#amgoren

Originally, I was planning to do this in vlog form with a blooper reel, but qualifying exams have managed to get the best of me, which brings me to point one of my reflection:

Suggestions for future students

Work on time management /// I have serious problems with this, especially when I have huge deadlines looming and, even though Elizabeth told us that the process would be time-consuming, I didn’t realize the exact extent to which that was true.

Try new thingsTry new things /// I got to play around with the DSLR for a bit and it was a lot of fun! I didn’t end up using it in the end, as I couldn’t seem to make the lighting work (which is, admittedly, definitely my own fault) but I had fun in the process and I feel like I learned a lot. Plus, it made using FilMiC Pro feel like a piece of cake!

Pick a topic that you’re really interested in /// It makes the research a lot more fun! I had a great time reading about the history of GMOs and farming and connecting that to breeding in a more tangible way.

Rent a tripod /// Thought I had one. Realized when I started shooting that that was a lie. I had lent it out and haven’t gotten it back yet. So before I rented a tripod, this was my super macgyvered set up: 

yes, the tripod is in there, but see the two IKEA tables, a dog crate, and two upside-down baskets that are the same height as the tripod. Yea, that.

Have fun! /// I assume you’re not taking this class just for the credit. This class is supposed to be fun! We all have a passion for science and it should show. Enjoy your time!

Things I did well

The script (or, at least, the general idea of it) /// I still feel like there are portions that feel weird (specifically, the transitions toward the end to the different types of GMOs) but overall, I feel like the script was interesting. I thought that it was cool to know that dogs and GMOs aren’t so different (but I might be slightly biased) and I think it’s super helpful for the general population to know, too. Maybe they won’t be so scared of something they don’t understand anymore.

Making appropriate framing choices /// For the most part (except where I somehow forgot to put Genetically Modified Organism on the screen, yeah, big no-no) I made distinct choices in framing. When I had animations up, I left enough room for them in the shot. When I talked about the roundup resistant crops, I came in really close, since it’s really important. I would probably change the framing of the initial apple/dog scene because it feels like there’s a lot of dead space to my right and my left but I think the only way to do that would have been to bring in pictures, rather than the actual thing (which might have been better because Daisy HATED filming).

Clipart! /// I ended up going with Elizabeth’s draw on paper and scan method for my clipart, which I think turned out pretty well, especially the pups! Aside from the lack of the term GMO popping up on screen, I think the clip art was well used and fun. If I could go back and redo it, I’d probably take more time to draw different dogs so they weren’t all the exact same and I would work on my animations a bit more, because they were all just jump cuts. I’d also lighten the background on the dogs “animation” because it got really dark and was hard to see. But I still like the brick as visual interest.

What I would change

Aside from everything I mentioned above? I feel like I could have made this a lot more interesting had I had a bit more time.

Different scenes /// Because of time constraints (admittedly self-imposed), the entirety of the video was shot in my apartment. I’m, frankly, pretty proud of how much variability I got, even in the small space, but I think I could have done more. I really wanted to film the scene that was in front of my fridge in a grocery store (which probably wouldn’t have happened anyway, given our filming experience during class), although I will say, it definitely helped to have the cut watermelon!

More complementary, rather than redundant, video /// I didn’t quite realize it until later, but a lot of my video ended up being redundant. I love the animation that was next to me when I was talking about antibiotic resistance in plants, but it didn’t really add anything to the text. The watermelon example was a great complementary scene, as well as the intro, but I think the rest of it might have fallen short on that.

Lighting /// None of it was really bad on its own, but it changed a lot throughout the film, which was a bit jarring. Some scenes were really dark and some were a little on the overexposed side. I would aim for more consistency here.

Audio /// Not only was there a consistency issue here, but it was just bad. My apartment is really echoey and I tried using the lav mic, but leave it up to Apple to make that impossible without an adapter (because everything needs an adapter, apparently). I tried to make it work for a very long time and then just gave up, resulting in the not so fabulous audio quality. If I could redo it, I’d just buy the adapter. 

My hair /// Last one and yeah, it’s superficial, but my hair looks horrible! Flat hair for me on camera is apparently not a good idea.

Overall, I had a really great time in the class and I can’t wait to apply what I learned to other videos. This class has made me more and less critical of online videos. I now know what makes a good video, and can better “put my finger on it” when it comes to quality, but I also know how stinkin’ hard it is! It makes me appreciate the quality ones that much more.

I was really happy with the feedback I got on my script yesterday. It was interesting to see everyone’s reactions and easier to get honest feedback from then than from the 6th graders about what could be changed. My script flows better now thanks to Ceri’s great input about switching the order of the crop breeding and the science talk. 

What do this GMO apple [hold up apple (make sure GMO label, or label it myself, is visible)] and this dog [hold up Daisy] have in common? [Bring both to center of frame] They’ve both been genetically modified by us. Something’s genetics, or DNA, are like the building blocks that tell it what traits to have, like what to look like or how big it is. [Jump to close up] Anything that is living has DNA, and we’ve changed the DNA of crops, dogs, and tons of other stuff over many years by picking traits that we like and eliminating the ones that we don’t! [Pan back out to wide screen] But my dog, Daisy, hasn’t earned the label “GMO,” so what’s the difference between a GMO and something that was selectively bred? Well, let’s look at the term “GMO.”

[On the common] In the simplest sense, GMO mean [pan out, text on screen] Genetically Modified Organism. [Close shot] Let’s go back to my dog. [Show Daisy in park with other dogs] Notice how Daisy and the other dogs look really different! Over the years, we bred dogs like her to be small, happy, agile, and good companions. How did we do that? [start evolution of papillon breed animation] Well, the breeders found a male and a female dog with the most desirable traits and bred them, making puppies that were more likely to be what they wanted. [More papillon animations] This has changed the DNA of her breed. Now, this process took hundreds of years to end up with all of the dog breeds we have today, but what if science could do it faster? Well, we're getting there and that's where the term GMO come in. 

[In front of my fridge] Scientists can modify the DNA of crops to give the organisms some new advantage or desirable trait. Just like we do with dogs, we’ve already been doing this through crop selection for thousands of years. [pull cut watermelon out of fridge] Take this watermelon: what does this look like on the inside? If you guessed this [open watermelon up] you’d be right! But what if this watermelon was 400 years old?  400 years ago, watermelons probably looked like this! [show old watermelon] Over the last 400 years, we’ve selectively chosen to plant seeds from the watermelons with the most edible stuff. Yea, the ones from 400 years ago were probably just as refreshing on a hot summer day, but you’d definitely get a lot less of it!

So what’s wrong with selecting crops for specific traits by choosing which seeds to plant? Nothing really, but it takes a long time. Instead, we can do it really quickly in the lab. [Show friend in lab? Or B roll of genetics lab stuff ] Not only that, but scientists can add new traits that you wouldn’t normally see in nature! Some of these traits help a crop or animal to survive, like adding insect or virus protection and some of these traits are really strange but useful, like adding a fluorescent protein to a rabbit to help study disease. 

To date, storyboarding has been the most helpful activity for me. When I was scripting, I was trying to think in terms of locations, but the storyboarding really helped me to understand exactly how much visualization has to happen (and, of course) what is actually feasible. 

I was really impressed with today’s guest lecture. Because I’m so used to talking and writing about science, I forgot exactly how far we’d have to go to turn our scripts in to something that a 6th grader can understand. I wish I had volunteered to have my script picked apart but I guess that will have to wait for another day.

[Open in grocery store]You may have heard of GMO food, but what does GMO actually mean? Well, in the simplest sense, GMO mean [text on screen] Genetically Modified Organism. GMO. But did you know that many of the organisms you interact with every day that have been genetically modified? Take this dog! [hold up Daisy] Over the years, we bred dogs like her to be small, happy, agile, and good companions. How did we do that? Well, the breeders found a male and a female dog with the most desirable traits and selectively bred them, making puppies with a higher likelihood of having similar offspring. This has changed to genetics of her breed. Now this process took thousands of years to end up with all of the dog breeds we have today, but what if science could do it faster?

Well, we're getting there and that's where the term GMO come in. Scientists can modify the DNA of crops to give the organisms some new selective advantage or other desirable trait. We’ve already been doing this through crop selection for thousands of years. Take this watermelon: what does this look like on the inside? If you guessed this [picture of watermelon] you’d be right! But what if this watermelon was from 400 years ago?  A painting by Giovanni Stanchi, a renaissance painter, shows a very different picture of the watermelon [show old watermelon]. Over those last 400 years, we’ve selectively chosen to plant seeds from the watermelons with the most flesh. Yea, the ones from 400 years ago were probably just as refreshing on a hot summer day, but you’d definitely get a lot less of it!

I was really interested in how much I gained today by really analyzing styles and their specific uses. I still find Derek Muller's style to be something I gravitate toward. That being said, I'm sure that part of that is my bias, since I went to the panel where he talked, as well as the creators of Physics Girl and V-Sauce. I always feel like people are more relatable once I've physically met them in person.

I thought a lot about my own voice when teaching and blogging, too. Over the years, my teaching voice has become a lot more confident than it was when I started. I don't think the voice, per se, has changed so much, but the delivery of it or the external perception of it has gotten more confident as I have become more confident with the scientific concepts that I've been teaching. Something that is less known about me is that I've been blogging since 2008. When I first started, I tended to do stream of conscious writing, which only works so well. That lends itself well to these reflections, but not so much when you're trying to put out educational information. Over the years, I have honed my voice in to something more like what you would get if we were having a conversation. That's something that I'd like to bring in to my videos.