KEAN+2009



= **Machinima: Gamer Videos Go to School** =

December 11, 2009
Gamers have been making videos of their digital adventures long before the word “machinima” was coined in 2000. No longer just for gamers, machinima (creating video using 3D virtual worlds) holds real potential for developing several 21st century skills in the classroom. The Elisabeth Morrow School is using Teen Second Life & Quest Atlantis to explore machinima as a tool for building media literacy as well as proficiencies in communication, collaboration, creativity, and problem solving. See examples of how 21st century learning is addressed. 8th grade students will demonstrate how machinima is created and share their work.

Presenter: Marianne Malmstrom, middle school technology teacher at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ 8th grade students, Zoe Homonoff, Bryan Rubin and Jaeho Lee

= = = //RATIONALE: A Map for the Future// =

//**The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•S) and Performance Indicators for Students [|NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf]**// [|Metiri-NCREL21stSkills.pdf]
 * METIRI Group :**

=Choosing 21st Century Tools for the Classroom:=

As technological advancements continue to grow exponentially, it can be tricky for educators to navigate the vast array of new tools and choose where to invest their time, money & energy. The tools may change, but what we really want kids to know remains constant. We want our students to be able to think, question, research, authenticate, interpret, draw conclusions, communicate, collaborate, problem solve, and apply what they learn to new situations. If we stay focused on these primary objectives, then we have a basis for choosing new tools that will help us meet those objectives. With those core objectives in mind, there are two important questions to always ask when considering a new tool. How will it improve on what we already do in the classroom? What does it allow us to do that we were unable to do before?
 * ==//Why are we using this technology?//==
 * ==//What does it allow us to do better?//==
 * ==//What does it allow us to do that we have never done before?//==

In the early 90's The Elisabeth Morrow School made the important decision that curriculum would drive technology growth, and not the other way around. That philosophy has served our school well in our own journey of designing 21st century learning.

= //Why Multimedia?// =

When cameras & editing software became affordable and easy to use in the early 00's, our school felt that it made sense to bring those tools into the classroom. It was a great deal of work, but the teachers found it to be transformative in respect to the level of engagement and ownership the students experienced.

Sample Project: The Revolutionary War - 5th Grade
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At The Elisabeth Morrow School, we learned that producing quality work takes time. Why shouldn't it? We spend years teaching students how to understand the subtleties of what they read and how to express themselves articulately in writing. Multimedia is absolutely a new form of "pen & paper" and students should be as facile in comprehending and communicating in digital media as they are with the written word.

The reality of producing quality media in school is hindered by constraints of space & time. Just getting into costume, finding appropriate spaces to to film, creating sets and setting up equipment can be a real challenge. Often, by the time you get all of those pieces into place, the period is almost over.

= //Why Virtual Worlds?// =

3D virtual world provide a unique platform for creativity and innovation. The Elisabeth Morrow School has made a commitment to exploring this new technology because we believe that virtual worlds will be a popular interface that students will use in the future. We want them to be prepared to navigate and use these tools safely and competently.

We currently use two virtual worlds at The Elisabeth Morrow School ; @Quest Atlantis for students in grades 5-7 and Teen Second Life for students in grade 8. The Teen Second Life is a private sim (also called referred to as an estate or island) accessed by only students of our school. The name of their space is "Tomorrow Island". The three goals for students are to develop community, establish commerce and create machinima. One third of the island is established as a machinima filming area. The other two thirds is available for students to build houses, businesses & community areas.

Virtual Worlds
media type="youtube" key="0hhUF1EmEUc" height="344" width="425" Machinima: "Virtual Worlds" - 8th grade

= //Why Machinima?// =

Using a 3D virtual world with screen capture software to create video not only offers a unique solution to some of the known obstacles to creating videos at school, it also affords us some advantages that were previously unavailable.

Imagine students building their own sets, creating their own environments and controlling the time of day without ever rearranging a classroom. Imagine students changing their characters (becoming any gender, race, age or even something other than human) in just one click. Imagine, students working cooperatively to create the needed shots. Best of all, imagine being able to create movies in real time with students in other schools.

What is Machinima?
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= //Media Literacy// =  Much of the focus in school is on teaching students to encode and decode written language. Shouldn't we be applying some of the same rigor to helping them analyze, interpret and critically navigate the multimedia that dominates communication today?

In order to understand how tricks are used to manipulate commercials, 6th graders were taught several of the tricks and then asked to watch & deconstruct real political commercials. Subsequently, they were asked to create their own commercial for a Greek god using the same tricks. 8th graders collaborate by creating machinima clips according to storyboards submitted by 6th graders. Read more about the project ...

//Behind the Scenes//
Working with a 3D virtual world allows students to create sets, customize characters and control the time of day. Working with avatars seems to make it easier for students to focus on content because they not actually in the shots. Time is spent teaching students how to frame shots and work collaboratively.

Creating Characters
For this project, each student had access to multiple god avatars so they could easily be any character to help create the scene needed.

Controlling Daylight
Students easily controlled time of day, angle of the sun (or moon) and even created surreal effects. Try that in real life! :-)

Framing the Shot
Asked to focus on the framing of the shot, students had to be aware of unwanted clutter when choosing the camera angle. Use the "Rule of Thirds" to frame the shot. A well framed shot will get your audience to foucs on what you want them to see.

First Screen Test for Greek God Project
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//WATCH COMPLETED COMMERCIALS//
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Beyond Teen Second Life
Demonstrating the versatility of machinima, these 7th grade students practice framing skills by using online games to construct a spoof of sport highlights.

Top 20 Plays from EMS
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= //Collaboration & Problem Solving// =

Creating a machinima requires teamwork and lots of creative problem solving. Although machinima can be created by one, to get great shots requires at least one person to capture the video while others do the acting. Since our students work on a private estate on the Teen Second Life, they have limited access to objects, scripts & animations. This requires them to think outside the box, work together to create everything they need to achieve their goals. It is not unlike the early days of Hollywood when everyone contributed to developing a new medium and inventing ways to create their own special effects.

The following short dance video was created on the first day on ToMorrow Island. Itz illustrates how class members worked together to synchronize animations in order to create a line dance. Using one computer to project the image of the group on screen, students lined up their avatars accordingly. They then took turns calling out various dance animations and providing countdown cues for synchronization. The actual filming took aprox. 15 minutes.

ToMorrow Island First Day Dance
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Using the process described above, students work together to create one of an angry mob scene for the Greek God project.

Hephatstus with Angry Mob
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Sometimes there are no easy answers. One 6th grade team requested an animation of Poseidon causing a tidal wave. Students put their heads together and figured out that they could each control a ship or a large wave to create the effect. The first video is slightly sped-up and show a long shot of all of the students hovering near the wave to control their props. Note that at one point they play with the idea of turning the sea red. The second clip shows the final result after editng.

Staging a Tidal Wave
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Final Result: Poseidon's Tidal Wave of Destruction
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= = = ** //Communication// ** =

Assigned to create a tutorial for Second Life, Twix created this short piece on altering your avatar in one class period.

How to Perfect Your Look
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On their own, Arkantos & Razer create commercials to promote the businesses they have started. Check out how the commercials get progressively more sophisticated as students master techniques and work to out shine each other.

1. Evil Enterprises Commercial - Arkantos
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2. Torchwood Institute - Arkantos
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3. Tri Company Commercial - Arkantos
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1. The Razer Boat Club - Razer
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2. Razer's Sports - Razer
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Forella created this introduction to a new virtual world she found.

Fantage Tutorial
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= //**Creativity**// =

After experimenting with mixed reality green screen in class, Florella conducted her own green screen experiment.

DOUBLE KITTEN PARTY!!!
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On her own, Florella created and posted this tribute to her favorite TV show.

Halo/Walking on Sunshine (Glee) Music Video
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= //**Documentation**// =

This super sped-up film captures the excitement and reaction of students exploring their virtual environment on the first day. The actual session lasted for aprox. 40 mins.

ToMorrow Island First Day Exploring
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This short film not only documents the creativity of the students, it show their fascination with trying a variety of identities.

Identity
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= //**Links to Student Work**// =

ToMorrow Island
= =

Project with Suffern Middle School


= Additional Resources =