Film Making

There are many tricks you can use to make your film more interesting and exciting. Audio is just as important as the visual images are. One way to make use of audio is to record natural noise that can fill any gaps there might be during editing. It is also important to monitor your audio as you go with good headphones. When selecting your scene chose one that will be quiet enough for the audio to be undisturbed but still creates the right effect for your video. Sometimes to accomplish this it is necessary to use many settings and locations to create the illusion of one setting. This can be done by using a variety of shots and angles.

The Scene!

For all the people that want to do a video for their podcast, one of the most important parts of it is the Scene.Your setting is where scene occurs and is an essential part of telling your story on film. Using a variety of scenes will make your film more interesting. They can be as big as a shot from the space shuttle looking down on the entire planet to as small as a flea on someone’s fingertip.
A bad setting can make a video boring or confusing.Both selecting and taking control of your scene is crucial if you want to be able to successfully capture your actors or host.

In order to do this, first , you need to find an appropiate location for your podcast:

• Aerial views or shots from high places such as hilltop or tall building.
• Pans of countryside or city showing setting maybe include landmark
• Medium shot of building or site where action will take place
• Medium shot of room, or location with characters walking into
• Close shots of faces of characters in dialog from different angles
• Extreme close-ups of items characters are focused on – for example, if we only saw the close-up of the pipe discharging pollution while we listened to Rob’s and Suz’s dialog, that alone would give us the feeling we were looking for that something sinister was happening.
• Keep in mind that the real world also contains very small scenes within the larger scene. So don’t overlook things as small as insects, plant leaves, tadpoles, water droplets, and the other elements that together make the greater scene.

Once you have chosen an appropiate location, you need to take control of the shooting enviroment.

1. Minimize visual distractions

2. Remove personal distractions

3.Minimize audio distractions

Filmmaking Trickst

I thought that it was really great that this website posted a number of personal tricks to assist in filmmaking. A few of the points that I found interesting...

-A clear plastic bag is about as effective as an expansive camera 'raincoat'. All you have to do is cut a slit the size of your camera lens and wrap it tightly with rubber bands.

-Carry an empty nylon bag with you for a variety of reasons. If it is windy while you are filming, you can fill the bag with weights in order to stead your camera. You can also fill the bag with rice, beans, or sand to hold your camera steady if you do not have a tripod.

-If you like to move around while filming, use a shoulder stabilizing brace instead of a tripod. You can hold it in your arms while running or you can place it on your shoulder for slower scenes.

Production - Hosting

A lot of people in our group are going to be doing interviews where they may want to introduce people. This is similar to hosting, so I thought that the tips listed in the article were helpful. I think that the most important one is to make eye contact with the camera. You want to direct what you are saying to the people listening and make them stay focused and involved in the podcast. News reporters often do this as well as talk show hosts, and many other TV personalities. The following video is a good example of what not to do when reporting, yet you can still see that there is a lot of eye contact made with the camera when those who are physically with the reporter are not being addressed.

Film Production

Audio is the difference between a good film and an exceptional film. Filmmakers should choose a location which is quite. A shotgun mic or lavaliere mic should be used to pick up sound close to the camera and block background sound. The scene your shot is taken in is also a huge contribution to film making. It is used to capture your audience and keep them focused. Controlling the elements of a scene is important because it will allow you to remove distractions and create a set which would appeal to the viewer. Filmmakers, like photographers, use the law of thirds to position the object to appeal to the viewer's eye. To create this effect, the object should always be looking towards the empty space on the frame. Instead of aligning the object's center with the middle of the frame, position it on the upper or 1/3 down area. The six basic camera shots are;

• extreme wide shot
• wide shot
• medium shot
• medium close up
• close up
• extreme close up

Adding an on camera host will create a more inviting production by interacting with the audience. Looking at the camera with confidence enthuses the viewer. You should be yourself but incorporate animation and excitement as well as knowledge about the subject you're filming. Tripods are used to stabilize the camera.

Producing

As far as audio is concerned it is important to scope out the scene in which you will be recording. The idea is to take note of the surroundings and the possible distractions that could ruin your recording. When it comes to picking the scene for visual purposes you want to make sure or at least try to pick a place that will allow you to be in control so you can have a wide range of choices with regard to the setting of your shoot. There are a number of shot types that can help you set up the scene, from extra wide shot to close up and even over the shoulder or point of view(from the main character's perspective). If you are on camera try to be animated but keep it natural, be yourself and always remember to make eye contact with the camera. If you are the one running the camera and you need some action shots, say you're chasing some predator during a hunt, you can use a shoulder stabilizer brace that will help with your run n' gun method and it can be used while standing still by just simply bringing it to rest on your shoulder, oh, and don't forget to turn the camera on!

Production

Audio is important in filming. A lavaliere mic is good to use for filming interviews because it picks up the vibration from the throat, so this could be used when doing our podcast (if accessible). Just like a story, our film should go in a chronological order... we are kinda telling a story. Therefore we should make it as interesting as possible. We can do this by using 'b rolls' or 'cover footage' to help portrait a point. Creative transitional pieces also enhances our film... The rule of third seems pretty cool and interesting, and since it is commonly used in framing interviews to make shots look more professional,we should be familar with it. Its basically dividing the shot into 9 parts, as seen in the pic. In an interview, the eyes of the interviewee should be in one of the upper 'power points' or frames and he or she should be looking in the empty space of the frame.

Assignment for tomorrow!

Hey guys!

Don St. John, the Web Editor for the Daily Hampshire Gazette is going to come talk to you guys about shooting for news tomorrow. I want you to bring 5 questions to ask him about filming, things you think might come up when you're shooting your footage or trying to piece it together in one cohesive story. I'm going to collect the questions after class, so be sure to have them written down and be ready to discuss filming!

Also, read about Production (the blue box) on The Wild Classroom's Website, and post a little paragraph about helpful information we could use along with a relevant picture....let's make the blog look more interesting!

See you tomorrow!

Sara

Learn from this great website.

Hi everyone,
This is Webster. I have been using this website to learn to master the art of webmastery. You can learn html,php,css,Mysql and actionscript 3 courses for totally free on this website below. Please if anyone wants to help with the devepment of the flash display on the MAS main website let me know. I will start this project this week. Also watch this cool video about how to make different flash objects display anytime one goes on your website. It's kind of cool. I think we could incorporate this into our flash for the MAS website.

This is the website for learning about the above mentioned courses- http://www.developphp.com/

This is the youtube video on how we could incorporate this changing flash object to make the MAS website cool looking when anyone goes on there. So it doesnt seem like one picture all the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olp-Hkx0CcA

There are other vids on how to make other flash displays with object/content.

Enjoy!!!!!

5 Legal Points

1. "If you interview someone for your podcast, you need to consider both copyright and publicity rights issues [...] In many interview scenarios, you may have an implied license to use the materials, but it safest to get your interviewee's written consent or (at minimum) record the interviewee's verbal consent before you use the interview in your podcasts".

2. "If you are interested in video podcasting, vlogging or otherwise including images or video with your podcast, you need to think about potential copyright issues and publicity issues [...] You need to isolate and think about each type of work that may be included in an image or video and identify whether you need to clear each of those works. For example, you will need to identify each piece of music you use and any still images or video footage created by other people and consider whether copyright applies and if so, whether your use requires the copyright owner's permission or whether your use falls within an exception to copyright".

3. "A claim of right to publicity generally arises if you use another person's image, likeness or voice in a podcast without their consent and for commercial purposes, which results in injury to the individual [...] This means that if you use another image, likeness or voice as a way of advertising or soliciting your podcast, you will need the individual's consent".

4. "Generally you do not need permission to make an informational use of a trademark [...] You will need permission if you're making a commercial use of the mark".

5."One method of marking your podcast before distribution is to use the “All Rights Reserved” model. Under this model, you would “reserve” all your copyright-related rights in your podcast by marking it with the © symbol".

5 Key Points in Copyrighting

5 points from the article:

1. You do not need permission to use work if material the is not covered by copyright.

2. You don’t need to have permission when you are making a “fair use” of the work and when you are using creative commons.

3. There are two kinds of copyright rights, the reproduction right and the public performance right. The reproduction right is when someone reproduces the copyright in a copy and public performance right is to perform the copyrighted work publicly in a play, movie or music.

4. You do not need permission if the material is U.S. Government work.

5. You do not need a permission to use an informational use of a trademark

Legal Information about Podcasting

5 points from the article that I find interesting are...

1. If you want to use a trademark, check the company's website that owns the trademark, and see if they post a trademark usage policy.

2. You must get consent from someone you interview. The consent should be in writing and it is good to record the person's verbal consent if you wish to publish the interview.

3. Several issues concerning podcast copyrights also apply to blog copyrights.

4. I think it is interesting that you do not need to copyright material if it is United States Government work.

5. It is always better to assume that something published is protected by copyright and therefor permission is needed in order to use it.

Possible copyright infringement...

Hey bloggers,

I wanted to show the class an example of using copyrighted material on a blog.

I stole the weather from http://www.weather.com and just copy and pasted it onto my blog, then I stated it was courtesy of them.

If you want, check it out.

Is it legal?

copyright

I found this lecture pretty boring, but I understood that all the information on it was very helpful, and it is a good tool for podcasting.
Five things that I found helpful , or that I did not really know were:
1. Written works don’t have to be very well done to qualify for copyright protection; if it is created by someone else, you need copyright permission.
2. You don’t need to use copyright permission when you are using a slogan , title of short phrase, when you are using works that are in the public domain, when you are using a US government work, when you are making a “fair use” of the work and when you are using creative commons –licensed or “podsafe” content
3. There are two kinds of copyright rights: the reproduction right and the public performance right.
4. All the licenses you need for every kind of work are: Licenses For Reproduction And Distribution Of Musical Works, Licenses For Public Performance Of Musical Works, Licenses For Reproduction, Distribution, And Public Performance), and Licenses For Use Of Music Together With Images (or Audiovisual Work), especially I did not know that each kind of work needed a different kind of license
5. You do not need a permission to use an informational use of a trademark

Podcasting Legalities

I thought that many parts of this reading were a little confusing so I'm not to clear on all of it, but here are some things I learned from it:

1. You do not need permission if:

• material is not covered by copyright
• text that was covered by copyright is now in public domain
• material is a U.S. Government work
• if you are making "fair use" of material
• if material is under a Creative Commons Licensee

2. Ideas and Facts are not copyrighted.

3. "Federal copyright protection of sound recordings only attaches for recordings created after 1971" (http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Podcasting_Legal_Guide).

4. Videos may include many pieces that are also copyrighted, such as music. All copyrighted pieces of the video need to be checked/credited.

5. Many of the copyright issues that apply to podcasts also apply to blogs!

Important Podcasting Info

* Copyright! it's important to copyright your work to prevent misuse. It is unfair to put in such hard work and creativity in your project to have someone else use or abuse it without your consent. This should also be taken in consideration when using other people's work... their permissions are required if the material is copyrighted.

*Consent from interviewee! If you including an interview in your podcast, be sure to have a written consent from the person you are interviewing, it is also good to record the person's verbal consent to publish his/her responses.

*Trademark! be careful in including trademarks in your podcast, considering the nature of your podcast to prevent dilution.

* CClicensed Materials! you can save time and protect yourself by google or yahoo searching creative commons licensed content for your podcast or you can even go on the website for a list.

*All Rights Reserved! this is a way to mark your podcats before aring it, be sure to include that you 'reserve all rights' also.

Podcasting

I think it is important to remember that by making your own content you will be the safest from copyright infringement laws.

However, if you do choose to use already made content from the internet or elsewhere, here are some tips to keep you out of hot water:

1.) If you want to use a trademark, check the company's website that owns the trademark, and see if they post a trademark usage policy.

2.) Using Creative Commons licensed material or CC-licensed material will ensure you have the rights to use copyrighted materials.

3.) According to the Podcasting Legal Guide in CC Wiki, "In the Google Advanced Search page (http://www.google.com/advanced_search), by limiting your search according to “Usage Rights”, this will restrict your searching to find CC-licensed materials only."

4.) It also states, "The Yahoo! Advanced search (http://search.yahoo.com/search/options) page clearly illustrates how you can limit your search results to Creative Commons-licensed works."

5.) According to the site (at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Podcasting_Legal_Guide#Trademark_Issues), "There are also various content aggregator sites that offer a large amount of Creative Commons licensed works. These are listed at this page: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Content_Curators."

il/legal things about podcasting.

1.Copyright concent is relevant to podcasts because it applies to creative and expressive works
2. You need publicity rights concern.
3.Need to be careful about trademark laws and make sure not to go against them.
4.be minful of labor laws
5.Privacy laws are important.

Legalities

1. The main legal issues for us podcasters are related to copyright, publicity rights and trademark issues. Always assume that something is protected by copyright, we should always get permission from the copyright owner unless an exception or exclusion applies.

2. Publicity rights allow individuals to control how any version of their likeness is used for commercial purposes in public. You may need consent from the individual before using their likeness. I’m not sure if what we’re are doing is considered commercial purposes in the public forum but we should still be cautious.

3. Trademark law protects consumers from being deceived as to the source of goods and services, or the endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation of one good or service with another. Be sure not to claim that your service is affiliated with an entity that is trademarked. Basically don’t lie about any affiliation and you should avoid any concerns relating trademark law’s.

4. When is Permission not required:
You Are Using; A Fact, An Idea, A Theory Or Slogan, Title Or Short Phrase or works That Are In The Public Domain. Also any US Government Work or anything that has a Creative Commons-License or is “Podsafe” Content.
Creative Commons' licensed content is usaully “podsafe”.

**Making “Fair Use.**
You may make a “fair use” of a copyrighted text without obtaining permission of the copyright owner. A “fair use” is copying any protected material (texts, sounds, images, etc.) for a limited and “transformative” purpose, like criticizing, commenting, parodying, news reporting, teaching the copyrighted work. You are not violating any copyright laws if you are using something within the criteria of “fair use”, transformative is a bit wishy-washy so I would recommend getting more information on "fair use" offered in the article.

5. Two Misconceptions About Fair Use.
(i) Acknowledgement Is Not Enough.
(ii) Disclaimers Are Not Enough Either.
If your use of some material falls outside of the criteria for fair use it may not be enough to simply acknowledge that fact, you may need to get consent.

I think the best option for our class is to use material that has a Creative Commons license since that material is pre-cleared and is almost always safe to use. For any material that is not Creative Commons it would be best to at least contact the owner of the rights of said material.

Cool Experiment!

A really cool thing (possible podcast topic!)

Hey Guys!
My mom called me to tell me about a couple of students from MIT, and I thought I'd share it with you! These two undergrads, Justin Lee and Oliver Yeh created a near-space launch by building a weather ballon, for $150! They bought a camera from eBay, a BoostMobile phone with GPS from radio shack, a beer cooler and a balloon from the grocery store and launched it 92,000 feet into the atmosphere in Boston! They programmed the camera to take pictures every 5 seconds, and the weather balloon touched down in Worcester about 5 hours later. What they're excited about doing is streamlining the process to make the project something that middle- and high-schoolers can do in the classroom. One of the coolest thing about this is that these kids aren't even studying rocket science...one is a computer science major and the other is a mechanical engineer!

I think this would make a really cool podcast if anyone is looking for a neat idea.

Here is their website!

Check out their interview with CNN here:


~Sara :o)

Podcasting Legalities

1. Get consent from people that you interview in your podcast.

2. Sometimes, citing your sources isn't enough. If it is a copyrighted work, in some cases you may need permission to use it.

3. If the music you are using in your podcast is not directly related to your content (ex: you are not specifically talking about the music being played) then it is probably not considered "fair use".

4. For our purposes we most likely won't need permission to use a trademark. This is because we will not be using it for commercial value.

5. It would probably be benificial to us to see if we can find "Creative Commons" material to include in our podcasts before using copyrighted works, because with a CC work you do not need special permission to use it.

Flash development

hey guys,
if you want to learn to create the flash display on the mas website. reply and let me know. We will have to meet up as a group and work together. Also talk to Sara for more info. You can download the tutorials from http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/action_scripts/actionscript_tutorial/
Start to practice anytime you're free.

Assignment for Monday, 10/19/09

Hello everyone!

Here is the reading for next Monday. It's about the legal stuff behind podcasting. It shouldn't be too difficult to understand, but it's not the funnest thing you'll get to do this semester.

http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Podcasting_Legal_Guide

I would like you to post to the blog 5 things to keep in mind about the legalities behind podcasting. What can we take away from the readings to use in our own podcasting process?

For those of you who aren't doing podcasts for your project, think of this homework assignment as helping your classmates :o)

We're going to be discussing the reading on Monday, and I will be hearing from everyone, so make sure you have something to say!

Also, by the beginning of class on Monday please have Steps 1-3 done on the handout that we gave out today. Send it to me in a Word document via email, and print out a copy to bring to class.

That's all for now. Let me know if there are any issues!

~Sara

Podcast!

My poadcast topic is going to be about global warming. We hear about this a lot, but if you ask people on the street what global warming is, they probably wouldn't know what to answer. I want to explain , in easy words, the science and the importance behind this phenomenom.
I would probably do some animation or a sketch, trying to make it funny but meaningful.

Podcast Idea

Adobe Flash Player sounds like a fun tool to use in order to put on an animated skit of some sort to spread the word of science. I feel like we could make a short YouTube clip that would have a central narrator or character finding out information about science that is not commonly known, but information that would be valuable and of great interest to the public. I also thought we could maybe use Facebook in order to make a site of some sort that people could follow, update and comment on in order to keep the talk going about science.

After reading through some of the great podcast ideas from my peers I have thought of a few of my own. I really liked the "student survey" idea of making a short "vod"-cast (sorry sara) with clips that are very brief but give off a common impression. Maybe having a few scientifically-focused questions asked to people around campus that are commonly misunderstood by the public. Pose the question in the beginning of the scene, then show what everyones' two second answer is, and then show the truth, whatever that may be, and then show some reactions. I thought this might be good because if there are misconceptions about science, health, the swine flu, whatever, we could set the record straight while at the same time put it all in a vodcast to spread the word about science. I think its important to find information that would be shocking to most so they will be tempted to spread the word. It could potentially spread depending on what information we could dig up. It would be best to have something that most people believe as common knowledge or what would produce common assumptions that we can then prove wrong.

Podcast idea

My podcast topic is going to be about stem cells and its importance and dangers. I also wanted to create a flash slide for our website. I already discussed it with Sara. I might need some extra help if someone is interested.

Outreach Ideas

I have a couple of podcast ideas that i shared with Sara already. First one was she suggested me make an introductory MAS slide with flash. Also, We could improve the website significantly. Thirdly I wanted to personally shoot a video on the importance of stem cells. I have an idea also for the kids in case we visited the schools. The idea was to basically take them on a trip into the forest to learn about cool trees(names and origin), animals and more. I bet they will be thrilled to see and learn about animals they hear about in class when the teacher is teaching. At least I had a good experience going to Six Flags to learn about how physics was involved when building the park.

Assignment for Tuesday!

Hello Everyone!

Since you've all been doing such an awesome job, I'm not giving you anything to do over Columbus Day Weekend. All I ask is that you have a podcast topic picked out for Tuesday (we DO have class Tuesday because it's a Monday schedule) that you can start working on when we get back.

I hope you all have an awesome, restful long weekend!

~Sara

Contact Info for Possible Podcast Locations

I figured I'd use the extra time to look up some contact info. and post it to the blog so that we'd all have access. Here are some places I thought would be interesting:

New England Aquarium
Press Inquiries
617-973-5213

Franklin Park Zoo
PR Contact:
marlo marketing/communications
617-375-9700
mfogelman@marlomc.com

Woods Hole Science Center
Communications
Sue Barton
(508) 548-8700 x2241

Museum of Science Boston
http://www.mos.org/visitor_info/press_room
Sofiya Cabalquinto
Email: scabalquinto@mos.org
Phone: 617-589-0251

Got One!

I have a few ideas, but i think what i would like to do the most is a fallow up with class room visits. I would love to develop a live feed web cam hat with a class that we have vised to talk about the things we went over and to see how they are using it in every day life and knowledge. I was thinking that we could use a skype like program to talk and at the end of the chat possibly leave them with a new idea to think about or a small demonstration cooked up that can be done on camera.

Outreach

I would like for us to do a cool and simple experiment in class, we could record the experiment, all contribute to the editing and post the link on our facebook pages to kinda advertise MAS on a whole. I’m sure not a lot of students know about this… I really want to do an experiment!
As far as the pod cast… I’m still not sure of what I want to do. I’m more prone to doing something regarding health, being a public/community health major. I’m pretty sure something will come to mind. I do well in group work so a collaborative approach is also an option.

Outreach Ideas

I would really like my project to be geared towards kids. I think that doing a kid friendly project would be more fun, and I also think it is most important to reach out to kids. I would really like to make a game for kids. I think that an online game on the MAS site would be really beneficial to the MAS and for getting kids in to science. If getting a game on the site is too difficult, I think that an educational game we could give to teachers to use in classes would be good too. My ideas for games follow:

1. A game of mixing chemicals to make certain potions that could be used for different things. Ex: Mixing hydrogen and oxygen to hydrate your player, making a drink containing protein for energy, calcium for strength... use helium to fill a balloon to travel... finding all the ingredients you need in the game.

2. A game where you have certain pets and have to take care of them. (Similar to Zoo Tycoon which I played as a kid.)

3. A game where you play doctor and diagnose and treat patients. (Ex: Use thermometer to read temperature, high temperature = flu)

4. A game where you explore different types of land (rainforest, desert, grassy plains, etc) and collect pants for points.

5. A game where you use vectors and velocity to aim for targets to get points.


I am also still completely open to making a podcast, maybe still going along with some of the ideas we have for games. (Using internet sources to simulate the scenarios listed for the games and go through them as a podcast.)

Podcast Project

I have a few basic ideas for my project. I am really interested in learning to use the programs offered through the course but also am very familiar with Window's Movie Maker. I made a project in my Relationships class in high school using this program and I was very pleased with it. I will most likely try to incorporate nature, maybe taking footage of a guided trail I'm attending with the Bio club. I also would like to capture some animal behavior in order to incorporate my interests with the science outreach idea.

Outreach creation ideas

I find that when thinking of good affective outreach programs and ideas there are some key things to keep in mind. I think it is extremely important to make sure that the audience we target is very broad, finding ways to target more than just one age group or groups with only one specific area of interest. I can see this being done through video podcasts with interesting pictures, sounds, facts and more. One thing in specific I learned in a communications course (COM287) I participated in here at the university, was the idea of shock value. No matter the topic, using shocking images, sounds and factual information in a video podcast, audio podcast or even through the use of Adobe Flash where we can create animated videos. Actually, the example video podcast on Global Warming that Cecilia posted, is a perfect example of what I mean when I say "shock value" outreach ideas. It is showing something real, something that a lot of us already know but have not really taken into consideration. But when it is portrayed in a shocking animated video, almost making it seem like a joke like this particular video did, it really affects you and leaves a mark in a sense, so that days later you are still thinking about what the message was in the video and its importance to you which then leads to your desire to act.

Outreach

I don't have any ideas for my podcast yet but I would like to do one geared towards children. I think that creating a podcast for kids would be the most fun for me and it would be a good way to get the attention of children or parents with children if they saw it on the website or something. I think that a good way to get the word around about the MAS would be to attend as many events as possible. Not only will the MAS get around to everyone at the event but if they enjoy what we do or say then they are likely to visit the website and tell other people about the MAS as well. Maybe we could also make fun, colorful, interesting, etc. posters advertising science with the MAS logo and website and hang them up at schools, grocery stores, libraries, etc. in the area. Posters that stand out might get not only kids more interested but especially parents and teachers also!

Outreach Ideas

I have to admit that I'm still scatterbrained about the outreach project.  Every time we discuss a new idea I think it sounds great.  I think it would be an interesting challenge to make an audio podcast that would catch and hold people's attention.  In terms of video podcasts, I like the 'busier' ones better than the 'boring' ones...more pictures, animations, and short clips to keep the viewer interested.

Some topic ideas that I've been thinking about are wild life, marine life, and disease awareness and prevention.  I'm very open to doing anything at this point.

I think that if I end up creating a video podcast, it would be fun to poll/question students on campus to see what they know.  

Outreach ideas

I'd really like to learn how to do a podcast with some of the animation software. I think there are some good opportunities to get out into the public and bring some attention to the MAS, farmer's markets, sporting events and the Amherst Common would be good places to set something up. Getting a hold of Heath Hatch would be great for a physics podcast. I have a friend who is a master's student at Umass Lowell and he works across the hall from the lab that tests baseball bats for college baseball, it would be cool to see how that works. I think we could do a podcast that focuses on the physics behind sports(any type), sort of a spinoff of the tv-shows ''sports science'' and ''time warp''. We could possibly do a podcast on how we use ideas in science in our everyday life even though we may not be aware of it. My project for this semester will hopefully be a consensus of where we(the university, the student body, the pioneer valley, the commonwealth) are with regard to our relationship with evolutionary biology and where it is we can go from here. I'd like to interview people about their opinions and knowledge of the field and maybe offer them some topics within evolutionary theory and see where that goes, perhaps I could interview some professors as well. I think it's important for people to understand the basics of Evolution since it is the unifying component within the study of life.

Outreach...

Some outreach ideas i had was mostly around pod casting. Such as awareness in either Language/learning disability or autism. I'm a communication disorder major and I've learned a lot about these subjects and wanted to do a podcast on one of them. Or maybe do a podcast of a science experiment for kids and adding adobe animation to it. I'm interested in the whole animation and how I could use that to explain the science experiment. Another idea was a podcast of a school visit. Could be posted to the website and hopefully get people to watch it and invite us to do demonstrations.

Outreach

1. Make the video more interesting by adding some comedy. Example: One time, my friends and I had to give a presentation about the fungi kingdom. We made a parody of the Tyra Banks show, my friend acted like Tyra, I was the guest and dressed up like a mushroom. Then my other friend was the musical guest, and she played a song about the fungi kingdom (by the way she didn’t know how to play guitar nor sing, but she knew how be loud and funny). Everybody remembered our song and by the time of the test everybody sang it.
2. Put on the blog more discussion topics. Talk about something that everyone wants to talk about.
3. Get involved in campaigns (like global warming or something related with science but that the people understand)
4. More publicity around campus and other areas(ex. Flyers)
5. Spreading the word through facebook and twitter, but not only in our site, but trying to get other people with more followers to talk about us.

Assignment for Wednesday, 10/7!

Helloooooo!

For Wednesday, here is what you should do!

Post to the blog:

• 5 ideas for possible outreach creation ideas and reasons why you chose them. They could be podcast topics, putting the MAS on social media sites, learning Adobe Flash and creating animations...what do you want to work on this semester?

Read:

• Journalism 2.0, Chapter 11 (it's short, don't worry)
• Watch iMovie '08 video tutorials here. Watching them all will take about an hour and a half. If you don't have that much time, then just focus on the ones under the headers Enjoy and Rediscover your Video, Making Movies, and Advanced Techniques. I just want you to have a basic idea of how to work around iMovie because we're going to be playing around with video on Wednesday. When you click the link, you'll have to scroll down a little bit to see the full listing of iMovie tutes. Make sure the tab is clicked on iMovie '08, because that's the version we'll have in the BCRC. We do have a copy of iMovie '09 in the lab, and I also have it on my computer, so if any of you decide that your podcast would not be complete without a feature from iMovie '09, then let me know. Other then a few cool features, iMovie '08 and '09 are pretty much the same.
  

I know I said in class to post to the blog your decisions of where to focus this semester, but just have them ready to share with me in class. I'll come around with a list that you'll just sign up.

See you Wednesday!

~Sara

Stem Cell Research in Missouri.

I picked this video because of the interest I have for stem cells. I liked the intro. with picture slides and music. Also the producers of this video were able to switch between interviewing scientists to showing diagrams with explainations about stem cells and their capabilities. This is a nice video and explains both what stem cells are and the benefits for humans. The video also explains the politics behind stem cell research in missouri. I couldnt upload the video but the websites url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUb3dsrR8AA&feature=related
check it out

Science Podcast: Sixgill Shark

I liked this podcast because it was very professionally done. The makers are actually down in the sea up close to the sharks. The information they gave was very well presented, and the diagrams for explanation were helpful. I also liked when they showed other strange deep sea animals, which could make the viewer more interested in researching and finding out about the other animals that are not examined in this short podcast.

The video didn't upload correctly, so here's a link to it:
http://untamedscience.com/biodiversity/animals/chordates/sharks-skates-rays/primitive-sharks/cow-sharks/hexanchus/bluntnose-sixgill-shark

Global warming video

I choosed this video because I am personally interested in this topic. I think everyone should be aware of global warning, even when a lot of people don't really seem to care. This phenomenon involves a lot of complicated science,but this video explain it in a way that people would understand, and more important, that invites people to get involve.http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3pujlkSTqo

also this other one:http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHUnzPEy-nA

Science Vodcast

This kid's vodcast is cool because he is clearly interested and keeps the audience engaged with good cinematography while also demonstrating the chemical process of fire extracting oxygen from its environment.
There is even a surprise in the climax when the plate stays stuck to the rim of the glass when he picks it up. This kid is good!

Priority Africa - Science and Technology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKuOlvQBAs

I find this blog to be very interesting and well developed. It includes several interviewees who appear to be credible by their title and professions. The podcast talks about the importance of science and technology in the developing world and the need for establishing science and technology universities in African countries. It also provides a social aspect on women in the continent, as their roles are undermined. One of the female interviewee made a good point that food, water and energy are all related to women, therefore they need to be a part of this developing science and technology economy. I like the topic of this podcast, it seems to be professionally done so the audio and video are of good quality. The French also put a little umph to it.

Science Podcast- National Geographics' Sea Monsters Part 3

What I really liked about this podcast was that it used video and also slides to present the information. I thought that by being able to listen to the audio and then see in a brief summary slide the information just listened to made the podcast easy to follow and also easier to remember afterwards. I also liked the music and the graphics in the podcast a lot. I thought that they fit really well together and both made the podcast interesting.

In regards to the information in the podcast, my favorite sea monster was the Hesperornis. I thought it was pretty cool that there was a bird that swim with a beak full of teeth.

Science project podcast

Bad:
This would of been better if we had some sort of introduction to what we were going to see. Maybe had voice over to hear the kids having fun doing the experiment or telling us what was being added.

Good:
Having a link as a source.

Science Podcast

I thought that this podcast was well done for several reasons. Lakes and ponds are a normal part of New England life and activity, yet it is rare for one to think about the science aspects. I like the narrator of the podcast because she is personable...I feel like she could be my next door neighbor. I thought that the podcast did a great job of making the science facts interesting with the explanations, animations, and easy language. I spend my summers on a lake, so this video had cool personal meaning to me.

Cuttlefish Video Podcast (Vodcast)

I think that this podcast does a good job for a certain type of viewer. I think that if you are already interested in science and old enough to understand it, it does a great job of giving a lot of information in a little bit of time. It also gives enough information to make you want to find out more. It was well organized and a good lenth for it's purpose. However, I feel that podcasts for this class (if they are being directed to people who we are trying to get more involved in science, that may not be very involved already)should have more exciting visuals. I also think that explanations should be in more common language than in this podcast so that they would be more friendly to those without a lot of background information.

Terrible!!!

Ben Goldacre of Bad Science talks about Sensationalised Science Reporting from Conrad on Vimeo.

Turtle Podcast

I thought that this video was a decent example of a well-structured podcast. It was short yet very informational, had more than one interviewee, and also interesting material. The use of interviewing two people rather than one almost made it more official. I also liked the use of different camera shots and effects.

Podcast: The art and physics of pitching

I chose this podcast of Bill "the spaceman" Lee. I did an the evolutionary biology search and WGBH came up as a source at the bottom and his presentation was among a lot of other really cool science topics. I really enjoyed it because Bill Lee is quite the character, he's actually a pretty smart guy with strong opinions and great baseball knowledge. Also his stories are great, anyone who is a sox fan or a baseball fan should definitely check it out. I was hoping it would have been more science or physics related, he only mentions a few aspects of pitching that involve physics and I was a bit dissapointed by that but it was entertaining and informative nonetheless.

Assignment for Monday, 10/6

Helloooo Everyone!

Here's the stuff you'll need to do by Monday!

• Read Tony Vincent's Podcasting for Teachers and Students, from start to pg. 10 (this should be pretty quick, the pages are filled up with lots of pictures)
• Read Journalism 2.0 Chapter 7, Digital Audio and Podcasting
• Be prepared to discuss the readings on Monday...I want to hear from everyone! Jot down some notes or questions to bring up during the discussion.
  
• Using iTunes or some of the other podcast hosting sites, find what you think is a good or awful example of a science podcast, and post it to the blog along with your opinion of it. (If you can't figure out how to post the video, just post the title and remind me how to show you next class!)
• Recall Peg's lecture about the different areas of focus for the semester. You are all required to complete 3 out of the 4 activities, one of which being developing and outreach tool the MAS can use. The other two you can choose out of school visits, fundraising, or professional networking (conferences). Start thinking about what you would like to focus on this semester. We'll get these set in stone on Wednesday!

Also, we are going to have a guest lecturer come in to talk about blogging on Monday. Mary Carey teaches through the UMass journalism department. Please make a list of 5 questions to bring to class on Monday to ask her about blogging. Again, I want to hear from everyone, so please come prepared!

See you all Monday, and have an AWESOME weekend!

~Sara