The Media and the Message
SKU:
$300.00
$300.00
per item
In this 36 week course, students will learn to be visual storytellers by creating and publishing a bi-weekly comic strip, producing and publishing 4 different video advertisements for various products, services, and organizations, and producing and publishing a 4 episode TV series as a member of a 4-person production team. As more stories are told visually, this course equips students to lead their generational narrative. Please scroll down for more information.
"The wise in heart will be called understanding, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness." -- Proverbs 16:21
Additional resources required:
- Textbook: Making Comics by Scott McCloud (any edition)
- Access to a digital graphics program (commercial or open-source) (we will discuss these in the pre-start materials that will come out)
So, what's the story?
This course started with some parables and an LA hot tub, but that requires some explanation.
This is a course about storytelling: specifically, visual storytelling.
Jesus taught with stories, throughout His ministry. God used visual examples with several of the prophets (Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc.) to convey His message to His people, Nathan used a story to get through my namesake’s rebellion.
Suffice it to say that people get most of the important things that they remember from stories.
Today, most people get the majority of their stories from the media. This might be either mass media or social media, but the days of sitting around the village campfire telling stories are mostly of a bygone era.
Until relatively recently, the media was governed by powerful people who had absolute editorial power over which stories the public heard (and thereby what they remembered.) That has changed.
Enter, the LA hot tub.
Many years ago, my cousin, his wife, and four of their friends started a worldwide film movement — from their hot tub!
They had all gone out to Hollywood to make movies, and they were working in the industry, but they were not making movies.
So they decided one night, while sitting in the hot tub, to each make a short film every month in accordance with a pre-agreed monthly theme. They would then screen their work for, and critique, each other, thus enhancing their craft. Thus was born the worldwide film movement: “Group 101 Films.”
Frontier Christian Academy focuses on giving students something meaningful to say, so it only stands to reason that we would empower them to say it to the wider audience.
If 6 friends from LA can reach Pakistan, Denmark, London, Chicago, and New York; how far can we get the word? Come, join us, and find out!
This is a course about storytelling: specifically, visual storytelling.
Jesus taught with stories, throughout His ministry. God used visual examples with several of the prophets (Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc.) to convey His message to His people, Nathan used a story to get through my namesake’s rebellion.
Suffice it to say that people get most of the important things that they remember from stories.
Today, most people get the majority of their stories from the media. This might be either mass media or social media, but the days of sitting around the village campfire telling stories are mostly of a bygone era.
Until relatively recently, the media was governed by powerful people who had absolute editorial power over which stories the public heard (and thereby what they remembered.) That has changed.
Enter, the LA hot tub.
Many years ago, my cousin, his wife, and four of their friends started a worldwide film movement — from their hot tub!
They had all gone out to Hollywood to make movies, and they were working in the industry, but they were not making movies.
So they decided one night, while sitting in the hot tub, to each make a short film every month in accordance with a pre-agreed monthly theme. They would then screen their work for, and critique, each other, thus enhancing their craft. Thus was born the worldwide film movement: “Group 101 Films.”
Frontier Christian Academy focuses on giving students something meaningful to say, so it only stands to reason that we would empower them to say it to the wider audience.
If 6 friends from LA can reach Pakistan, Denmark, London, Chicago, and New York; how far can we get the word? Come, join us, and find out!
Adult accomplishments:
- Created and published bi-weekly comic strip
- 4 different video advertisements for different products, services, and organizations
- A four episode TV series produced as a member of a 4 person production team (class size depending)
- A "pitch package" for the TV series to sell it to a studio
- A published video trailer for the TV series
- Written and signed legal contracts governing their creative process (syndication for the comic strip, various release waivers and accessibility and liability contracts for video shooting process)
Transferable Skills:
- The ability to persuade through visual storytelling
- The ability to create compelling characters that an audience will identify with
- The ability to use lighting and camera angles to enhance the message that they are trying to convey
- A working knowledge of copyright and intellectual property law
- The ability to work as a member of a production team to complete a storytelling project
- The ability to sell your ideas/vision to a potential customer
- The ability to write a cover letter
What careers will this course give you a leg up on?
- Movie producer - Average Salary: $70,950 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- Videographer - Average Salary: $55,080 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- Marketing Manager - Average Salary: $131,180 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- Multimedia Artist and Animator - Average Salary: $65,300 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- Intellectual Property Lawyer - Average Salary: $118,160 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- Entertainment industry professional agent - Average Salary: $62,080 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
- Photographer - Average Salary: $34,070 (https://www.careeronestop.org)
General Syllabus (subject to change as needed)
- Course Start: 24 August 2020
- Week 1:
- Basic plan for comic strip
- Choose a product to make a video advertisement for
- Week 2:
- Develop comic strip characters
- Storyboard video advertisement for product
- Week 3:
- Shoot video advertisement
- Critique classmates comic strip characters
- Week 4:
- Refine comic strip characters
- Produce first comic strip
- Set up Youtube channel for course video projects
- Edit video advertisement and post for classmates' review
- Week 5:
- Critique classmates' comic strips
- Critique classmates' video advertisements
- Choose another product to do video advertisement for (preferably something that you have created)
- Week 6:
- Revise first comic strip
- Create second comic strip
- Storyboard second video advertisement
- Week 7:
- Critique classmates' second comic strips
- Shoot 2nd video advertisement
- Week 8:
- Revise second comic strip
- Create 3rd comic strip
- Edit and publish second video advertisement
- Week 9:
- Critique classmates' 3rd comic strip
- Critique classmates' 2nd video advertisement
- Choose an organization for which to do a video advertisement
- Week 10:
- Revise 3rd comic strip
- Create 4th comic strip
- Storyboard 3rd video advertisement
- Week 11:
- Critique classmates' 4th comic strip
- Shoot 3rd video advertisement
- Week 12:
- Revise 4th comic strip
- Create 5th comic strip
- Edit and publish 3rd video advertisement
- Week 13: Thanksgiving Week
- Critique classmates' 5th comic strip
- Critique classmates' 3rd video advertisement
- Plan video advertisement for Frontier Christian Academy
- Week 14:
- Revise 5th comic strip
- Create 6th comic strip
- Storyboard 4th video advertisement (for Frontier Christian Academy)
- Week 15:
- Critique classmates' 6th comic strip
- Shoot 4th video advertisement
- Week 16:
- Revise 6th comic strip
- Create 7th comic strip
- Edit and publish 4th video advertisement
- Form TV series production team(s)
- Christmas Holidays: 14 December 2020 - 3 January 2021
- Week 17:
- Critique classmates' 7th comic strip
- Critique classmates' 4th video advertisement
- Create setting for TV series
- Create characters for TV series
- Rough script and scene outline for TV series
- Week 18:
- Revise 7th comic strip
- Create 8th comic strip
- Plan TV series
- Week 19:
- Critique classmates' 8th comic strip
- Storyboard first TV episode
- Week 20:
- Revise 8th comic strip
- Create 9th comic strip
- Plan first TV episode shoot
- Week 21:
- Critique classmates' 9th comic strip
- Shoot first TV episode
- Week 22:
- Revise 9th comic strip
- Create 10th comic strip
- Edit/publish 1st TV episode
- Week 23:
- Critique classmates' 10th comic strip
- Critique other production team's TV episode (contingent on enrollment supporting multiple production teams)
- Storyboard 2nd TV episode
- Week 24:
- Revise 10th comic strip
- Create 11th comic strip
- Plan 2nd TV episode shoot
- Week 25:
- Critique classmates' 11th comic strip
- Shoot 2nd TV episode
- Week 26:
- Revise 11th comic strip
- Create 12th comic strip
- Edit and publish second TV episode
- Week 27:
- Critique classmates' 12th comic strip
- Critique other production team's 2nd TV episode (contingent on enrollment supporting multiple production teams)
- Storyboard TV episode 3
- Week 28:
- Revise 12th comic strip
- Create 13th comic strip
- Plan TV episode 3 shoot
- Week 29:
- Critique classmates' 13th comic strip
- Shoot TV episode 3
- Spring Break: 3 - 11 April 2021
- Week 30:
- Revise 13th comic strip
- Create 14th comic strip
- Edit and publish TV episode 3
- Week 31:
- Critique classmates' 14th comic strip
- Critique other production team's 3rd TV episode (contingent on enrollment supporting multiple production teams)
- Storyboard TV episode 4
- Week 32:
- Revise 14th comic strip
- Create 15th comic strip
- Compile comic strip portfolio
- Plan TV episode 4 shoot
- Week 33:
- Critique classmates' 15th comic strip
- Research comic strip syndication options
- Shoot TV episode 4
- Week 34:
- Revise 15th comic strip
- Create 16th comic strip
- Edit and publish TV episode 4
- Week 35:
- Comic strip Limits Bounding Analysis (LBA)
- Journey of Learning Narrative (JOLN)
- Critique other production team's TV episode 4 (contingent on enrollment supporting multiple production teams)
- Storyboard video trailer for TV series
- Week 36:
- Final comic strip portfolio
- Final TV series
- Socialize video trailer for TV series
- Socialize comic strip
- Video advertisement portfolio
- Course End: 28 May 2021
Expected work load
- Typically one or more tasks that you must perform to move your project iteratively "down the road"
- One or more discussion questions from the teacher to answer
- Responding to classmates' answers to the discussion questions
- Ensuring that you go through any of the learning activities for skills where you are not yet proficient to help you in future weeks' tasks
***All of this is designed to take you about 5 focused hours per week, which is less than you would have if you were attending class in a traditional school.
How do I write this course up on a high school transcript?
- As a Fine Arts elective, given the amount of visual storytelling that the student has had to do through multiple videos and the bi-weekly comic strip
- As a Business/Marketing elective, given the video commercials and the legal contracts that the student has to develop as part of the process of creating the videos and the comic strip
- As a Creative Writing elective, given the story development that the students have to do to complete their various requirements