Digital+Media+Response+Production

// This page has been made to show the steps we took in creating our Digital Media Response. // // We wanted to respond by making our Reduce, Reuse, Recycle story come to life, and thought this could be achieve using [|Xtranormal] //

To begin, we decided to put all our idea down on a mind map to ensure we were all planning for a similar outcome from our finished product. To do this we used [|bubbl.us].

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Before we even began to design our Digital Media Resource we knew exactly how we wanted to create our piece and that was through the use of Xtranormal. This allowed us to have a great advantage, as we could get straight into planning our resource. To begin, we needed to make an account with this webpage, which was simple enough. However, before logging on we needed to brainstorm as a group some ideas we had in how this production would play out. Our main idea was an interview. Therefore, we wrote out a quick draft of a script we could use. This draft included characters names and a plot that would occur.
 * Pre Production **

Below we use [|PrimaryPad] to share ideas on what our script could revolve around...

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After logging onto Xtranormal our plans changed. There were so many great options to choose from we decided to take a different direction with our production. This meant we went back to the Pre Production stage and re drafted the plot and characters. We now changed the scene from an interview to a superhero short movie. We felt this would be a lot more entertaining for the audience as we could make it enjoyable along with informative.
 * Production **

Once we chose the theme, Xtranormal allows the production to flow quite easily. We selected the amount of characters we needed, the background scene, the appearance of the characters, which included their voice tone, and extras such as music, and then we were able to insert the text.

This process was the most time consuming. As we had to ensure everything we placed within the program was accurate. All the spelling needed to be 110% correct otherwise the computer would not recognize it, the characters actions and emotions were to be edited to suit the words they were speaking and the view such as the camera angle and where the characters were looking needed to be adjusted. Prior to adjusting these features we did not consider this to be so important, however these small details can dramatically increase the outcome of our production.
 * Post Production **

Publishing also proved to be more difficult than we initially expected. We had to set up a new Xtranormal account and tranfer the file over due to lack of credit on the initial account. However, once completed we were able to publish our completed production and transfer it to YouTube to finally be placed on our wikispace below. Enjoy!
 * Publishing **

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This activity was created on Scratch and was made to give students an opportunity to react after watching Recycle Man in our digital response.
 * Follow Up Activity **

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During the video, made on Xtranormal, Recycle Man discusses the opportunity to divide trash into garbage and recycling. Which is the focus on the Recycle aspect of the unit topic: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

So to follow on students can click onto this screen grab and it takes them to the maze game. During this game students will be introduced with items of trash, first a glass bottle, then a banana peel and finally a cardboard box. Using the arrow keys students need to find their way through the maze to the appropriate place for that trash; either a recycle bin or a garbage bin. If students take the trash to the wrong bin the maze is reset and students need to find their way to the right bin. If students get it correct the game moves onto the next item of trash.

This maze game is great opportunity for students to do something different, while being engaged and having fun and reinforcing what they have learnt from the Xtranormal video.

An extension of this activity would be for students to create their own game or response to the video using Scratch. Teachers would need to introduce Scratch to their students and allow them to explore and investigate the possibilities before beginning the task.