Project #3 Results

For project #3 I created an assignment in which students would have to create a set design on Google Sketchup and then animate a show demonstrating parts of the set. I then did the assignment. Here it is:

Project #2

For Project #2 I decided to do a video that teaches some of the basic principles of composition in photography.

This goes towards the Utah Core Curriculum Standard 1: Objective 2: Letter B. Which involves using composition to create meaningful photographs.

So here's the video:

Technologies Applicable to Theater

While looking for topics to focus on for project number three I am discovering that there isn't much technology available for the poor theater student. There aren't many technologies that are available to theater in general, but the software programs that do exist are usually more expensive than a car. Some of the things that I have found are: Google Sketchup, VectorWorks, a slew of lighting design programs, and Microsoft Excel. I think out of all of these Google Sketchup will be the one that I focus on for the project. Mostly for the fact that it's free, but also because it seems more specific to a theatrical setting than something like Excel. Excel would be great for theatre organization, but it's mostly just for organization in general. However, I think that there any stage manager would be eternally grateful to know the ins and outs of Excel.

Chatter On The Interwebs

Video chatter that is. (So clever)

I decided to chat a couple of times. My family is rather spread out now with people in Utah, Minnesota, Virgina, Maryland, and Ohio. We still like to keep in contact though. So all of us who are in Utah for school got together to chat with my parents who are all alone in Minnesota. It was wonderful. We have a good time together and even though it wasn't quite like being in the same room with them, the video chat didn't impede us in showing our true personalities. My sister started making faces at the camera, which my father then took screenshots of, which were then photoshopped to make her look like a vampire, which she then got angry at, which we then all laughed at. There weren't any hiccups that we could find in the video chat. Gchat seemed to work out just fine.

However, my brother is currently in a long distance relationship (she moved back to England) and they chat all the time (well at least once a day). They find that Gchat has better sound, but that skype has better video. So they open up two separate chats to use google's audio and skype's video. Even then there are many hiccups and freezes in the images or mike feedback. So while the development of video chat is becoming quite amazing, there is still a lot of progress to be made.

Project #2 Status Report

It seems like it would be rather simple to come up with a topic to do for this project because theatre is all about performing. However, for some reason it was rather difficult to come up with something. I think that right now I'm looking at teaching the principle of montage. While this seeps over into the world of film, I think that as a high school teacher, it would be perfectly acceptable for me to have a film class or two. So, doing it this way will give me a chance to explain it to them using pictures and also to use the medium to give a demonstration of a final product.

Today I discovered the joys of Google's Sidewiki project. It seems like a great idea due to the fact that there have been a number of times that I want to tear a website's layout to pieces (that is, if anyone is actually listening). But beyond that this could easily be used in an education setting. If the students are assigned to work on a project but they are having a hard time meeting they could just post as much of their work online as they can and use google sidewiki to comment on changes that need to be made or things to be tweaked. I am currently working in a group for one of my classes and we've got Google docs down pat, but as for comments, generally we will email them to each other. This Google sidewiki would allow us to make the same comments but to have everything on the same page.

Also, the pages in the google groups is much simpler to use than one would expect. It's just like making a google doc but it allows for different categories and people don't have to be invited. Brilliant. I'm thinking of ways that I can use this in my major now! There has been a lack of communication and order amongst the students and we have been looking for a way to organize. I think that I now have some fairly useful tools.

Social Networking and It's Learning Potential

I have used social networking profusely both in my learning of photography (a hobby) and in facilitating my theatre practices. In photography I try to meet new photographers and make friends with them. Then we share flickr accounts so that we can comment on each other's photos. This has been invaluable to developing my skill.

In theatre I have used facebook in finding actors, advertising shows, coordinating rehearsals, and such. It's nice when I've misplaced actor information to be able to log on to their facebook page and find some info to contact them, or at least to post something on their wall.