Karena Teaches Film, Television & Media

http://tokillamockingbirdadaptation.pbworks.com/

Actually, this aligns with what Elisabeth and I are planning to do for our final project in this class. We want to have students think about ways to adapt text to film for the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which is usually taught in 9th or 10th grade language arts. A lot of decisions are made during adaptations such as, do the directors stay very true to the time, place, and other aspects of the text or does it deviate from those elements (like Romeo and Juliet set in modern day, but staying true to the original Shakespearean language). A great way to integrate Film or TV into the classroom is to include it to talk about intent and audience. How does the way a film is adapted affect the “message” it is trying to convey, and what decisions might directors make to reach a particular audience/demographic?

I am interested in showing “modernized” adaptations of old works like 10 Things I Hate About You for The Taming of the Shrew, and clips from Clueless for Emma. I think it would be engaging and interesting for students to analyze the parallels of the stories and then construct reasons for what the intended audience is for each with clues from each “text” for support. I envision some kind of T-Chart for comparison, or they could even use “video ant” to analyze a particular scene and add various comments on the ways the film parallels with the original text.

As far as getting students to think about making their own adaptations, Elisabeth and I are creating an activity where students get into “production teams,” choose a scene to adapt and then each pick a different role such as: director, dialogue director, soundtrack designer, storyboard artist and casting director. This way, students will have to think about several different aspects of adaptation and how they work together to turn text into film. Our idea right now is to have students to outline their “concept” for adaption, but not really make it (due to time constraints) — though that’s something to consider once I learn more about filming and film editing myself. We were envisioning the storyboard artist perhaps using a program like Comic Life to illustrate the production team’s concept visually.

My preferred genres of music changed somewhat dramatically during the first couple of years in college. Maybe a more appropriate term is that they dramatically expanded. Suddenly I was surrounded by dozens of new people in the dorms and, through iTunes sharing, I was able to sample playlists from people down the hall, and I was exposed to music artists I hadn’t even known about before. It was a glorious, exciting time.

Although I appreciate being introduced to new music and new groups by friends, I’d say that, when I’m in my car, or in my apartment cooking, cleaning, doing homework etc. I seem to settle on a couple of old reliable artists or groups because I have come to form a kind of appreciation relationship with them. Maybe they write music that can alter my mood in a way that I like, maybe the lyrics “speak” to me, as cheesy as that sounds.

One (broad) genre of music I listen to is considered “indie rock,” although I really hate that term and dislike having to classify my music taste with it. “Indie Rock,” I think, has come to mean any kind of music (usually with an acoustic sound) that really can’t be classified in some other, more specific category like punk, metal, classic rock, classical, etc. That said, some examples of the artists I like include: Jenny Lewis (her solo work and her work with group Rilo Kiley), My Morning Jacket, St. Vincent, Dirty Projectors… I could really go on, but as I am writing this I am getting distracted by playing through a bunch of different music in my library. I’d have to say a major “reason” I listen to these artists/groups is because, with the exception of My Morning Jacket, many of my favorites include a strong female influence in the music. I can’t say why, I just gravitate toward it. I like the sound of female vocals and I think I just really appreciate creative women who put quality work out there. Also, especially with Jenny Lewis, I feel like I can relate to the music. So, here, I will include the lyrics to one of the many songs of hers that I love. A lot of her music is about relationships and the good and bad things that come with them — romantic, friendship, family…

“You Are What You Love” by Jenny Lewis (from Rabbit Fur Coat)
07 You Are What You Love

This is no great illusion
When I’m with you I’m looking for a ghost
Or invisible reasons
To fall out of love and run screaming from our home

Because we live in a house of mirrors
We see our fears and everything
Our songs, faces, and second hand clothes
But more and more we’re suffering
Not nobody, not a thousand beers
Will keep us from feeling so all alone

But you are what you love
And not what loves you back
That’s why I’m here on your doorstep
Pleading for you to take me back

The phone is a fine invention
It allows me to talk endlessly to you
About nothing disguising my intentions
Which I’m afraid, my friend, are wildly untrue

It’s a sleight of hand, a white soul band
The heart attacks I’m convinced I have
Every morning upon waking
To you I’m a symbol or a monument
Your rite of passage to fufillment
But I’m not yours for the taking

But you are what you love
And not what loves you back
So I guess that’s why you keep calling me back

I’m fraudulent, a thief at best
A coward who paints a bullshit canvas
Things that will never happen to me
But at arms length, it’s Tim who said
I’m good at it, I’ve mastered it
Avoiding, avoiding everything

But you are what you love, Tim
And not what loves you back
And I’m in love with illusions
So saw me in half
I’m in love with tricks
So pull another rabbit out of your hat

I think most of us can relate to a romantic relationship we’ve been in that hasn’t exactly been the best for us. I think what the song is about — the title of the song, “You Are What You Love” — is that the people we associate with say a lot about us, good and bad. Also, I just like the auditory aesthetics of the song, the fast pace.

Here is the trailer for the Documentary Jesus Camp:

I saw this documentary 3 years ago because I had heard how disturbing it was from friends. The documentary is about a group of very enthusiastic Evangelical Christians who send their children to “Jesus Camp.” Pastor Becky Fischer’s is the creator and coordinator of the “Kids on Fire” summer camp in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, where children ages 6 and up are indoctrinated with very specific beliefs and taught to be “soldiers in God’s army.” The documentary is directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, also directors of The Boys of Baraka.

The directors do no rely on voiceover: instead, the documentary is constructed of film “clips” of the activities that happen at the “Kids on Fire” summer camp as well as several interviews with the camp’s staff, parents who send their children to the camp, and, most telling, interviews with the children themselves. Occasionally, a scene will open with a text quote from the bible or from one of the spokespeople for the group, in order to “frame” a new part of the documentary. The primary point of the documentary couldn’t be more clear: the picture of this zealous religious group is nothing less than frightening — at least to an audience that is “outside” that group. In their interviews, the children speak so eloquently, so… adult-like, and with die-hard conviction, about the righteousness of their religious movement and are frank about their “obligation” to spend their lives converting others. Their “camp” is likened to other more “frightening” religious extremist camps for kids. Certainly, the directors are trying to make a point that, while we as Americans are worrying about Islamic extremist trying to push beliefs and disregarding others in the name of religion, we have (perhaps a less violent) version in our own backyard. The children in the documentary are literally referred to as “soldiers in God’s army!”

It must be said that the documentary does not seem to be “anti-Christian” or even “anti-religion” at all. Rather it seeks to expose a surprising, horrifying example of religious fundamentalism that the average “Christian” American is not likely to perceive as threatening or dangerous.

So, does this documentary present the group as “dangerous?” Maybe when it comes to the possibility of the group growing large enough (at the time of the documentary, Evangelical Christians were, by far, the fastest-growing religious group in the U.S.) to muscle their beliefs into government policy through sheer power in number. The group in the documentary criticized America’s separation of Church and State and was honest about their desire to “take back America for Christ.”

With this kind of message, the film makers were clearly attempting to reach the American, non-evangelical Christian audience to expose what they felt like was a threat to the religious (and political) freedoms we supposedly defend in this country. The documentary was received relatively well by critics, and, judging by many other reviews (on Rotten Tomatoes and elsewhere), their purpose of making the Evangelical group seem frightening and just plain crazy was effective.

My only gripe about the documentary was the soundtrack choice. During much of the film, the music that plays in the background is eerie and threatening sounding. I realize it is to add to the intended effect of the film’s message, but for me, it made the director’s personal views more visible. I think the interviews/film clips alone, edited and placed the way they were, were effective enough in getting the point across. The music made me see the filmmakers’ bias, which disappointed me and made the “documentary” seem just slightly less authentic.

On the other hand, I think one thing that added to the authenticity was the fact that later interviews with those portrayed in the film revealed that the Evangelical group (specifically those who were filmed) were not offended and did not feel misrepresented by the documentary. To me, this made the “crazy” factor of the people in the film even more apparent. However, it should be mentioned that there were other Evangelical or Christian groups who were offended by the film, because they said it didn’t make a point to differentiate between different groups of the same religion and made them “all” appear the same.

For a documentary teaching idea, I think it would be good to get students to choose an issue they are passionate about — something that gets them excited or angry — and make a documentary to inform others about it. I would include such criteria as: interviews with people and/or experts on the topic, evidence of actual research done, incorporation of text and/or voiceover and inclusion of “other” images or video clips that would add to the presentation. Students would have to sit down and write about the “point” of their documentary and then during and after the creation of the work, they would continually reflect on their success of getting their information presented effectively through a series of blog posts.

For a final project, Elisabeth and I are thinking about doing some kind of text-to-film activity for teaching To Kill a Mockingbird.

I watched the 10 o’clock news on Channel 5 for my analysis.
Here is the chronological breakdown:
News features: 8 minutes
Advertisements: 2 minutes
News features: 9 minutes
Advertisements: 2 minutes
Weather: 3 minutes
Advertisements: 4 minutes
Sports:3 minutes
Advertisements: back to advertisements

Overall there was a total of 17 minutes devoted to various news features. Some most of the features were between 30 seconds to 2 minutes in length and included such topics as: rise in H1N1 is complicated by a decrease in blood donations, city council race results, a boy dies of alcohol -related accident, roofers are to blame for a house fire, spray painting vandal is caught, people are outraged because 12 new plasma televisions were purchased for a prison, Hurricane Ida, and updates on the twins stadium. Each of the two news feature segments, which were separated by 2 minutes of commercials included an “uplifting” story. In the first segment, there was a story about a group of military people who raised money for a woman dying from a rare form of brain cancer, and in the second segment, there was a story about a young man who saved another man who was drowning.

I noticed that even though the features themselves were quite short, each time before a commercial break, there was 1 minute or so that quickly announced what features were up next, probably to keep people watching. The weather and sports are saved until the end, and are surrounded by quite a bit of advertising so I am assuming that these two segments are the most popular, and that they “hook” viewers into watching the other news features and advertisements by showing weather and sports towards the end of the news broadcast.

Personally, I get very irritated watching the news. The features are so short and rushed that I fee like I get nothing out of watching the news. I also get annoyed with the weird banter among the news broadcasters. This was the first time in the long time I have sat down to watch news on television. Usually I get my news from online sources or newspapers. I like to seek the information and I feel like I get more (quality and quantity) from these sources than I do from television news.

During the average week, these are the media texts I typically use:
Television (ABC, NBC less than 2 hours per week)
Radio (public radio — daily)
Internet (Comcast — several hours a day)
New York Times (online)
Star Tribune (online)

I notice that with alternative media sources (The Current radio station) are more likely to play a wider range of media (or present wider ranges of opinions/alternative opinions) because they are not confined by “rules” of the corporations that own them.

For a class activity, I’d like to have students compare attitudes and news features portrayed on news stations with differing political “leans” such as MSNBC and FOX News, or newspapers such as New York Times and New York Post. On which news features does each focus, what are the attitudes portrayed in the differing sources in relation to similar events, etc?

Over the years, Macy’s has been pumping their television advertisements full of celebrities. In this particular advertisement, Macy’s has included such famous faces as: Martha Stewart, Jessica Simpson, Kenneth Cole, Emeril Lagasse, Donald Trump and Puff Daddy among others that I cannot name). All of these celebrities have product lines at the department store. Celebrity endorsement of products is nothing new — but in this case the celebrities are all endorsing their own products, and in effect making a whole group endorsement of Macy’s —  where consumers can find all of these products in one place.

The celebrities are shown on a set that resembles a Macy’s department store, giving the illusion that Macy’s not only sells celebrity product lines, but perhaps the essence of celebrity exists in the department store itself. The celebrities appear to be preparing the store for the holiday season; it is as if they are physically preparing it for the arrival of the consumer.

By using such a collection of famous people, Macy’s is making a few suggestions:

1) This store is of such high quality that the rich and famous hang out here, shop here, sell their products here

2) The selling of celebrity product lines is personalized by their appearance in the departments where their products are sold. Consumers can have some kind of perception of a relationship with the celebrities if they buy the products.

3) Macy’s is also a famous icon by association. It is made into another kind of “celebrity” among other celebrities within the advertisement.

4) Macy’s becomes another “familiar face” for consumers who are familiar with pop culture. People who watch television may be a “fan” of one of the various celebrities shown in the ad, and therefore, may associate Macy’s with this person. For example, people who watch and enjoy Martha Stewart’s show may make an association between Stewart and Macy’s and then shop at Macy’s for Stewart’s kitchen wares line (and probably other things as well).

I decided to make a kind of “spoof” advertisement by combining a real advertisement for a tanning salon (at the top) with an interesting picture I found through Google images of a burial casket that is made to look like a tanning bed on the inside.

I got my idea from a paper advertisement for a tanning salon I got in the mail a few days ago that was advertising the addition of brand new tanning beds. Obviously this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of or seen tanning beds, but I thought about the image for a while and suddenly it struck me how artificial and creepy tanning beds are. People climb into these casket-like containers and get blasted with UV rays at close from head to toe. The dangers of tanning bed are no secret — more and more women under the age of 35 are being diagnosed with melanoma — the most dangerous form of skin cancer and some studies point to the rise in tanning bed use as a major cause.

Thus, I thought it darkly ironic to pair the idea of coffin with tanning bed. It’s strange, too, that even with all of the bad press about tanning bed use, many young women still use them on a fairly regular basis — all in the name of supposed beauty.

For this medical drama analysis project, I worked with Elisabeth.

This link will bring you to our powerpoint presentation about medical dramas.

For our teaching activity students would compare medical dramas with reality television shows about real doctors such as Hopkins. By comparing the dramas with realities shows, students would determine common elements, and differences between the two types of shows. Students would also read articles about how real doctors react to dramas about the medical world. The purpose of the assignment would be to get students to explore and understand how medical dramas compare with the real medical world and understand limitations of the medical drama genre.

Ethnography of Wilco Fans/Concert Goers

Music plays an important role in many cultures and in many people’s personal lives. Among the many functions of music is the way in which people use it to help construct their identities. While trying to decide on a type of media on which to do my ethnography, I settled on studying fans of music groups – specifically fans at a concert – more specifically, fans at a Wilco concert. Using the Wilco concert as a kind of “point-of-entry,” I set out to find answers to the following questions: Why do people go to concerts? What does being a “fan” look like?

I went to see Wilco at Roy Wilkins Auditorium with a group of friends a couple of weeks ago. As it turns out, Wilco fans are a tall bunch, and I am not tall. We bought tickets for the ground floor, where it was standing-only. This meant that, like it or not, I spent much of the concert watching the crowd instead of Wilco.

I’ll try to tell you a little about the band itself because I think knowing about the music and the band reveals some things about the fans who follow them and attend concerts. My assumptions are corroborated with the interviews I conducted with others who went to the concert. Wilco’s genre is difficult to pinpoint. They have been characterized as the following: alternative country, just “alternative,” rock, and pop. It seems like each of their albums veers in a different direction.
The crowd was, not surprisingly, somewhat diverse – at least in terms of age. There were people ranging from early adolescence to people in at least their late 50s.

Observe long enough, though, and you’ll notice the people in the crowd look a lot more alike than at first sight. Let me paint you a picture of the “typical” Wilco fan at the concert. He is dressed in jeans – jeans of some level of trendiness, though. No “wranglers-wearers” here. For a top, he dons either a flannel-like shirt or a fashionably worn-out screen print t-shirt. He definitely has facial hair of some sort (a full beard if he is able to grow one) and there is a good chance he has purposefully chosen to wear his Buddy Holly-esque glasses instead of contacts. He’s tall and thinks nothing of squeezing into the tiny space in front of you to get closer to the band. There is a 100% chance that he is white. Why, then, did so many of these guys in the crowd get offended when Jeff Tweedy, front man for Wilco, looked out at the crowd halfway through the concert and said, “You guys look great tonight. Pretty homogeneous, but great nonetheless.” Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say to this trendy crowd of artsy, unique individuals.

The fans at the concert were divided between those who got seats, which surrounded the upper, outer perimeter of the auditorium and us more avid fans who chose to brave close contact with each other, standing on the main floor. The hip-factor was cranked up a few notches among the standing fans. I was baffled and amused by the simultaneous presence of the desire for community and savage defense of individuality among fans. Here are the interview questions inspired by the concert and answers by other fans/concert goers:

Why did you go to this concert/why do you think people go to concerts in general?

Respondent A:I came because my brother had an extra ticket. I don’t really listen to Wilco, but I just enjoy the energy at concerts. Sometimes the best way for me to get into new music is to see the band in concert first. I think I can have a more emotional connection if I’ve seen the band or artist in person.

Respondent B: I came because I love Wilco. I’ve wanted to see them in concert for 3 years now, and this is the first chance I’ve had to go. I think people go to concerts for a lot of reasons. Probably the biggest reasons are to experience the energy of live music, to see the people [from the band] that you respect, idolize or whatever making the music right there in front of you. Also, I enjoy concerts because it’s kind of a unique experience. I know there are set lists and some of the same jokes and banter might be repeated, but no concert is exactly like the other.

Respondent C: 1) To be around friends
2) Crowd, energy, reinforces your own activity and interest, being around others who want the same experience
3) Stage presentation, theatrics, visual component of musical
4) Feel like you’re witnessing something special, being a “part” of the experience.
5) Being close to artist/s that you admire
6) Sense of belonging, “tribal” element of music, participation in a specific culture
7) Giving people sense of identity – by your association with this music and participation in this culture.

Respondent D: Seeing the music performed live is another way to appreciate it. If a band sounds good live, I respect them more and I like the energy of being around other people who like the same music.

Why are you a fan of Wilco?

A: Well, I really wouldn’t call myself a fan yet. I like their music and I think after seeing them in concert I feel more of a connection to the music. It’s one of the better live performances I’ve seen. They sounded really good.

B: I like that Wilco doesn’t stick to one genre. I like that they seem to defy any specific definition and their variety of music styles means I can listen to something different from them no matter what mood I am in. Jeff Tweedy like a cool guy too. I think I like him even more after the concert. He seemed really down to earth. I like it when I feel like I can relate to people in the band, like it’s someone I would want to hang out with. The band is also really talented. I love the music they make.

C: I just love the music. Is that a good enough answer? The lyrics, the sound, it’s something I can relate to and just really enjoy listening to. I think they are a talented band – the whole band too, not just Jeff Tweedy. Sometimes bands are nothing without the front man, but I think with Wilco, Jeff Tweedy wouldn’t be able to do what he does without the band. They work so well together.

Do you think there are any defining characteristics of the average Wilco fan at the concert?

A: There were a lot of guys here. I felt a little outnumbered. I noticed there were only white people there. Pretty average-looking, average-dressed.

B: Well, besides some of the older people who dressed up, there were a lot of average looking, kind of trendy guys there. People seemed pretty laid back there, pretty relaxed. There was a certain look at the concert, and I can’t really pinpoint it. I felt like a lot of the younger people in the crowd wanted to portray themselves as artsy or different, kind of alternative, maybe like the band.

C: I really enjoyed it when Tweedy made that comment about everyone looking the same and some people got really offended, because it was so true. I think because first, they felt offended because this guy from the band that they probably really like just told them they weren’t special. I feel like it’s the same type of crowd that goes to a lot of concerts that I’ve been to lately. They really want to stand out as different and “alternative” when really, they come to the concert looking and acting like everyone else. They are just another kind of stereotype.

D: I’ve been to a lot of concerts and it seems like, without fail, fans at the concert mirror the band in some way. Either in dress or attitude or whatever. I think the people at this concert reflected the alternative, laid-back style of the band.

_______________________________________________________

Conclusion: People listen to music and attend concerts because the values of that music reflect the values of the fans. The image of the band is possibly the kind of image the fans admire or subscribe to themselves. People go to concerts to both experience the music and express themselves through their interests and taste in music. People’s identities are connected to and expressed through the activities they do and preferences they have. Concert going is just one example.

As a teacher, I really like the idea of creating media representation “exhibits” that students can share with each other (like the activity we did in class). Here is my idea for tying media representation into a literature unit. If, for example, I was teaching a unit on To Kill a Mockingbird, I could have my students think about how different groups of people are represented in the book (the disabled, African Americans, white Americans, lower class vs. middle or upper class). Students could get into groups, and focusing on one “topic,” they could look at images from movies, news, television shows, advertisements, etc. to see representations of that group of people from the time period of the book through today. I think this activity would help develop student understanding of the context of the novel as well as encourage them to make connections between issues that are present in the novel, to issues of today — what has changed and what has not changed.