Ball State makes all of its campus tour guides memorize the definition of immersive learning. How do I know this? Because I am a tour guide myself. Of course, being three months into a bona fide immersive learning experience, I felt no need to memorize the printed text. On tours I just talk about my experience. But I always think to myself, the other tour guides must be very befuddled when trying to elaborate.
I sometimes find it difficult to explain exactly what it is. Not the project, mind you. Give me two minutes and I'll explain our (broad) project goal. Give me three minutes and I'll read you Ball State's immersive learning definition. But ask me about the heart and effects of immersive learning and you'll be sitting a while. But don't worry! I'll just hit some high points here.
My parents never had to light a fire under me to get me to work. I get the feeling the other 16 group members (all of whom I met at the start of the term) would tell you the same thing. But immersive learning has brought me onto an entirely new and, thus far, unexplored level of motivation. There are no tests and very few mandatory class meeting times. Yet, I find myself waking up at 9 in the morning on days when nothing is on the schedule, working for hours on tasks I assigned myself. No one tells me to do probably about 90% of the work I do. I just do it. And I know I'm not the only one. There is something about an atmosphere where 17 talented and motivated people have been thrown together knowing that the university has invested money and so many other resources in our work. Everyone wants to create something extraordinary. Everyone wants to leave their mark. And everyone cares. That's my favorite part: everyone cares.
In summary, immersive learning is this: As we move along in the semester, the bar just keeps raising higher. And the coolest thing? No authority figure, no parent, no outsider is doing that. We the students are raising the bar ourselves.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tracking the Trailer
I hope everyone who's following this blog has had time to check out the theatrical trailer that we recently edited together. You can see it here:
http://wbbrenneman.iweb.bsu.edu/VBC/trailer.html
The more I watch it, the more I really like it. Considering the amount of sleep lost to get it ready, I would really appreciate any feedback from our collective viewing audience. Be it good or bad, I would really like to know what you think.
Working on this was exhausting and exciting. Evan, Jon, Audrey, and Blake put in a lot of time and thought towards the storyboarding and editing.
I worked primarily on editing the music to fit the trailer. The music was a nearly complete idea that me and my esteemed colleague, Adam (the Wilsonian Man), had been working on for a couple of weeks. As I was frantically trying to decide how to score the trailer, I grabbed this musical idea and threw it onto the first thirty seconds of the movie. It didn't fit perfectly, but it was pretty close. Most importantly, it had the right feel. So I consulted with Blake, and we agreed that this was the music for the trailer. We then hashed out specific edit points where the music had to line up with the video, and decided to meet each other half way. I began to cut up and re-orchestrating the music to accommodate the different scenes while Blake finished editing the video using the rough cut of the music as a template. Once we were happy with our work, we combined it and did some final edits to nudge things into perfect sync. Then I did a mix down of the music and we adjusted the dialog to sit on top of that, and presto chango, it was 4 in the morning and it was done. It was pretty fun. Once we got really rolling, we didn't want to stop until it was totally finished. I'm really excited about the final editing of the whole film. Seeing all the pieces of the puzzle lock together is going to be extremely satisfying. And it'll be intense!
http://wbbrenneman.iweb.bsu.edu/VBC/trailer.html
The more I watch it, the more I really like it. Considering the amount of sleep lost to get it ready, I would really appreciate any feedback from our collective viewing audience. Be it good or bad, I would really like to know what you think.
Working on this was exhausting and exciting. Evan, Jon, Audrey, and Blake put in a lot of time and thought towards the storyboarding and editing.
I worked primarily on editing the music to fit the trailer. The music was a nearly complete idea that me and my esteemed colleague, Adam (the Wilsonian Man), had been working on for a couple of weeks. As I was frantically trying to decide how to score the trailer, I grabbed this musical idea and threw it onto the first thirty seconds of the movie. It didn't fit perfectly, but it was pretty close. Most importantly, it had the right feel. So I consulted with Blake, and we agreed that this was the music for the trailer. We then hashed out specific edit points where the music had to line up with the video, and decided to meet each other half way. I began to cut up and re-orchestrating the music to accommodate the different scenes while Blake finished editing the video using the rough cut of the music as a template. Once we were happy with our work, we combined it and did some final edits to nudge things into perfect sync. Then I did a mix down of the music and we adjusted the dialog to sit on top of that, and presto chango, it was 4 in the morning and it was done. It was pretty fun. Once we got really rolling, we didn't want to stop until it was totally finished. I'm really excited about the final editing of the whole film. Seeing all the pieces of the puzzle lock together is going to be extremely satisfying. And it'll be intense!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I totally dominated Final Cut Pro!
Yep, you read right. The philosophy/psychology major has mastered professional editing software. Well, maybe I didn't master it, but it feels like I did! This past week I spent most of my time working with Teri and Samantha D on the behind-the-scenes documentary. During the all-nighter we started to pull together all of the footage of the class that has been taken thus far. We soon realized that while we had lots of footage of classmates doing things, we didn't have anyone talking about our project. We decided at that point to do a couple interviews with Aaron L. and Rachel. We also created a list of all the subjects that we needed people to speak on so that we can 1) use the footage we already have and 2) create a documentary that is representative of our creative process. At this point we want to interview our classmates on the subjects of interviewing, the reunion, the Tennessee trip, frustrations with the project, learning new skills, our own attempts at playing volleyball, and our enhanced appreciation and excitement for Burris volleyball. I'm sure we will add more subjects as the semester progresses.
On Wednesday, Samantha D. and I discovered that Kecia expected a clip of the behind-the-scenes documentary by next Tuesday. We looked at the mess before us and decided there was no way to we could create a trailer that hit on all the subjects that we wanted to cover. We had been working intensely on a small section devoted to the all-nighter narrative meeting and came up with the idea to just focus on that section for the Tuesday screening. It was very important to us to create a trailer with structure as we need to get used to envisioning the project, itself, as a story. We added an introduction and a nice wrap up, as well as a few surprises of which I am quite proud. By the time we were finished we had created a trailer with a little story line and even some music.
The completion of a 3 minute and 42 second trailer might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for me it was. I had spent most of the semester completely avoiding anything associated with technology. I was convinced that I would break or mess up any of the great work that was being done by my more technologically savvy classmates. Tackling this fear was a huge achievement for me. I also experienced the reward that comes from creating something tangible. Most of my college experience has been spent reading and writing papers. A whole semester may result in one paper that I actually like, but this was totally different. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I finally felt like I had something to show for all of the work I (and the others) had done. It is simply different from turning in a paper at the end of the year, or giving a presentation. I was so excited about what I had completed that I told everyone I saw and even called my mom. That's something I have never experienced with a good paper and it's awesome. I can't wait to continue working on this part of the project!
**And thanks to everyone who popped in and imparted some of their wisdom on us: Adam, Dan, Aaron L., Blake, Laura Huffman, and anyone else I have forgotten**
On Wednesday, Samantha D. and I discovered that Kecia expected a clip of the behind-the-scenes documentary by next Tuesday. We looked at the mess before us and decided there was no way to we could create a trailer that hit on all the subjects that we wanted to cover. We had been working intensely on a small section devoted to the all-nighter narrative meeting and came up with the idea to just focus on that section for the Tuesday screening. It was very important to us to create a trailer with structure as we need to get used to envisioning the project, itself, as a story. We added an introduction and a nice wrap up, as well as a few surprises of which I am quite proud. By the time we were finished we had created a trailer with a little story line and even some music.
The completion of a 3 minute and 42 second trailer might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but for me it was. I had spent most of the semester completely avoiding anything associated with technology. I was convinced that I would break or mess up any of the great work that was being done by my more technologically savvy classmates. Tackling this fear was a huge achievement for me. I also experienced the reward that comes from creating something tangible. Most of my college experience has been spent reading and writing papers. A whole semester may result in one paper that I actually like, but this was totally different. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but I finally felt like I had something to show for all of the work I (and the others) had done. It is simply different from turning in a paper at the end of the year, or giving a presentation. I was so excited about what I had completed that I told everyone I saw and even called my mom. That's something I have never experienced with a good paper and it's awesome. I can't wait to continue working on this part of the project!
**And thanks to everyone who popped in and imparted some of their wisdom on us: Adam, Dan, Aaron L., Blake, Laura Huffman, and anyone else I have forgotten**
Friday, October 19, 2007
All-Nighters and Boxed Webs
This week the group and I decided that we needed to sit down and hammer out more of a narrative for the film. Since we are college kids, we decided to do this in the form of an all- nighter at the mansion. (Because really, who wouldn't want to sleep at the mansion??) Most of us congregated between 7 and 8 with food, and started talking about the plan for the rest of the evening.
Once we had more of an organized game plan, we watched a couple of the interviews together while we finished our late dinners, then began coming up with sub-groups and categories. These were branches of our big themes such as gender, community, and sports. We all decided we needed to be more specific and came up with many sub-topics to focus on. After this we ventured up into the creepy 3rd floor and started designing our "box web". We started with Burris history and branched off from there. We also made lists of follow up interviews we want, interviews we have yet to get, and other footage we need to make a good movie.
While some of the narrative team was in the attic, other members of the group were working on the behind-the-scenes documentary while our musicians were composing a song for the film. Both made very good progress. Kristen, Teri and Samantha had clips to show us throughout the night, and interviewed Aaron L. and myself so they could incorporate sound bytes into their film. I have yet to force myself to work on editing with the Final Cut Pro, so I have a lot of respect for those that have sat down and learned it. And as for the musicians, we could hear the drumming all the way in the attic. It amazes me how they can complete a song in one night.
After descending from the attic, the Aarons went on a pizza run to keep the rest of us fed and motivated. The narrative team watched and read through interviews, finding the parts that we found insightful as well as fitting into the narrative topics we had just layed out. This was more difficult then I thought it would be. Nearly every interview has so many good sound bytes within it. This makes it difficult to choose just a few from each person.Around midnight some people started trickling out because of work or meetings in the morning. Others stayed and kept working until about 2 a.m.
After that our productivity went a little down, but those of us that were left listened to Adam and Dan's newest song. Then we had a little drum circle/jam session which helped keep up our spirits. We slept (ghost free) for about four hours, claiming both couches and floor space.
The first of what I can only imagine will be many all-nighters was incredibly successful. We showed Kecia our web the next morning, and she seemed pleased with our work. She also listened to the new song which she enjoyed. I learned that many of us work a lot better at night and it's when many of us are free since our jobs fill our daytime hours. The narrative keeps coming further and further and I can't wait to see the final product.
Rachel
Once we had more of an organized game plan, we watched a couple of the interviews together while we finished our late dinners, then began coming up with sub-groups and categories. These were branches of our big themes such as gender, community, and sports. We all decided we needed to be more specific and came up with many sub-topics to focus on. After this we ventured up into the creepy 3rd floor and started designing our "box web". We started with Burris history and branched off from there. We also made lists of follow up interviews we want, interviews we have yet to get, and other footage we need to make a good movie.
While some of the narrative team was in the attic, other members of the group were working on the behind-the-scenes documentary while our musicians were composing a song for the film. Both made very good progress. Kristen, Teri and Samantha had clips to show us throughout the night, and interviewed Aaron L. and myself so they could incorporate sound bytes into their film. I have yet to force myself to work on editing with the Final Cut Pro, so I have a lot of respect for those that have sat down and learned it. And as for the musicians, we could hear the drumming all the way in the attic. It amazes me how they can complete a song in one night.
After descending from the attic, the Aarons went on a pizza run to keep the rest of us fed and motivated. The narrative team watched and read through interviews, finding the parts that we found insightful as well as fitting into the narrative topics we had just layed out. This was more difficult then I thought it would be. Nearly every interview has so many good sound bytes within it. This makes it difficult to choose just a few from each person.Around midnight some people started trickling out because of work or meetings in the morning. Others stayed and kept working until about 2 a.m.
After that our productivity went a little down, but those of us that were left listened to Adam and Dan's newest song. Then we had a little drum circle/jam session which helped keep up our spirits. We slept (ghost free) for about four hours, claiming both couches and floor space.
The first of what I can only imagine will be many all-nighters was incredibly successful. We showed Kecia our web the next morning, and she seemed pleased with our work. She also listened to the new song which she enjoyed. I learned that many of us work a lot better at night and it's when many of us are free since our jobs fill our daytime hours. The narrative keeps coming further and further and I can't wait to see the final product.
Rachel
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
My New View of Volleyball
If you had asked me what I thought I would gain from this project, I would not have said an interest for volleyball. I’m not much of a sporty person, at least that’s the evidence of my past, but I have fallen into the net so to speak.
Many interviews I’ve seen and read, whether from teachers at Burris or parents of players, seemed to express the same surprising change. Volleyball wasn’t on their radar until they saw the Burris women play. Perhaps any sport, if it has the skill and drive set into its foundation, will gather a community around it. Or is it a supportive connected community that fosters a successful sport?
Either way, watching Burris volleyball was an experience I was not expecting. In particular I am thinking of the Central versus Burris game. Wowee. Instead of yawning like I did at high school football games, I was anxiously wringing my hands.
It was really interesting to see a contrast from the intensity of the biggest game of the season to seeing Steve’s 5th grade gym practice. He worked on the basics with the kids. These kids were so organized and attentive, it seemed as though Steve’s focus infected everyone in the room. My gym classes were rather scattered and not very productive. I never learned a drill or skill, just that I couldn’t do a chin up.
Although being a spectator is a blast, I am very glad that everyone is doing such a good job of logging all our footage because stopping play by play to type what happened can be taxing. But transcribing and reading all our hours of footage so far is like the practice for our documentary. If we keep the focus and dedication during these “drills,” our biggest event will be a wonder to watch.
Many interviews I’ve seen and read, whether from teachers at Burris or parents of players, seemed to express the same surprising change. Volleyball wasn’t on their radar until they saw the Burris women play. Perhaps any sport, if it has the skill and drive set into its foundation, will gather a community around it. Or is it a supportive connected community that fosters a successful sport?
Either way, watching Burris volleyball was an experience I was not expecting. In particular I am thinking of the Central versus Burris game. Wowee. Instead of yawning like I did at high school football games, I was anxiously wringing my hands.
It was really interesting to see a contrast from the intensity of the biggest game of the season to seeing Steve’s 5th grade gym practice. He worked on the basics with the kids. These kids were so organized and attentive, it seemed as though Steve’s focus infected everyone in the room. My gym classes were rather scattered and not very productive. I never learned a drill or skill, just that I couldn’t do a chin up.
Although being a spectator is a blast, I am very glad that everyone is doing such a good job of logging all our footage because stopping play by play to type what happened can be taxing. But transcribing and reading all our hours of footage so far is like the practice for our documentary. If we keep the focus and dedication during these “drills,” our biggest event will be a wonder to watch.
Monday, October 15, 2007
1982 Reunion
On Sunday, October 7th, the first Burris state championship team gathered at the Virginia Ball Center. Throughout their day at the VBC, they reminisced about old times, recalled fun memories, and caught up on the lives of their former teammates. Little did they know how much we, as students, enjoyed watching their interactions and listening to the recollections of that memorable season back in 1982.
The team had loads of memorabilia which was fun, not only for them to look through, but also for us to see as students. Through countless interviews, we have heard a lot of stories and remembrances from that year but being able to see the pictures and watch the actual footage from the game really made the stories come alive.
One of my favorite events from that evening was sitting in on the women as they watched the state championship game from that year. It amazed me how much some things have changed 20 some years later, but also, how some things have not changed at all. While the intensity of play, the uniforms, the rules, and several aspects of the game are now different, I still saw the same Steve on the sideline with his ever calm demeanor and the same passion on the faces of the team that I continue to see on girls today.
The following day, the women were recognized at the Burris vs. Muncie Central game. I think it was great, not only for the women, but for all those in attendance to remember that year and reflect on the remarkable tradition that everyone now knows as Burris Volleyball. And what a better game to solidify exactly what tradition and volleyball means to Burris!
All in all, it was a celebrated weekend for all involved. Good luck to the Burris squad as they begin sectionals and the upcoming state run!
The team had loads of memorabilia which was fun, not only for them to look through, but also for us to see as students. Through countless interviews, we have heard a lot of stories and remembrances from that year but being able to see the pictures and watch the actual footage from the game really made the stories come alive.
One of my favorite events from that evening was sitting in on the women as they watched the state championship game from that year. It amazed me how much some things have changed 20 some years later, but also, how some things have not changed at all. While the intensity of play, the uniforms, the rules, and several aspects of the game are now different, I still saw the same Steve on the sideline with his ever calm demeanor and the same passion on the faces of the team that I continue to see on girls today.
The following day, the women were recognized at the Burris vs. Muncie Central game. I think it was great, not only for the women, but for all those in attendance to remember that year and reflect on the remarkable tradition that everyone now knows as Burris Volleyball. And what a better game to solidify exactly what tradition and volleyball means to Burris!
All in all, it was a celebrated weekend for all involved. Good luck to the Burris squad as they begin sectionals and the upcoming state run!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
PTSO Presentation
The Oct. 9th PTSO meeting was the first chance the Virgina Ball Center has had to represent ourselves as students and really talk about our side of the project. Four of the seminar's members, including myself, gave a four minute presentation. Each of us talked about an area that we were passionate about, and were able to accurately represent what we are hoping to accomplish both for the Burris community and for ourselves through this immersive learning experience.
Honestly, I don't think I could tell you what I said in front of that crowd. I'm always shocked by how nervous I am presenting to my classmates, and how my mind just switches over to business mode when I'm in front of a foreign crowd. I fell right into my groove and felt really comfortable.
The audience - small, but mighty in their question asking - was interested in what we were doing for their community, but also very interested in each of us as students. We talked our majors and how each of us chose to be a part of this seminar because we believe that it truly will change us as people.
The teaser shown at the end of our presentation definitely perked their interest. I was excited to see Dr. McGee's clip at the end, with him sitting in the front row at the meeting (he was my first interview for the project).
I'm incredibly proud of my co-presenters and hope to have more opportunities to share our excitement about our project.
Honestly, I don't think I could tell you what I said in front of that crowd. I'm always shocked by how nervous I am presenting to my classmates, and how my mind just switches over to business mode when I'm in front of a foreign crowd. I fell right into my groove and felt really comfortable.
The audience - small, but mighty in their question asking - was interested in what we were doing for their community, but also very interested in each of us as students. We talked our majors and how each of us chose to be a part of this seminar because we believe that it truly will change us as people.
The teaser shown at the end of our presentation definitely perked their interest. I was excited to see Dr. McGee's clip at the end, with him sitting in the front row at the meeting (he was my first interview for the project).
I'm incredibly proud of my co-presenters and hope to have more opportunities to share our excitement about our project.
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