include persuasion in marketing, in politics and community affairs, and even in viewing (what would appear to be) objective imagery.

The class will be shown films and excerpts on the theme of the role of media in society. This will begin a series of writing prompts about "Media and Society" that will continue through both semesters. Students will be challenged to edit footage in ways that represent deliberate bias, and they will begin writing about their own observations of media bias.

The class will then view current TV commercials and consider the ways these use Aristotle's Modes of Persuasion – Ethos, Logos, Pathos – especially in targeting teenage consumers. Students will then begin making their first authentic commercials (for upcoming school dance – real client, real deadline, real audience) and will create a Public Service campaign for the school.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be able to:

• Identify bias in choice of camera shots and editing
• Manipulate images and video footage subjectively to control and create a desired audience response
• Be aware of the ways advertisers target messages to specific audiences (especially teenagers)
• Reproduce target messaging in their own video commercials and PSAs
• Utilize video communication skills for positive community benefit

UNIT 4: CELEBRATING SF/IMPROVING SF

Students will form their own teams to work on two final semester projects, one celebrating San Francisco and the other highlighting things in their community they'd like to see improved. The celebration assignment will emulate the "video postcard" format students used at the start of the semester, but this time in the form of a promotional video encouraging tourism/community participation, and calling upon students' prior knowledge of persuasion, message and audience.

Teams will then learn the roles and techniques required to get the best quality interview footage and will produce Q&A videos on topics of community improvement.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be able to:

• Demonstrate mastery of video skills and improvement over their performance on previous assignments
• Promote tourism and community participation with their communication skills
• Perform all tasks required in videotaping live interview footage
• Develop productive lines of inquiry for video interviews
• Organize interview footage into engaging sequences
• Acquire appropriate "cut-away" footage to help illustrate interviews

UNIT 5: FILM HISTORY

Each student will be assigned a different film director and prepare a PowerPoint presentation and a selected film clip to share with the class. The class will be quizzed about information contained in the presentations.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be able to:

• Understand different cultural, social and political forces that influences filmmaking in different eras and different countries
• Analyze and draw conclusions from viewing a variety of different films
• Integrate research information from a variety of reliable resources
• Prepare a clear, concise, informative oral and PowerPoint presentation

UNIT 6: DOCUMENTARY VIDEO PROJECT

Reading and writing prompts throughout the year, plus selected videos shown to the class have helped guide students toward social and community issues they care about. Each student will be required to present a formatted proposal for a video project. The class will then form teams of three to four students each to produce some of these video projects. Student jobs and paperwork will emulate professional video production.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be able to:

• Present ideas and proposals, both written and oral, in a compelling and "sales-worthy" way
• Apply dramatic principles (including Aristotle) to non-fiction, both professionally produced and student-produced
• Fulfill all reponsibilities on a large-scale team project

UNIT 7: MARKETING YOURSELF

By the end of the school year each student will have completed a resume, a letter of introduction, and a 30-second "elevator pitch" oral introduction. Each student will also create a one- to two-minute profile video of themselves and a linked, web-based portfolio that includes samples of their video work.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be able to:

• Prepare appropriately professional resume and cover letter
• Use the skills they've learned about communication and promotion to create a video about themselves
• Combine samples of their work to create a linked portfolio, with written reflections about their choices