This is one of two major assignments in my media literacy course. Students are very excited about the assignment when we go over the syllabus on the first day of class. The assignment offers a great deal of freedom. As they begin to develop ideas, the students see how really challenging the assignment can be. Products have included an Eastern Orthodox triptych with collage panels honoring the American worship of money, youth, and breasts; an original dance about growing up gay in a blue collar-town; a hanging collage (cardboard box) with tourist bureau photos of Greenland and a peephole into the interior showing the Danish mistreatment of the indigenous people of Greenland. Overall, this has been a very successful assignment.
Leslie Hall
Washington State University-Spokane
Visual Media Assignment
To be considered literate in any symbol system, you must have the ability to produce communication. This holds true in media literacy. To that end, you will choose a subject or concept about which you feel passionate. Create a media display that will convey your feelings about your chosen subject or concept. Very little or no text should be used. You should use a medium with which you are fairly familiar. We will not cover media production techniques in this course. Some suggestions for your medium are video, multimedia, still photography, collage, computer-generated art, dance, and painting. A 1-paragraph plan for your media assignment is due on September XX. Media assignments will be presented to the class on October XX. On this date, you will also hand in a 2-page explanation of your project and how the medium you chose helped you communicate your feelings.
Grading:
How well materials conveyed subject/concept
Sophistication and aesthetics of the actual project
Reflection on the process
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This looks like a great assignment for combining media production with media analysis. I’m curious how students who are not artistically-inclined have responded to this assignment?
In an earlier assignment students work with more/less advanced partners to learn to insert narration and music into a timed PowerPoint presentation. They choose a poem to read and record, add background music, and time slides with original visuals or visuals borrowed from the Web. Many of the less artistic students use this format in the visual media assignment without the voice recording.
Another option many choose is a collage but I emphasize that it must be sophisticated and not just photos cut from magazines and pasted on poster board. I encourage these students to use 3-D items such as small objects, art/craft supplies (sequins, fake gems. ribbon, etc.), torn pages of text, rubber stamps. I also encourage them to use the Web to learn about color, balance, texture, and other elements of design. Some have been outstanding and others fairly weak.