in preparation for a different new thing that's happening tomorrow (hope hope), we're moving "School|Life" over to a new home.
if you're used to this blog already, you can keep coming here for more news about our family. but we've built a cool new blog for the project all by itself: schoolife.com.
visit! join! comment! (thank you!)
and happy holidays to everyone!
ps. schoolife.com !!!!!!
Monday, December 26
Sunday, December 25
mic'd up! (schoolife 5)
when i first thought about our project, i though about video and pictures and images of our students and teachers. i thought about personal and public moments that could show our subjects crossing and passing. that could show their excitement or anger or sadness in the bodies and faces.
i feel like radio is a little harder that way. for example, you can't show characters or connections in the same way. believe it or not, you can see silence more easily than you can hear it. you can hear direct
silence: one person asks a question and there is no answer. but how can you hear a distant student tuning out? how do you hear the long spaces of silence in our full day?
our sound (and how we develop our sound) is the thing. we've been trying to research and test different
equipment that will give us a strong, quality sound that reflects our authentic environment and is consistent across subjects and situations.
to help test our sound, i've recorded my own life the past few days. i'm definitely down for the project. still, you notice how things are different. how the sound is different on microphones and speakers than it is in our ears. how you're different, too.
you're much more aware of what you say, at times. for sure, you forget a lot, and most conversations are mostly natural. but you can see, still, that you make subtle choices in language that are different.
i have to be more aware, i guess. in ways, i think that's good. it reminds me to be better than i am. it's like a student teacher in that way. because i know that i have to lead another teacher, i try to sharpen my ideas and my lessons. i make all of my choices, but i know that the presence of a student teacher helps me make better choices.
although, it also reminds me that it's artificial. i mean, it's not a completely authentic account of what every day is like.
of course, there is no everyday either, right?
i feel like radio is a little harder that way. for example, you can't show characters or connections in the same way. believe it or not, you can see silence more easily than you can hear it. you can hear direct
silence: one person asks a question and there is no answer. but how can you hear a distant student tuning out? how do you hear the long spaces of silence in our full day?
our sound (and how we develop our sound) is the thing. we've been trying to research and test different
equipment that will give us a strong, quality sound that reflects our authentic environment and is consistent across subjects and situations.
to help test our sound, i've recorded my own life the past few days. i'm definitely down for the project. still, you notice how things are different. how the sound is different on microphones and speakers than it is in our ears. how you're different, too.
you're much more aware of what you say, at times. for sure, you forget a lot, and most conversations are mostly natural. but you can see, still, that you make subtle choices in language that are different.
i have to be more aware, i guess. in ways, i think that's good. it reminds me to be better than i am. it's like a student teacher in that way. because i know that i have to lead another teacher, i try to sharpen my ideas and my lessons. i make all of my choices, but i know that the presence of a student teacher helps me make better choices.
although, it also reminds me that it's artificial. i mean, it's not a completely authentic account of what every day is like.
of course, there is no everyday either, right?
Saturday, December 24
radio writing process (schoolife #4)
as we're developing the show, we'll try to keep you updated on our process. check back frequently to see what we're up to. we're hoping we can gain a small following as we're going along.
we always talk with our students about process, and we thought it might be helpful to make our process transparent. we'll open our ideas to you, and we hope that you'll open your ideas to us!
here are some things that we're thinking about as we're thinking about the content and structure of the show:
1) what does our editing look like?
in my dreams, i'd love to produce the complete tape . min, though, thinks that might be tiresome for listeners. still, as much as possible, i'd like to edit as lightly as possible. i know that we're going to have to make choices, though, so i'll just try to be honest and upfront as we're making our choices.
2) we want to show longer narrative moments.
we feel like reality television shows are so heavily edited that they really become scripted. the shows pursue singular storylines and encourage out-sized conflict and drama. our goal is to develop complicated, dynamic, and subtle characters and stories like novels, with longer essential moments that play out over time.
3) we want our subjects to have voice.
our goal is to show the real lives of students, teachers, and families. we have decided that there will be no third person narration. the subjects' voices will drive the complete story. as much as possible, we will mic subjects and locations directly. we will try to avoid intensive productions on location because supplemental crew and equipment will always alter and interrupt natural interaction.
4) everything is context.
we cannot possibly, truly show the full lives of students and teachers. the series will show one presentation of infinite possible presentations of several subjects within hundreds of other subjects. we cannot claim any concrete conclusion about education or education reform. our goal is to simply broaden our conversation about education. we hope to make some students and some teachers more real for listeners.
5) who will our subjects be?
we want to find an urban public school with a diverse population. we hope to work in a school that includes students from different class, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. we do not want to set up a specific policy angle, so we want to avoid schools that may speak to the extremes: charter schools, title I schools, or specialized schools.
in our current vision, we hope to find 2-3 students and 1 teacher. ideally, the subjects will be communicative but different. (of course, these ideas - about the school and about the students - already start to bias the production.)
6) how will we fund and manage production?
we can produce the show at different levels of cost. each higher expense will increase production value, but how much money is it realistic for us to raise? we think we've got a pretty cool idea. . . but who else will value it? and for how much?
we're thinking about a few different ideas for now:
we always talk with our students about process, and we thought it might be helpful to make our process transparent. we'll open our ideas to you, and we hope that you'll open your ideas to us!
here are some things that we're thinking about as we're thinking about the content and structure of the show:
1) what does our editing look like?
in my dreams, i'd love to produce the complete tape . min, though, thinks that might be tiresome for listeners. still, as much as possible, i'd like to edit as lightly as possible. i know that we're going to have to make choices, though, so i'll just try to be honest and upfront as we're making our choices.
2) we want to show longer narrative moments.
we feel like reality television shows are so heavily edited that they really become scripted. the shows pursue singular storylines and encourage out-sized conflict and drama. our goal is to develop complicated, dynamic, and subtle characters and stories like novels, with longer essential moments that play out over time.
3) we want our subjects to have voice.
our goal is to show the real lives of students, teachers, and families. we have decided that there will be no third person narration. the subjects' voices will drive the complete story. as much as possible, we will mic subjects and locations directly. we will try to avoid intensive productions on location because supplemental crew and equipment will always alter and interrupt natural interaction.
4) everything is context.
we cannot possibly, truly show the full lives of students and teachers. the series will show one presentation of infinite possible presentations of several subjects within hundreds of other subjects. we cannot claim any concrete conclusion about education or education reform. our goal is to simply broaden our conversation about education. we hope to make some students and some teachers more real for listeners.
5) who will our subjects be?
we want to find an urban public school with a diverse population. we hope to work in a school that includes students from different class, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. we do not want to set up a specific policy angle, so we want to avoid schools that may speak to the extremes: charter schools, title I schools, or specialized schools.
in our current vision, we hope to find 2-3 students and 1 teacher. ideally, the subjects will be communicative but different. (of course, these ideas - about the school and about the students - already start to bias the production.)
6) how will we fund and manage production?
we can produce the show at different levels of cost. each higher expense will increase production value, but how much money is it realistic for us to raise? we think we've got a pretty cool idea. . . but who else will value it? and for how much?
we're thinking about a few different ideas for now:
- angel investors (maybe you?)
- agency or broadcast sponsorship (arts organization, public radio, others)
- independent funding (kickstarter)
- independent funding (credit cards)
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