Learning Objects & Stage Combat

Stage Combat Video Project

The J Willard Marriott Library’s support for faculty may at times extend beyond the classroom. Working collaboratively with Prof. Christopher DuVal from the College of Fine Art’s Theatre Program I was able to shoot, produce, and edit several hours of instructional video in support of his text, Stage Combat Arts: An Integrated Approach to Acting, Voice and Text Work + Video (Performance Books). Conversations about the project began almost a year in advance of shooting. Building upon a strong working relationship with the Theatre program Professor DuVal and I had many opportunities to create visual imagery to support direct content from the text with stage combat masters from around the country. Professor Jerry Gardner was featured in several videos. His intensity and focus provided several entertaining hours of filming. Professor Duval’s Sensei Michael Friedl flew in from Ashland, Oregon for several days of filming to help demonstrate and refine the theatrical use of combat techniques.  The finalized learning objects were intended to help students understand stage combat within the actor-training program. The text and finished videos were published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama and is available in the Marriott Library for checkout.

Intro Video on YouTube https://youtu.be/IjTmmCx-xL8

 

 

 

Well Hello Dolly!

I have been working with the Theatre department for almost 5 years. In that time I have supported students and faculty on a very wide array of projects. From simple in studio monologues to support teaching and learning to multi camera location shots that developed into an ongoing Acting for the Camera class. I have had the chance to watch timid young freshman grow artistically to become competent and confident actors. I have received cards from graduates living in NY, LA, and abroad giving thanks for the support I provided. My favorite is when I hear graduated landing gigs from the videos on their reels! Not to stray too far so I will share my point. In the last four years I have had the opportunity to work with Denny Berry (Head of MTP) in developing a pedagogical practice by integrating visual learning tools into a weekly course for all MTP members. The videos are uploaded via Dropbox to a private YouTube where students review and reflect on performance. Denny also reviews the visual information to further develop an understanding of each students development. I really want to write a paper on this but I need to first finish my Digital Storytelling/Special Collections paper. Below is a little PR piece I made for the program as they are hosting 1800 potential students at an annual conference.

Hello Dolly

The Librarian, The Storyteller, and The Student: Keeping Libraries Relevant

Telling stories is simply passing information from one person to another. If libraries are the gatekeepers to information than it would makes sense to have information disseminated in the form of a story, right? It is obviously not possible to tell stories of our entire collections but we can share small anecdotal stories about our collections to offer a deeper and comprehensive understand of subject.

I would like to emphasize the power of story as a tool to enhance, inspire, and guide understanding. We have been telling stories since the beginning of the Pleistocene era. The simple passing of instruction was the early form of telling stories but it will not suffice today. Today, students, staff, and faculty expect, and deserve, a comprehensive approach to information seeking. Students especially are oriented to multimodal input sources, which enable the search for information to mimic their existing social media ethos.

Jody Lepore Interview

http://stream.lib.utah.edu/index.php?c=details&id=9238

 

 

WWDC 2012 and beyond

Watching the WWDC live feed on Engadget this morning I could not help becoming overwhelmed with feelings of optimism. First, I have an application for iOS called Storyrobe. Storyrobe is a mobile digital storytelling application that allows users to create, render, and share short narratives. The news today of all the redesigned and newly listed features for iOS devices and the Mac creates a buzz that promises months of new activity amongst developers. Going beyond the next version of Storyrobe (we are working on 2.0) I see how applied visual applications will spawn a new meaning of the term visual communication. I cannot wait to see how Storyrobe inspires millions of users around the World and how those users will inspire Storyrobe.

Tony

Project First

Many moons have passed since I last chattered on but I have been quite busy with special projects and my compnany. Project First

So Now What?

The Utah Daily Chronicle recently ran a piece about my “U & You” project. The video component, as with most technologies, needs to be transparent in nature. The concept of recording history has been around since the dawn of mankind. The method by which we record our history can vary widely across generations gaps and socio-economic position. Today we had a little get together to talk story (I like this) around the U and You project and the future of documenting the lives of our students. Emma Zink, our amazing MUSE intern, put together a video of the interviews she filmed as part of the first semester pilot. Have a look see!

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/ae/u-you-turns-student-life-into-visual-memoirs/

The U and You

I just recently uploaded a presentation to Slideshare that I gave for the Library 2.011 conference. The presentation was my first attempt to explain the U and You project to the outside world. I am very passionate about this project that will be collecting short narratives from our students every semester. The longitudinal nature of the project will allow for an authentic assessment of student growth. Here’s my elevator speech:

Historically, libraries have had a mandate to create, collect, and archive local histories. The U and You project is just that, local oral histories. The longitudinal storytelling project dubbed “The U and You” is collecting 10-minute interviews once a semester throughout the academic career of our students. After completing the program here at the U we will provide the student with a copy of all their stories. The stories can be used to enhance the graduate admission process, authentically assessing the real growth of the student, also to enhance the employment application, or to simply reflect back upon their time at the U. I am developing a social network that will highlight the stories allowing participants to interact with each other. All of the stories will be archived, catalogued, and made searchable in the Library’s catalog. The very nature of the stories will allow for the analysis of the transcripts for marketing by the university and the library. The PR alone from the project will help bring more attention upon the library as well as bring students through the doors that might otherwise not see the inside of the building.

U and you

View more presentations from tonysams

Artist in residence with Nebo Schools Title 7 Indian Education

The last few weeks have been quite exciting, to say the least. I was invited to participate as an artist in residence with Nebo Schools Title 7 Indian Education program. This story starts last summer while I was teaching a 3-day digital storytelling workshop for the Salt Lake Indian Walk-in Center. One of the participants, Eileen Q., had ask if I would be interested in teaching this type of course to younger students, I agreed and she started the process of finding funding for the project. Fast forward a year or so later and I got a call from Eileen and within a few weeks we started the workshop.

After meeting with the directors we agreed to try and record the stories in front of a green screen. I knew this would be a lot of work, ands fun too, as I had recently completed a small project with my son’s after school class. The story telling process was out of my hands as the teachers worked on that part of the project a week before coming up. After shooting, which went relatively smooth, we all sat down for a shutgun-introduction to Final Cut Pro, yes FCP, not express. None of the students has had the opportunity to work with Final Cut before so is was a bumpy ride. Our workflow took a bit of time to get right but eventually everyone was working like a pro! The students used Motion to key out their videos and then spent a few days editing and exporting. A few bumps here and there but everyone who started the project was able to finish their videos.

I went down to the school to record the younger students, audio only. I had the opportunity to witness some very endearing moments with the little parts! It is amazing how honest little kids can be even with a complete stranger. I was able to edit two of the stories so far, Grandpa, and Littleman. More will come as the students turn in their artwork.

I would say that this was a successful project, could have been more prepared, could have told more culturally relevant stories, but it is what it is! Enjoy.

Tony

Green Screen and Storytelling

As I write this I am preparing for an artist in residence program with Native American children and their community. I had an opportunity to teach a free after school class for my son’s school in digital/visual storytelling. Without going to much into the process I will say that it was delightful to watch the kids write out their stories, visualize by painting and then performing in front of the camera. I will be doing a similar project with the AIR program. Here are a few of their stories…