From discernable sounds to written symbols such as words, man’s way of COMMUNICATION has evolved in leaps and bounds.There is more to just written word. As this may be true in Johannes Gutenberg’s days of long past, printed communication had been the world’s staple for knowledge. However, as man sought for efficient and effective answers to problems, his ingenuity has spawned into technological advances creating powerful tools of which we are just beginning to discover, appreciate, and to utilize them as essential part of communication. Of this, George Lucas has never said it any better. Communication is not just about the study of the written word. It is also about the understanding of colors, lines, film elements (focus and wide shots), and other rules of conveying messages through different audio-visual forms. They are great tools of communication and not just for entertainment or for artistic display.
This is indeed an important paradigm shift for parents, educators and policy makers. Students must learn these basic “grammars” of filmmaking. Schools need to re-align their curriculum to integrate this into the study of language. Parents, educators, and administrators must understand that watching pictures, commercials, news, TV series, and movies are simply entertainment. These are communication tools. They carry in them different messages – propagandas, sales pitches, values, etc. If students do not understand the “hows” and the “whys” they are made, they will not excite their minds to critical thinking. They will not evoke their feelings into productive action. They remain passive useless audience.
It is then imperative for me, for you, and for everybody to be MEDIA SMART. We need to accept that the single-layered communication in the form of the written word has long been passé. Today, communication has taken a multi-layered identity (akin to a rainbow) that we all need to discover, to study, and to employ. It is our task that in order to let our students to be critical thinkers they need their senses to be awakened through their understanding of the “rules”. Hence, the study of language needs to be intertwined with the study of multi-media production.
“That which we are capable of feeling, we are capable of saying.” –Cervantes
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Image Source: http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Communication3.htm
Media Smart Video
Media Smart Video
2 comments:
Very interesting blog Norman. As an educator and a mother, I agree that teachers and parents should go the extra step in introducing the "hows" and "whys" media is made for the public eye.
In the schools, we teach the Direct Instruction program to our students. Because this program takes on majority of the school day, and that it is very scripted, our studnets are tired and worn out by the end of the day. This goes on for five days a week until the school year is over.
If our school system had the proper fundings to implement "the study of the multi-media production" I can guarantee that it will help the students gain the tools necessary for understanding human experience, developing creative problem-solving skills, and to communicating thoughts and ideas in a variety of ways.
I agree with what you said on your blog, us teachers have to learn and teach students how to understand messages through different audio visual forms.
We can not only foucus on one way of teaching the students, we have to show them to think more creative so they can engage to new ways of learning.
One important form of doing this is to have them interact with other people that have a good knowledge of what they are saying or writing through the media.
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