Case in point: Ms. D, a 4th grade teacher in Yonkers, NY.
For years, Ms. D’s elementary class enjoyed funding for amazing field trips, including MoMA, the Museum of Natural History, a Yankees game, and red-carpet screenings of her student-animated films, in a real movie theater.
This time around, funding allowed for only one trip, so she allowed her students to vote on which trip would take the cake.
I had been visiting her class as an "animator in residence" as a side-gig for years.
Nice, but how does that compete with the Yankees?
She called excitedly after the vote, "They chose animation! It wasn't even close!"
True, most kids today would love to be a movie star, a celebrity, a "Youtube" sensation - a ‘red carpet’ moment is sure to satisfy such wishes to a certain degree.
But I knew that they were in for something not as glamorous - some real elbow grease was to be involved.
To learn how to make a movie, you have to grasp the language of sound and motion, which involves math, perception, pacing, voice acting, and about 43 other things.
Animated footage must exist, and animation requires its own rules and ‘secret recipes’ to bring to life.
To invent a story, conceptualizing imaginary scenarios and articulating them to the group for approval/disapproval, takes emotional risk.
Risk?
"What if this doesn't work? What if people don't laugh/gasp/scream when our story wants them to?"
It might not work. There are no guarantees.
A few months later, at their red-carpet premiere, I asked the parents and the kids if they regretted not going to the Yankees game or the other field trips.
Kids:
• I can't wait to get home and put this on Youtube!
• They laughed at our funny parts!
• I can always go see a Yankees game. Nobody my age gets to do this.
Parents:
• It's the only thing they talked about at home for months!
• We can't believe our kids made this.
• They love their devices. This was a spectacular twist, to help them see their devices doing something productive for once!
They wrote the story, built the sets, animated the characters, voiced the voices, designed the sound effects, and did the editing. They walked the red carpet, they EARNED the applause, they EARNED the accolades at the after-party.
It took ALL the skills and real effort with real risk. And they did it!!
For the upcoming generation, this is the most underserved yet most relevant education - full stop.
When we engage in media education we throw them a lifeline, and they paddle to the finish line exhilarated, with a sense of accomplishment and relevancy.
It is now our mission to help millions experience the same.
Show me anyone in Hollywood who's been able to 'own' a movie like that - ever.
I think they chose their surviving field trip wisely.
Bon Animate!
Joe
By the way, another major factor in their choice was the arm-twisting from older brothers & sisters who had gone through the program years earlier.
3-10 years after the fact, it was still the highlight of their elementary education.