International Assembly Line (or The World is Flat - the Junior High Version)
When I listened (yes... listened) to the World is Flat, one of the stories that struck me most strongly was that of how many morning cartoons are made today. Without recalling all of the details, what I do remember is that often the production is done one place, the animation in another, and the voice overs in a third, while all of this "stuff" is pulled together in final form somewhere else.
Did you know that 13 and 14 year olds can do this too?
Its true.
We're proving it.
As we move towards the final part of our international teen life project, we have settled on what we are calling an "international assembly line." For this project, the students in the four schools have settled on some complex topics (global warming, teen smoking, the connection between international terrorism and drugs, etc. etc. you really need to see this list) for their research. But what happens next is the truly interesting part. The students in Columbia are shooting documentary style pieces, while the students in Kuala Lumpur are producing opening and closing poetry pieces as "bookends." Once these pieces have been captured as raw footage, all of the video, still images, voice overs, etc. are then being sent to either our school in Northern Canada, or Lee Baber's in Virginia where our groups of students are going to be responsible for the editing, music composition, and final production of the pieces.
We have no idea about what we will receive from the other schools. While we know our topics and students from all of the schools are contributing research, the actual video that is being composed and recorded will come to us raw and unedited. I think this is the most interesting piece of this project and the students are truly excited, wondering about what they will be receiving.
So the high tech moves of Disney and Pixar can now be replicated using low cost tools by junior high students........ The globe flattens a little more.....
Comments