Current Projects- Archive 2002-2003

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Major projects in-the-works

-News Journalism Project:
This project is media activism in it's purest form! We have just picked topics which we feel passionate about displaying to the world and are going to create news journalism video pieces. We are all very excited to begin taking footage, editing, directing and using our videos to impact the school and our community!

Group Members	Project topics
Amy and Tegest	Human interest story: A day in the life of...
Shari, Josh	School budget cuts to art and music
Sara	Social action through various methods
Lenore and Nayema	Earth Day: Before, during and after

Club members should stay tuned for the posting of their taping dates and other crucial updates regarding this project!
Update>>>>>>>5/6/03
As of today, Lenore and Nayema's group is done taping, and Shari's group and Amy's group is also nearly done. Sara is almost done with her documentary. We are brainstorming ways to get these pieces editted! Some ideas include using the school's facilities, bringing in laptops and going to video link. We are planning a massve screening for the entire school on June 10, and we really want the pieces finished by then!

Update>>>>>>>6/10/03
The screenings for our video projects were amazing! We showed our four finished projects (Earth Day, A day in the life of Mr. DiIulio, Art and Music Budget Cuts, Social Action) along with the two completed PSA's from the first semester to our own club members, several visitors and LEAP (Bronx Science environmental club) We are so excited to have expressed our opinions through the media in our first-ever large scale productions. We get to see our perspectives coming to life! We'd love to stream the projects on our site!

-Sara, Amy and Nayema's public access appearance:
You may have seen Sara, Amy and Nayema interviewed on Bronx public access television talk show "Bronx Talk AM" hosted by Gary Axelbank. During the spring break, we went over to Bronx Net and were interviewed about the club, what we do, and why its so important for students to voice their opinions. During the show, Bronx Talk played the Public Service projects we created. This is the first press appearance for the club! The best part? They loved our insights so much, that they'd like to give us a semi-regualr segment on their show as hosts to show our projects and voice our opinions.

-Media Activism Newsletter, The Name of the Letter:

Click here for a PDF copy of the April newsletter. May is in the works.....

-Guest speakers and visitors:
Chad Strohmayer, media activist from OHMS media and Denise Gaberman, oral historian, videographer and educator are coming on March 25, 2003 to talk to and screen their video projects to the Media Activism Club! They have created documentaries about such social action topics as anti-war efforts, walkouts and protests.

 

-Nayema and Lenore are putting their talents as jewelry makers to good use. They have generously offered up some of their creations for the media activism raffle. T-Shirts are coming soon as well for fundraising.

-The PSA Project:
In previous sessions, we have studied what makes up public service announcements, how they work and why they work. We are in the process of creating our own PSAs about issues pertinent in our lives, for example, drunk driving and diversity. We are taking a trip to Sara's house in Brooklyn to edit these pieces on Saturday, February 15. Several laptops and editing programs from Video-Link Kids TV in the Bronx will be used to create powerful and moving PSAs. If the neccessary connections are made, the PSAs may be played on Educational and local public access channels.

Group Members	PSA Project Plans
Nayema, Lenore, Tegest	Anti-drunk driving
Shari	Breaking down social stereotypical barriers
Sara, Amy	Pro-diversity

-Media activism month:
Though October is officially Media Activism month, on November 12, we went out into the hallways of Bronx Science to ask students what they thought about the way teenagers are represented in the media. We also found some teachers and asked them similar questions about youth portrayal in the media. We then split into two groups; a Teacher's Perspective group and a Student's Perspective group. The teachers group is working on creating an online photo documentary, soon to appear on this site. The student's group will also create a photo documentary, but it will be a publication. Stay tuned!
<<<<Update>>>>
Though we would have liked to continue with this project, it was very difficult to juggle this and the PSA project, so we decided to cut it. Though it taught us the interviewing skills necessary for other upcoming projects, we could not fit it into our schedule.

-What they were thinking:
In the style of the New York Times Magazine, we post captioned photographs on our newly accquired bulletin board (#20) at least once a month. These photos will feature what the subjects were thinking at the moment that the shutter clicked, like the WHAT THEY WERE THINKING section of the New York Times Magazine.

-The Food Fair:
Though we only made around $22.00, everyone who attended and everyone who worked for our club's table at the food fair thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Members brought in cookies with persuasive techniques written on them in edible ink, delicious fried yams, cupcakes and doughnuts. We even brought in a blender to make banana milkshakes, which went quickly. Though we didn't make the $55.00 needed to keep the member dues low, we have many more fundraising ideas.

- Becoming literate in the media:
     -How does advertising work?
      -How do public service announcements and advertisements affect us?

-In what ways to advertisers and corporations try to appeal to teenagers?

-How can we understand bias? How can we differentiate between fact and fiction?

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