Saturday, August 29, 2015

A fun intro to photography project


A fun intro to photography project for a grade 10 arts class:

1. Introduce some tips for taking good photographs
This video worked well with my class.

2. As a group, try to identify each of the tips in the work of a few professional photographers.

3. Individually choose a theme or place to take 9 photographs- each one demonstrating the application of one of the tips.

4. Individually, each student saves their best 9 photographs to a folder for submission and evaluation.

5. Group critique (2 or 3 students examples per tip).

Here are some examples of Steve McCurry's wonderful work (as well as the one above):



- Patrick

Friday, August 28, 2015

Back To The Future Project


I've always loved the first Back To The Future and this past spring I used it in my grade 10 Media Arts class for a few arts assignments.

The purpose of first Back To The Future assignment was to help students develop their ability to analyze works of media arts- starting with a format they are comfortable with- film.

Using the critical analysis process, the students watched Back To The Future and made notes and observations about some some of the dominant themes of the film. Such as: time, scientific invention, 50's culture, 80's culture, music and friendship.

The they made connections between the themes they identified and the way the film-makers presented their story- what was included in the shot? what music was used and when? how were the two different time periods portrayed? How is friendship represented?

One interesting observations that one student made was- the director included 88 clocks in shots throughout the film. Coincidence? - Probably, but interesting to note. What we can say for sure is that the film-makers went out of their way to include clocks, watches and time displays in every important scene in the film, constantly reminding the viewer that time is ticking.

The purpose of the second Back To The Future assignment was to have the students choose an idea from the film to create a product to commemorate the film- a kind of memorabilia for the 30th anniversary of the film.

Here is one example:

- Patrick

Still here...

I have been away from this blog for too long! But now I'm back. Since May, I've been busy with all kinds of different art education projects- and I will be posting about them here.

First of all, my partner and I have started a new blog for our studio work and adventures:
sawwhetstudio.tumblr.com

More to follow...