Consortium for Media Literacy | Uniting for Development | Connections

Movie trailers are art forms of their own—and yet it’s so easy to watch them flash by without fully understanding their rhythm and structure, or the media tools used to sell the movie before its theatrical release.

Have students identify the elements of a theatrical trailer

AHA!:  Movie trailers aren’t just slapped together.  They’re totally planned out!

Grade Level: 6-9

Key Question #2:  What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?

Core Concept #2:  Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules

Materials:  High speed internet access, LCD projector, screen

Activity: Play a trailer for your students, and ask them if they can identify what’s attracting them to it.  For lack of better material, you might try this series of trailers profiled in an article in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/19/movies/awardsseason/oscar-trailers.html?_r=1&

Here are some elements of trailers for students to consider, with credit to Stephen Garrett in Film Maker Magazine online, January 13^th, 2012. Film trailers generally take their cuts from beginning to middle and end of the film.  And they tend to function as small stories in three acts:  introduction to characters and environment, obstacles and complications, and intensification of conflict.  If they don’t tell those three-act stories, the editors may be more interested in establishing a tone or mood to match that of the film.

Sometimes the filmic elements themselves take center stage.  Does the trailer rely most heavily on dialogue?  Do they dwell on the lush cinematography or set design?  What do the music cues tell you about the film?  Does the trailer focus on actors’ performances?  Or is it the genre that determines most of the creative choices of the editors? A trailer for a Harry Potter film will be much different from a trailer for an offbeat comedy about two characters on a road trip.

Once your students have had a chance to tease apart the elements of the trailer, ask them to rate it.  Did it grab your attention and entice you to see the movie, or did it seem like a hodgepodge of outtakes that were less than exciting?

Extension:  For a subsequent class, ask students to think of movie trailers they thought weren’t all that great.  What do they think the editors should have done instead?

The Five Core Concepts and Five Key Questions of media literacy were developed as part of the Center for Media Literacy’s MediaLit Kit™ and Questions/TIPS (Q/TIPS)™ framework.  Used with permission, ©2002-2016, Center for Media Literacy, http://www.medialit.com

Starting a Kickstarter page may be the contemporary equivalent to buying a lottery ticket. Both  hinge on dreams of making money quickly, and by chance.  But, as Jason Best, Principal of Crowdfund Capital Advisors in San Francisco points out: “Crowdfunding is not an easy way to raise money.  It’s a new way to do a difficult thing, which is raising money for a business.  It enables you to more efficiently raise the money and shorten the time it takes to do so.  But it takes a lot planning, a lot of preparation, and careful execution of your plan” (Assenova et al., “The Present and Future of Crowdfunding,” p. 125).

In this MediaLit Moment, your high school students will have the chance to imagine themselves in the position of the entrepreneur who wishes to raise funds on a crowdfunding platform, and learn the basics of creating a project page that’s likely to drive traffic to the site.

Ask students to evaluate the effectiveness of a sampling of Kickstarter project pages

Grade Level:  9-12

Key Question #5 for Producers: Have I communicated my purpose effectively?

Core Concept #5: Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

Key Question #3 for Producers: Is my message engaging and compelling for my target audience?

Core Concept #3: Different people experience the same message differently.

Key Question #4 for Producers: Have I clearly and consistently framed values, lifestyles and points of view in my content?

Core Concept #4: Media have embedded values and points of view.

Materials: Computer with high speed internet access, LCD projector and screen.

Activity: This MediaLit Moment activity requires a little teacher preparation.  Visit the Kickstarter home page, then look for the FAQ page, which will provide directions for establishing a Kickstarter account.  There’s no need to worry about starting a project.  Creating a minimal profile page is enough to establish your Kickstarter account.  Next, search the site for the Kickstarter Creator Handbook.  Read the section titled “Telling Your Story.”  This focuses largely on putting together the project video.  Next, spend a little time browsing successful and unsuccessful projects.  Each time you open the Kickstarter main page, you’ll see showcases of successful projects, or projects in progress that are doing well.  A site search for “unsuccessful projects” or “unfunded projects” should yield several failed campaigns.

For the activity itself, browse a few successful and unsuccessful project pages with your students, and ask relevant questions.  Project videos are the first priority.  These are essentially three minute elevator speeches which answer those Key Questions for Producers:  Is it engaging and compelling?  What is the project creator hoping to accomplish, why is it important, and what are the benefits for prospective funders?  And, what’s inspiring the project creator to take the risk of creating the campaign?  Ask students to evaluate the pages they’ve visited.  If you have any time to spare, you might also want to take a look at the different features of the project page.  How many backers are there for the campaign?  Has the project creator been a backer for other campaigns on Kickstarter?  Have backers posted any comments?  Has the project creator posted any updates? Generally, the more active the site, the more successful the project is likely to be.     

The Five Core Concepts and Five Key Questions of media literacy were developed as part of the Center for Media Literacy’s MediaLit Kit™ and Questions/TIPS (Q/TIPS)™ framework. Used with permission, ©2002-2016, Center for Media Literacy, http://www.medialit.com.

In this MediaLit Moment, students are entertained by a recent anti-smoking PSA that has received more than three million views on YouTube.  Use the clip for a mini-deep deconstruction exercise where students watch, listen, and evaluate the techniques used to create the message.

Ask students why this particular clip went viral

AHA! This message made me laugh so I’m sharing it will all of my friends

Grade Level: 6-9

Key Question #2: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
Core Concept #2: Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.

Key Question #5: Why is this message being sent?
Core Concept #5: Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power (in this case, power of persuasion).

Materials: Computer with internet access and projector. Here is the link to the PSA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLtschJxRy8  

Activity: Show the video three times without giving any explanation to students except to watch and listen without commenting. Play the video on a big screen for the class.  Then play it again without the sound – just video.  The third time, play the sound only – no video. Ask students to comment on the creative techniques used to make this film.  Would the clip have been as effective without all of the elements coming together?Was the message clear? Were students persuaded not to smoke? What was the most compelling part of the message? Cats, music, text…Would it have been better to use humans? Was YouTube the right platform for releasing this video? Why or why not?
 

The Five Core Concepts and Five Key Questions of media literacy were developed as part of the Center for Media Literacy’s MediaLit Kit™ and Questions/TIPS (Q/TIPS)™ framework. Used with permission, ©2002-2016, Center for Media Literacy, http://www.medialit.com.

In this MediaLit Moment, students are encouraged to deconstruct a magazine cover from this season’s presidential campaign. By looking closely at the design and purpose of a message, students discover that most media messages are constructed by professionals who are eager to sell a product or idea. Our thanks to Frank Baker for providing the images for this activity.

Ask students about the creative decisions made when designing political magazine covers

AHA! These covers were designed with a message in mind.

Grade Level: 6-9

Key Question #2: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
Core Concept #2: Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.

Key Question #5: Why is this message being sent?
Core Concept #5: Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

Materials: Computer with internet access and projector. Find the magazine covers by using this link: http://www.frankwbaker.com/mlc/2016-presidential-candidates-magazine-covers/

Activity: Put the covers up on the screen for all to see. Remind students that each cover started out blank–an editorial team working with a graphic designer collaborated to decide what goes on the cover. Have them take a moment to look at headlines, fonts, colors, photography, lighting, etc. Ask students which creative techniques attracted their attention? What did they see first when looking at the covers? Why were these particular photos, illustrations, fonts, headlines chosen?  To sell? To entertain? To make a call to action? To encourage – or discourage -- a vote?

Extended Activity: As a class, agree on a topic and have students create their own magazine covers with image and headline.

The Five Core Concepts and Five Key Questions of media literacy were developed as part of the Center for Media Literacy’s MediaLit Kit™ and Questions/TIPS (Q/TIPS)™ framework. Used with permission, ©2002-2016, Center for Media Literacy, http://www.medialit.com.