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Of Memes and the Internet Maelstrom: Feels Good Man

August 24, 2020 by carlcasinghino

How did a character from Matt Furie’s comic Boy’s Club become one of the mega-memes to end all viral meme characters?  Yup, it’s Pepe the Frog.  Do you even know where Pepe comes from?  How he became a symbol of powerful forces of provocation and extremist alt-right political views today?  And what does its creator have to say about how this came to be and what he can do about it?

If interested, check out more info on the Sundance Award-winning documentary Feels Good Man. Director by Arthur Jones leads us on an investigation of the webverse that many of us, particularly today’s students, inhabit here and now.

Posted in Chapter 1, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Media Literacy, Social Studies | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Editing Lessons with Star Wars

February 24, 2020 by carlcasinghino

In earlier posts, mediateacher.net has featured posts that highlight lessons that can be learned from study of movies from the Star Wars franchise, particularly with Rogue One and innovative work in sound design.  Along with the superbly detailed book The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film by J.W. Rinzler, there is this YouTube video that explores how George Lucas arrived at his final cut of Star Wars through the work of his editors Paul Hirsch, Richard Chew, and Marcia Lucas) and which can be very eye-opening to students about the development of story and the power of the editing process (and all of the stages of movie production) in arriving at the definitive version of a film.

Posted in Chapter 1, Chapter 8, Directors, Resources | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Reflections on New Classics

December 30, 2019 by carlcasinghino

So there are lists all over the place, of course, to mark raves and disses across the spectrum of motion picture media, for the year or the decade past.  I really liked this one with a nice theme curated by the folks at Criterion: Hidden Gems of the 2010s. And it’s worth it just to see the suggestion for Twin Peaks to “become part of the core curriculum of high schools across this country.” Hahaha, we’ll see about that!

And for documentaries? Try this list from Paste, which has informative intros for their 30 choices.

There was this interesting piece from a couple of years ago picking 25 best movies for this century so far (until then, at least), and it has a link to choices from Sofia Coppola, Denis Villeneuve, and Alex Gibney, among others. Speaking of Villeneuve and Coppola, Dune and On the Rocks are both due in 2020!

Posted in Chapter 5, Directors, Media Literacy | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Northeast Media Literacy Conference 2019

November 7, 2019 by carlcasinghino

I am presenting Media Creation in Action: MLE Collaborative Principles in the Classroom at the Northeast Media Literacy Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 8, 2019.  Welcome to my presentation!

Here is a pdf of the slideshow. Here is one of the exercises described through the case study.

Don’t forget this post with screenwriting resources!  Here is the interview referenced in the case study.

Posted in Chapter 3, Media Literacy | Leave a Comment »

MLE Lesson Resources

September 10, 2019 by carlcasinghino

As a new school year begins, here is a quick update on one of the most comprehensive and dynamic resource hubs for media literacy lessons and videos designed for elementary, middle, and high school learners: KQED Education.  In their “For Classrooms” section, teachers can find lesson plans for Humanities or STEM units, or Elementary media literacy education.  For professional development, educators are also encouraged to check out their coursework in KQED Teach and PBS Media Literacy Educators Certification. Some might want to go straight to the topical videos produced by PBS Digital Studios, check out the Above the Noise channel (or its previous incarnation, The Lowdown, with stories from 2018 and before, organized by theme).  And for those looking for an overall national resource from public media, here is the PBS Learning Media page, from which one can also search for links to local stations and related resources.

Update 2020: An election year is here, and a special Youth Media Challenge has been set up for educators and students.  Check it out!

Posted in Chapter 3, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Media Literacy, Resources, Social Studies | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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