Posted in Chapter 6, Media Literacy, Social Studies, tagged Film Club, Learning Network, Michael Kellen, New York Times, Reader Idea Resource on August 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Here is a superb resource for media literacy courses: the “Film Club” Learning Network offered by The New York Times. From this site, you can find short documentary films, most under 10 minutes, and related discussion questions.
And here is a Reader Idea resource created by English teacher Michael Kellen that features lessons with the shorts Girl Boxer and Arctic Boyhood.
Posted in Chapter 5, Directors, Social Studies, tagged A.O. Scott, Black History Month, Charles Burnett, Killer of Sheep, Manohla Dargis, New York Times, Oscar Micheaux, Spike Lee on February 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Still from Charles Burnett’s classic Killer of Sheep
For Black History Month, film critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott of the New York Times have compiled an interactive list of culturally, artistically, and historically important motion pictures. This resource is quite valuable and can also serve as a springboard for interesting discussion. Along with the movies they have chosen — one per day for the month of February — there are many others noted in their comments and footnotes. Many directors and other figures from film history who are featured in Moving Images, such as Oscar Micheaux, Spike Lee, and Charles Burnett, are highlighted among the selections.
Posted in Chapter 5, Directors, Women Mediamakers, tagged Cara Buckley, Gal Gadot, Mekado Murphy, New York Times, Patty Jenkins, Richard Donner, Superman, Wonder Woman on May 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Here is a follow-up to the Women Pioneers of the Cinema: Patty Jenkins and the Wonder Women post from a few days ago (see below). For Mekado Murphy’s New York Times “Anatomy of a Scene” series, Patty Jenkins narrates a key scene from Wonder Woman, along with a nice tip of the hat to a strong inspiration for her — Richard Donner’s Superman from 1978.
P.S.: Right after I posted this piece, the NYTimes published this highly interesting and enlightening interview with Patty Jenkins. Read it to the end. The exchange at the tail of this conversation with journalist Cara Buckley was one of the most take-your-breath-away moments I have read in an interview with a filmmaker in quite some time. It features a very inspiring and strikingly original statement from Ms. Jenkins.
Posted in Resources, tagged Movie Trailers, New York Times, Star Wars The Force Awakens on November 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Looking to check out, review, or share what the upcoming or just-released movies are right now? Here’s a thorough yet compact interactive article put together by the New York Times. Good resource for a fun session of watching trailers and reading about what’s up in American moviedom.
Posted in Chapter 5, Media Literacy, Social Studies, tagged Aleksandr Kryukov, Andrew Roth, Kreosan, Luhansk, New York Times, Pavel Pavlov, Russia, Ukraine on July 18, 2015| 1 Comment »
Or, “what exactly is that movie?” – which was the title to an earlier mediateacher.net post, so we’ll be returning to that phrase again today to explore the ever-evolving 21st century media creation landscape. (At least that’s what Google translate gave me, so it’s probably a ludicrous translation. If appropriate, Russian readers can send along a good translation and I’ll add it to this post. See: that will be 21st century collaborative media in action.) (O.K., here’s the P.S.: О чём этот фильм is a better translation, I am told. I’ll take your word for it, Marta — Thanks!)
Today, we will be visiting the groundbreaking media event known as Kreosan. Two young men from war-torn Luhansk, Ukraine, Pavel Pavlov and Aleksandr Kryukov, began conducting home science experiments and posting them to their YouTube channel. They started to attract a following, and the political and historical contexts of their work provide powerful examples of the ways in which the creation and dissemination of media messages produce new outlets for communication and expression as well as the sharing of information, discoveries, and perspectives across cultures. A part of that process is also the written expression of ideas through comments by followers and responses by the creators themselves, who have acknowledged the effect of feedback on their output.
For an introduction to their work, please check out this Saturday Profile piece by Andrew Roth for the New York Times. There is a video to watch as well as a print article. Like many media literacy stories today, this is a richly cross-curricular tale, from the geopolitical situation between Ukraine and Russia for social studies classes to their experiments (such as with the magnetron or with lightning) for science and tech ed coursework. Watch out for that ray gun!
