December 2022 – Cameron’s Creative Corner

This unit started with us being introduced to the theme of the Winter Exhibition — Avatar (the blue people, not the air bender)! As a class we viewed the (first) film, took notes on the themes we discovered from it, chose one, and in a group discussed our theme and submitted it. The next day, we had to make a pitch form to ask for three or so of the themes from the master theme list to work on. I chose Augmented Reality (AR) as my first request, and got it! Luca and I were the only people who chose AR, and so that ended up being our group for most of the project. The next thing we did was start to plan out our films and interviews that we would record. We prepared questions and asked to interview people. We recorded our interviews, edited them, filmed b-roll, and created the first draft to submit. Around this time, we also started making our viewing boxes for the exhibition. All in all, a big task to complete.

Now, it’s time to get a bit more specific. It’s time to talk about me and my topic of AR. Firstly, I had to know what AR was to even get the topic. Thankfully, I was an experience Pokémon GO player so I knew a bit about AR from that. First things first, I had to meet my interviewee and record the interview with them, which went smoothly. Then, I went out and filmed some b-roll at the school, and surrounding area. I put the clips together, cut corners, added voiceovers and music, and Voila!

I really wanted to talk to the creator of AR Makr for my interview, but that was a bit too ambitious, especially with the timeframe. I asked different family and friends that I thought might use it. I found that my uncle used it in his job, and so I interviewed him. I put a lot of effort into the video, and I am very happy with how it turned out. Next time, I will attempt to shorten it more if possible, but I felt all the material was useful and brought out my point. Lastly, it would have been even cooler to have seen the HoloLens in person and maybe filmed it a bit too. However this wasn’t possible due to the limited time and cost of the glasses.

I was very happy with how the exhibition room turned out. Our group was a mix of “exploration”, “augmented reality”, and one or two other themes. I really liked how we used a projector to give off a “matrix-y” vibe to the room. The lab coats and goggles were a nice touch too to make the room feel like something or someplace else.

The Themes of the Exhibition

Corporate Greed 1 – The Exploited Workers

Corporate Greed 2 – The Business Lounge

Corporate Greed 3 – The Exploited Resources

Nature/Spirituality 1 – The Home Tree

Nature 2 – The Abandoned Planet

Imperialism/Colonialism – The Game of Risk

Militarism – The Combat Zone

Racism 1 – The Anything but Blue Room

Racism 2 – The Blue Room

Exploration/Augmented Reality – The Matrix

Driving question:

What does James Cameron’s fantasy world of “Avatar” reveal about our own society?

James Cameron’s fantasy world of Avatar reveals that augmented reality may allow us to explore worlds beyond our physical landscape.

In this project, we learned all about what a revolution truly is, and some of the key revolutions that took place throughout history. Some of the key parts of the project are as follows: (get it, key as in keystone)

Keystone #1: Crane Brinton Diagram

Stage 1: Incubation

Stage 2: Moderate

Stage 3: Crisis

Stage 4: Recovery

The first leg of the journey towards the final product was learning what makes up a revolution (i.e. the different stages). Mr. Harris guided us through a presentation on the 4 key stages in a revolution, and we then were given the opportunity to create a diagram of four or so images to demonstrate the 4 stages (Incubation, Moderate, Crisis, Recovery). We had the freedom of choosing a theme to represent these stages. I had a bit of trouble at the start choosing a theme that would fit, but in the end, I settled on a dam (see above slideshow)

Keystone #2: Revolution Graphic Organizer

Continuing the project and nearing the end, we were assigned one of four revolutions (Haitian, Russian, American, or French) and shoved into a group of people with the same revolution (in the respective classes). We were then given information and sources for each revolution and were told to create a graphic organizer that had the criteria of previous. Just going to say it now, I got the American Revolution. Above, you can see my strenuously created graphic organizer that I put a lot of thought and time into. And now, for the final project…

Final Assignment: The Revolution Trial Video

American Revolution: Effective

The final assignment changed a bit throughout the project, due to reasons. We had to make a video about the respective side of the revolution you were on (effective or ineffective) (I was effective: American Revolution). Above, you can see my group’s video. We also had to make an affidavit it.

Driving Question:

How did revolutions bring down empires and change societies around the world?

Revolutions brought down empires through uniting rebels with a common goal against the empire and its system of rules and governance. Revolutions changed societies because people were able to establish new, more fair laws, and a ruler that is elected by the people they are representing rather than inheriting a spot in the government (like royalty).

Month: December 2022