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woweee - the PSAs were great!

Sep 01, 2009 9:04 PM

It was great fun seeing all of your creative work on the BIG SCREEN tonight at the Danville Public Library. I liked seeing how your ideas and research related to your finished project. Every PSA was a little different - but they all related well to the overall theme. You guys did it all - you researched, you brainstormed, you wrote, you shot the camera footage, you acted, you edited…you made a finished PSA that you should show off. I am so proud of all of you - I enjoyed meeting you and hope to see you again at Kickapoo ? Good luck with the new school year… Prof./SOS/Betty crocker Michelle

We are ready to go!!

Aug 11, 2009 9:26 AM

We are ready to go we have done our editing and we have done our videotaping out at the wonderful Kickapoo. I had a great experience this summer with all these wonderful people and I find this summer to be one of the best summers that I have ever had in a while. I would like to thank all the people that made this happen to the University of Illinois, Youth Media Workshop, Illinois Public Media, Mr. Ricky, Kimberlie, Dr. Nelson, Shelley, Kent, Tre’ Shaun, Henry, Ms. Pam, Tenile, Tentacles, Mom, Dad, College of Media, and a lot of other people.

Life at Kickapoo

Aug 07, 2009 9:51 PM

I have been at Kickapoo since early summer and have really enjoyed working with everyone especially all the people working with Kickin’ It At Kickapoo.  I am so proud of all the work that has been done by everyone, especially the kids/young adults.  I have learned so much from everyone.  Tomorrow is my last day of my internship at Kickapoo and I will be moving back to Champaign-Urbana.  I do plan to come back for visits and look forward to the September 1st showing of all the PSA’s.

PS - I do promise to get a picture of my little sugar bear “Po” up here soon for everyone to see.

filming

Aug 06, 2009 11:58 AM

it was fun and funny.

Jai’Elle and Ta’Nasja edit their spots!

Aug 04, 2009 1:18 PM

Today was one of those days when nothing went as planned and a lot got done!

Jai’Elle and Ta’Nasja downloaded the video they shot last week for their PSA onto the computer at the Club.  Henry and I showed them how to import their clips into Windows Media Maker. Kenneth, as it turns out, is pretty good technically.  I asked him to help us out.  When there was no audio coming from the downloaded video, he trouble-shot and pulled in some external speakers and connected them.  When it came time for Jai’Elle to dissolve between two segments, he pulled up the video effects editor.  It was so nice to work with Kenneth in this way.

I worked with Jai’Elle and Henry worked with Ta’Nasja. Both girls are quick on the keyboard and fast learners.  They learned how to edit video, add titles and color to the end of their video, dissolve between two shots and raise the level of their audio.  Their piece is done. Edited.  Finished.  All that needs to happen next is for the video to be uploaded to YouTube and added to this website.  I don’t know if they’ll do that before the celebration September 1 or afterwards.  It’ll be up to them whether or not they want to show the video PSA before the end-of-the-project party.

The original plan for the day was to videotape the gaming scene and the scene in the van but the rain and thunderstorms prevented us from videotaping outside and one of the kids forgot to bring the Wii. What I thought was going to be a bust turned out to be quite the opposite because all of us adapted and were flexible and committed!

Worms, Poison Ivy, Kayaks and Canoes, Oh, My!

Jul 30, 2009 7:51 PM

Today the youth and teens returned to the park and shot video for their public service announcements.

Cheerleaders with worms, sassafras, a family canoe outing with a reluctant teenager, a nature party, hide-and-seek with a tree and real live fishing are some of the scenes that will appear in their spots (I won’t say too much more and give it away!).

We shot each scene twice: once with the FLIP cameras and once with the professional high definition camera.  Henry shot with the broadcast quality camera while the youth shot along with him with their FLIPS.  Everything looked real good!

Ta’Nasja and Jai’Elle arrived this morning with a script they created last night with the help of some family members.  It’s clever, simple and cute and was videotaped in one shot!

All of the scripts have something in them that is interesting, fun or different.  I think their peers are going to like them.

It was another 11 hour day and it flew by!

Kickapoo Landing provided the canoes and kayaks again for free. 

Jacqueline let us use her fishing poles, tent and cheerleader uniform (from when she was in high school seven years ago).

The ever present John, park superintendent, was there to get us anything we needed. 

Adele returned to take more photos and showed us the cover of the magazine in which we appear as a group canoeing!  It was taken in June when the youth had their two days of fun activities at the park.  The photo looks great! 

Rickey made sure the kids got here and did some videotaping himself while Ms. Pam was an actress in one of our scenes.

I enjoy working with Henry.  He’s calm and fun and a good shooter and has lots of interesting stories.

What a day!  I’m in heaven.

Good Luck!

Jul 23, 2009 10:26 AM

Wishing you’all good luck with the production of your PSAs! You have such great ideas - it will be fun to see them when they’re complete. I’ve enjoyed getting to know each one of you and teaching you’all about advertising this summer. You have amazing energy, talent, and ideas! I am off soon on vacation with my family, but I look forward to seeing you (and your PSAs) on September 1 at the Danville Public Library. In the meantime, I will be checking up on the blogs to hear about your progress. Enjoy the creativity in shooting your video and editing it. Enjoy the trip to the park - I’m sure there will be more adventures to share - and enjoy the last days/weeks of summer.

Cheers,
SOS Michelle, Dr. Betty Crocker etc etc.

p.s. I was saddened by the news yesterday that Gidget, the Taco Bell dog, had passed away….
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-quick23-2009jul23,0,4725645.story

The Creative Process

Jul 21, 2009 12:28 PM

“Kickapoo:  Get Away From It All!” was the theme the youth came up with for their PSAs about Kickapoo.  The idea got generated in our meeting today with Shelley, Zavier, Aarian, Tre’Shaun, Ta’Neill, Jai’Elle and Alexandra.  Today’s session was a real-life example of the creative process and the tension between ideas and the reality of time lines and budget constraints.

We started with them sharing their ideas and storyboards. The group gave constructive feedback for each idea.  I think that it took a lot of courage for them to present their ideas and then trust their peers’ reactions. 

Then we wrote down a list of the scenes for each script idea and talked about what they needed to line up before next week’s return to the park for videotaping.  They’ll need props such as pom poms, a Wii, a van, super hero costumes and a classroom setting.  They’re going to tape fishing, canoeing, hiking and camping at the park.  They need “extras” for their scripts and are considering family, peers and themselves.

Between now and when we meet next Tuesday, I’m going to send each person their script back to them formatted in the storyboard WILL uses and then on Tuesday they’ll fill in the blanks and learn about how to visualize shots for sequences in their video PSAs.  Anything that isn’t feasible given the time and resources we have, they’ll discard. 

The youth will shoot their PSAs using their FLIPS and Henry will shoot them using the broadcast quality camera.  They’ll edit their PSAs using Windows Movie Maker and Henry will edit using Final Cut Pro (so that the spots will meet technical standards for broadcast).  The youth will remain as producers throughout the process. And just as we do at WILL, the other jobs (editing and videography) will be done by another person (Henry). 

I’m excited that they will get a realistic picture of how it works in “the real world” while also having the hands-on experience of doing all of the jobs themselves. We hope they’ll continue to shoot and edit videos after the project ends in September.  And all of their PSAs will appear on this website as well as their My Space pages after being uploaded to YouTube.

I was impressed by their ideas, their interactions with each other and us and their commitment to the project.

MY PSA

Jul 21, 2009 11:14 AM

I thought of a PSA and created a unique idea without being sterotype

PSA MEETIING

Jul 21, 2009 11:05 AM

TODAY WAS NOT AS FUN AS IT ALWAYS IS THE COOKIES WERE GOOD BUT IT WASN’T AS FUN WE TALKED ABOUT EACH OTHERS IDEA’S AND PSA’S TODAY I WAS VERY QUIET AND BORED BUT ARE NEXT MEETING IS NEXT TUESDAY I HOPE IT IS MORE FUN THEN TODAY