PSAs - GSB Filmmakers Deliver the Message

http://viewpure.com/S51cwrmEnCM (animal welfare)

http://viewpure.com/Q0uFOejzVf4 (cyber bullying)

http://viewpure.com/0jKvyhBquTA (theft)

http://viewpure.com/Y85FtNwqOzk (bullying)

http://viewpure.com/y0GuB0aK90c (gum chewing)

http://viewpure.com/lM0mAuwIpRc (fan rage)

   Above, six links to six student films.  They were all created over the last several weeks as part of a Filmmaking class assignment.  Students were asked to create a PSA, a public service announcement. As stated on our class site, "What are PSAs? PSA stands for Public Service Announcement. A PSA might be broadcast on the radio, on TV, in a movie theater, on the Internet or elsewhere. A PSA is designed to draw awareness to issues of personal or societal concern. They seek to help people to behave better or to contribute positively to their community or to become aware of pressing issues.  Some of the many issues PSAs might address are bullying, the dangers of driving under the influence, the link between smoking/drinking and health, and the importance of sound nutrition."
  Students could pick their topic of choice. Films range from about 30 - 90 seconds. Especially noteworthy is the fact that for five of the six filmmakers, this was essentially a first effort.  They've learned the fundamentals quickly and I am certain their filmmaking skills will develop quickly.
    Usually, if I was including video in this blog, I'd embed the video so you'd see an opening scene and could simply click on the video to play it right out of the blog page.  But for these videos, I used Viewpure to isolate the video content. (Because Viewpure does not supply embed codes, only the links are posted.) Why Viewpure for these videos? Because I think they might be effectively used by teachers to show to other students. Some possibilities: the character education work done in the lower school, middle school health classes and upper school advisory meetings.  The Viewpure interface will eliminate the sidebar clutter that is part of a YouTube embedded video.
    I hope you'll take a look and enjoy the work of our US filmmakers.  And if you'd like to use films to help students think through social issues, then these PSAs are really doing their job.