Lesson Plan for Stop Motion Animation

I chose stop motion animation because it involves multiple skills to work in conjunction to create the final product. Stop motion animation is a combination of photography and videography. These mediums also require knowledge about color, composition, and lighting.
When making a lesson plan for stop motion animation, I thought that it would be best to consider how much students know about artistic processes and their cognitive abilities. Younger students will only be able to think concretely, while adolescents will be able to think more abstractly. To challenge their cognitive development and keep the lesson student-directed, I used the idea of transformative cycles to inspire the lesson.
For elementary aged students, I would ask students to consider the world around them and think of things in their lives that change from one thing to another, like in the popular game Pokemon where Pokemon evolve into stronger versions of themselves, or like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. I would continue a dialogue with my students about other things in their lives that can change from one thing to another. Afterwards, I would let them play with different colored clay to see how they can transform it into different shapes and back again to it's original form. This way, they can discover artistic processes on their own. Once they have had time with the material, I would break them into teams and start having them come up with an idea related to the transformation of things in their world to create a visual representation of that. Students would be able to take this idea in a literal way or in a conceptual way.
For high school students, I would have students also consider the world around them, but in a more conceptual way. Students would think about how they evolve themselves, and how they change over time. They would be self-reflecting for the basis of their projects. Their projects could be themed biologically, mentally, emotionally, and maybe how the transformative cycles around them have changed them. As students consider this concept, they would be playing and breaking down the aspects of stop motion animation. Students will explore different ways of making a stop motion animation with different mediums and different ways of taking the photos for the video. They will also explore ways of how to edit the video pre or post production. They would choose which medium they want to work with based on how well they can demonstrate their concept with it.
Based on adolescent cognitive development of students at different ages and creating open-ended lessons, I thought that these lesson plans would be appropriate.

Two Takeaways from Readings #3

Chapter 4: New Media Artists, The Do-It-Yourself Movement, and the Importance of Making
In this reading, there were many examples of how people were learning outside of the classroom and teaching themselves because of the access they have to technology. According to the chapter, because of these advancements in technology, it provides the opportunity to learn on your own, work collaboratively, and learn from others. This idea changes the way that teachers should consider learning in their classroom.
Each section of the reading touches on a different aspect of technology, in different mediums and subject. They also mention the idea that technology presents the idea that all of these subjects have the potential for collaborative projects. This also presents more ideas of how teachers can collaborate with each other in learning. For example, I have done this in my own teaching experience while teaching studio art at Centenary University Summer Scholars Program. I collaborated with the creative writing teacher to teach composition, cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound, color, and character design, while the creative writing teacher would teach dialogue, screen writing, and plot. For class, we would go to a movie and then have a dialogue about what the students noticed in the film. It was entertaining for everyone, and I think that it made our students have a bigger appreciation for the film.
At the end of the reading, there are a list of resources that tell the reader collaborative communities that exist for certain mediums and subjects. These can be used in a classroom to share student work, experiences, and knowledge. In terms of teaching, these resources can present the opportunity for the students to take learning into their own hands. Because of the sharing and communicative aspect of the resources, a teacher can let students investigate something that they are interested in and then apply what they learn on their own with projects in class.

A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change; Chapter 1: Arc-Of-Life Learning
This chapter offered interesting points to consider when working with new media in an art classroom. In the beginning of the reading, it is explained how learning is changing because of advancements in technology. Because of the new things that technology can accomplish, people are able to use them in different contexts in life. This aspect of new technology also presents the opportunity for "playing" with technology, in other words, people are experimenting with what they can do. As I have learned in Judy Burton's artistic development class, people learn best when it is through their own interests and when playing with material. This chapter proves that notion.
Throughout the reading, there are stories about people who have learned in day-to-day situations by using different kinds of technology. The technologies that were featured were entertainment and communicative. Each of the stories presented an idea enforced the idea that learning takes place outside of the traditional classroom situation.
What stuck out to me most was the story about a teacher who was using game play in his lectures. He would have students read articles and content related to the academic concepts in class to prepare for a lecture. After the lecture, he would host a show and tell of what the students experienced during the game play and how that relates to the readings. Throughout the experimental project and lessons, he felt as if the learning was getting away from him because of the students enthusiasm with the game aspect. But, when reading the essays, he found that the students were providing rich examples from their own experience and relating it to the content and readings of the class. He also found that they were referencing each other's experiences, which showed him that they are open and were collaborating with each other's game play experience. What was most interesting for me was how he was able to get the students to stay relevant with the aims of the course. I wished that they had gone into more detail about how he actually conducted the class, taught the students for true understanding, and assessed their learning. It seems that the concept could work in theory, but could be harder in practice.
In my own teaching, I would try to use more communicative technologies, unless I was working with a character design/game design lesson where a game play focused lesson would work congruently with the aim of my class. I think that it is important to remember that technology is only useful when it is relevant to the content. Using technology for technology's sake is not going to beneficial for students, and could get them off topic.

Stop Motion Creative Assignment

My Stop Motion Video!

The idea for this project was born out of the fact that I have never done this kind of stop motion before, I haven't created my own/original subject in a stop motion video. In the past, I have only moved other objects around in a frame. With this option, it was easier to manipulate the objects to the way that I wanted, I had more control. I was also able to make this video with ease because I had my roommate control the photo taking of the work while I only had to focus on making the objects that were moving around the wall. Below is a picture of the aftermath of my video.

Sound Creative Assignment

For this assignment, I used Adobe Audition to mix my sounds. The first sound was taken on the subway platform, the second in Central Park, the third at a craft fair, and the last of myself typing. I spliced them together and mixed the clips individually to create the piece.

Impact 25 Results

Observations of Sound in Life, Arts, and Curriculum

Reflecting upon the prevalence of sound in my life in terms of art and curriculum, there are not many instances where I worked with or experienced sound art.
I did not experience sound art until my undergraduate career, and even then, I did not know much about it and did not ever create it myself. I just knew that a lot of sounds were connected to installation pieces to contribute to their ambiance.
More recently, over the summer, I went to the Edward Hopper House in Rockland, NY, where they had an interactive sound installation in their garden. It was set up in a corner area of the garden, somewhat behind the porch, which did not give it much visibility or incentive to interact with the installation. It did not look like something that someone could interact with either, it could have been a supportive structure for a future piece or something that the museum coordinators have not cleaned up yet. It was a white structure made of small speakers and motion sensors that were placed in a somewhat closed geometric shape. People could walk through it and as they did, sounds from conversations and opera songs in different languages would come on.
After seeing this, it had me thinking about the potential for sound in a curriculum. I thought that it worked well with the visual/installation component. Although sound art does not need to have a visual component to it, I think it only adds to the concept of the art. Based on that, I do think that it is not enough to just have structure that emits the sound, like the one at the Edward Hopper House. The artist should consider the presentation as well. Overall, it was interesting to hear a story being told through sound, which provides a lot of interpretation on the side of the audience. In terms of curriculum, students would be able to essentially learn how to create an environment and tell a story with sound. In addition, working with sound provides the opportunity to enable students with a visual impairment. Since most students have a smart phone, sound art can be cost effective for a class since they will not have to purchase recording devices. But, there could be a deeper learning curve for the editing software teachers use for mixing sounds. Because it is also a digital media, there are also opportunities to apply sound to other digital medias. In terms of curriculum, it would be refreshing to have students record or make their own sounds to put together a larger piece.

Videography Creative Assignment

Creative Potential of Videography

Videography is the process of making a video. The depth of history, technique, and process behind the medium is great, which lends a lot of opportunity to utilize it in the classroom. People can make videos for a variety of reasons; entertainment, public service announcements, documentation, and promotion. In classrooms, videography can be easily conducted, can give students a voice, and can teach concepts in art.
Videography has evolved from copying images onto a film strip to recording images digitally. Being able to work with a digital medium provides options for tools that could be used for filming. A student could use their own phones or cameras, and classroom iPads or cameras to film their ideas. Because of the many kinds of filming devices, the clean up for making is much less than it would be for painting, which gives students more time to develop their process. In addition, students would be able to edit their work on various platforms. If they are using their phones, there are many applications they can choose from for the post production of their film. They could also upload their video to a computer so they could use better software for editing. Furthermore, students can share their work with others easily. In a classroom, they can easily conduct a critique by sharing their video on Google Classroom, or sending it to the main classroom presentation computer. Students can also share their videos on social media to reach a larger audience. Having the ability to share increases students communication and analytical skills.
Through the use of videography, students will have the chance to share their point of view with others. While this can also be done through the use of a painting or photo, a video gives students multiple dimensions to work with when showing their story. Students can factor in aspects of sound and multiple perspectives that other mediums cannot.
The process of making a video can be broken down by the dimensions of the plot, the pre and post production, and the division of job titles. All of these aspects of videography gives opportunities to practice and learn about story/plot, dialogue, scene sequence, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound, and analysis. These components are also related to other concepts in art such as composition and color theory. Through videography, students can put their knowledge of art and video together to represent ideas.

Scanography Ebook

My Ebook is broken up into two series. The first one illustrates my exploration process with one flash gel light leak, and the second is my exploration with two flash gel light leaks. Both series is shown on the second page in two rows. The proceeding pages are the individual scans that are digitally edited to my liking.

3 Takeaways from Section 2 Readings

New Literacies: Chapter 4 New Literacies and Social Practices of Digital Remixing
The chapter covered a concept called remix, which refers to combining or manipulating concepts to create something new. To illustrate this, they compare this idea to DJ's making music from segments of different songs. They explain that in order to create a successful song, you have to understand the original song well enough to know what it would go with. In addition, they explain how remixing can be in the form of translating art from one medium to another. As the reading develops, they also reveal some possibilities remixing has with concepts related to information and communication technology.
The concept of understanding something deeper to apply it to another product is dependent on the cognition development of the creator. During childhood, students are only able to use concrete operational thinking, which only allows them to make relationships and classifications of concepts. In terms of remixing, this would mean that students would be able to make the connection of artwork between mediums. For example, they would be able to think of the idea of creating a drawing from a sculpture they made. When the student enters adolescence, they have the ability to think in formal operations, which allows them to think logically and consider the possibilities of a situation. With this ability, students would be able to remix in terms of concept. For example, they would be able to analyze the work of an artist, understand their concept or process of making, and create another artwork inspired by what they learned. The key difference is that they are not just going through the motions of making an artwork into another medium, but considering how they could translate ideas.
Combining my knowledge of remixing and developmental psychology, I can create lessons that are cognitively appropriate to the abilities of my students, and give them a challenge to push their creativity.
Chapter 3: The New Digital Arts: Forms, Tools, and Practices
This chapter informs of the kinds of new media that are available and suggests how one can make connections to the classroom with them. In conjunction with the previous reading, it is clear that there is a lot of remixing potential when working with digital media. One reason for this, as illustrated in the text, is the ability to share creations on different social media platforms. It mentions a few kind of sharing platforms such as, social/communicative technology media and artistic/creative media. The difference is what people mainly use them for. For example, one can post a photo on Facebook and Flickr, but if they were posting an artistic photo that belongs in an artist portfolio, it would belong on Flickr rather than Facebook. In addition, they mentioned examples of how people have already created connections between medias, which lends ideas of how it can be changed to fit a classroom setting. From what I gather, a lot of the possibilities are within students interests in communicative and entertainment technology. Teachers would be able to use this to their advantage and create lessons based on students interests.
Digital Storytelling: Guide for Educators
This passage is a cohesive guide for art teachers to use when conducting a lesson about storytelling through digital media. In the beginning of the passage, the author gives concrete tips for how the lesson should be conducted, potential concerns, and possibilities for deeper learning. Further in the reading, the author goes through various types and brands of media that could be used for a storytelling lesson. Each media is given a summary of its function, how to use it, and its potential in a lesson. overall, it is understood that some medias are more realistic to use in a certain type of classroom. It also considers the learning curve there is for certain kinds of technologies since some students will already know how to use them. With this guide, a teacher can find the perfect fit of lesson and material with the accessibility of their school environment.

Potential of Scanography

Scanography is the process of capturing digitized images of a subject using a scanner, which could be in the form of a flatbed, handheld, or double sided scanner. In my opinion, this artistic process creates a depth within the image that cannot be captured using another medium. Certain kinds of scanners can also limit or increase the potential of what kind of objects it can capture. The objects on the scan bed have a light that is shined on them, and reflected on another surface to create an image. The harshness of the light source creates a drop shadow around the object, and typically darkens the background, which creates depth. The prolonged light source also lends the opportunity for long exposure techniques also used in digital photography.
Scanography shows a lot of potential in terms of how the subject can be captured and presented. For example, if someone was capturing flowers, they could either show them pressed on a flatbed or shown in an environment with a handheld scanner. The artist can also choose to have more or less objects also shown in their work. When using a flatbed scanner, one can use movement to show parts of object throughout their piece. Since the subject is being captured digitally, this lends a lot of possibilities for presentation. One can simply print their work, show it digitally, or apply the effects of the scanner to other art mediums. Realizing these potentials can also be applied to art making in a classroom. Teachers could utilize the process of scanography to enhance lighting, composition, and critiquing skills because of the flexibility of the medium.

Noticing Photograph

Original Noticing Photograph

After taking this photo, I feel that I could pursue an art project based on the subject and shapes that appear in it.

The photo is taken from the bottom of a staircase looking upwards. The effect that it makes on a two dimensional surface is interesting to me because of the receding line, and you get to see a different perspective of a subject you do not often see. For a project, I could take this further by taking pictures of staircases from visually interesting perspectives. I would not want to limit myself with the bottom to top perspective is the staircase is designed differently. The original photo that I took has not been edited, so I could also take this further by digitally editing the photos to be more interesting. I could also play around with editing to see if I could create a forced perspective.

Another aspect of this photo I find compelling are the monochromatic geometric shapes that emerge. I think that together, they create an interesting composition and element of design that supersedes the subject. I could take pictures of geometric shapes that I find interesting based on color. The result can be minimal if one focuses on the simple shapes that are created or if one focuses on the monochromatic colors shown. But, the artwork can also be viewed as complex if a viewer considers both elements, color and shape. This could be interesting to pursue because I would not be limited to the subject of the piece.
Based on the responses I have gotten about these two ideas, it seems like people are most excited about the pictures of staircases. My first challenge is to find staircases that I could get interesting perspectives of. I spent the day walking around my neighborhood looking for places with interesting stairs, and realized that it was a task that was easier said than done. Eventually, I decided to take a trip to the Met Breuer since I have never been there before. Along the way, I passed the Met Fifth Avenue steps and tried to find a creative way to photograph their iconic steps.

The Met Steps

I hoped that in this photo, I could accomplish the task I gave myself of taking photos of stairs at unique perspectives, and capture the energy surrounding the area. The steps being shown in this perspective is not one that many people see the steps from when they visit the museum. They are usually looking at the steps from the front of the building to walk up to the prestigious institution, which is matched by the overcoming amount of steps there are leading to the entrance. The people shown around the steps also reflect the tone of the museum. It is clear that there is a diverse group of people that go to the Met. The excitement around the Met is also reflected by some of the tourists taking selfies, and by the multitude of people making their way up the steps.

My Building

This next photo is one of the stairs leading up to the second floor of the building. I found this view to be most compelling because of the shapes that are made in the ceiling from the stairs. This perspective was also unique to me because I had never looked at the building or architectural components that needed to be made in order to compensate for a stairwell.

The Met Brewer

The next few photos are from the steps at the Met Brewer. I thought about taking pictures there because of the concrete and modern style architecture the building has, and I figured that the staircase had to reflect those qualities as well. The picture above was taken from the bottom up like my first inspiration photo. I found this perspective interesting because you can see the outlines of the stairs and not just the ceiling like in the first picture or in my building. I also found this interesting because of the lighting. The light was filtering through my lens differently than in the other locations because of the placement of the lights, which I assume is from the unique architecture and lack of natural. The light then created a leak that is shown in the bottom right corner of the photo.

The Met Brewer

This photo is similar to the previous one because of its looking upward perspective, but the lighting had a different effect on this photo since it is directed at the camera. I found this photo interesting because of the lack of light shown on the stairs. The color and darkness of the photo contributes to the tone of the Met Brewer and the stairwell. It perfectly embodies the cool and industrial feeling that the building was designed with. In terms of teaching and curriculum, I would find the differences between these photos to represent the importance of light placement in photography.

The Met Brewer

This photo was interesting to be because of the perspective it forces the viewers to see and the warm tones brought out of it. First, taking the photo at this angle was somewhat difficult. I had to lean over the side of the handle bar to look downwards to the street level of the stairs. It was almost difficult to hold the camera still because of the gravity of the angle I was at. Second, the color of the handle contributed to the warm tones brought out by the pure white lights in the stairwell. This was an aesthetic touch that I appreciate because it offsets the colder feeling people might get surrounded by concrete.

The next two photos are taken from the same angle but edited differently. The first photo is cropped so you could see the ceiling of the stairwell, the top sliver of concrete. It is also edited to include more highlights and mid-tones than the other. For both photos, I chose to edit them based on their compositional potential and slight change in perspective.

The Met Brewer

For this first photo, I chose to crop it with more of the right side of the stairs shown because of the slight angle towards that side of the stairwell. I figured that the photo should be cropped based on the way that the lens was angled, hence where the audience should be looking. I also chose to crop it so that part of the top of the ceiling was in it to balance the shadows made from the light pouring in from the top of the staircase and the light at the bottom left corner of the photo. I thought that the warm light of the ceiling would be a good "break" for the viewers eyes to make sense of the many shapes the light was making against the staircase.

The Met Brewer

This next photo was cropped the way it was because it was taken, mostly, in the center of the stairwell. I wanted to make this photo as balanced as possible. When keeping this in mind, I also knew that I had to compensate for the light leak int he bottom left hand corner of the photo, which lead me to be mindful of the gradient from light to dark in that corner. If the change from light to dark was too sudden, by cropping it too closely on the left, than it could direct viewers attention to that harder edge it would have created. So, I made sure that I left enough light in the corner to see the slow transition from light to dark. I also enjoy the way it was edited because of the dark shapes that take up most of the space, but also how it is balanced with the out of focus highlights that are receding into the background.

The Met Brewer

This last photo was taken while I was standing on the steps and looking to the side to see them at eye level. I cropped and rotated the photo to be at the angle of the railing because it would give people a new perspective of the staircase. I also thought that it would take a viewer a moment to figure out what the subject is, which adds to the unique perspective of the photo.
Overall, I think that this creative response was a success. I think that I could take this idea of noticing and translate it into a lesson for students in a beginners photography class. In this way, students would be able to take pictures of things that are of interest to them, explore the use of their camera, learn critique and technical terms of photography, and translate their formal knowledge into creative art making.