Back to work after a well deserved holiday! I hope you have rest and recover your energy.

This term we will focus our efforts on the final project that will cover the whole trimester.

The project is composed of different goals, activities or steps. As you already know, all the work you will be doing it is going to be valued, it doesn’t matter if it is good or bad. It is more important the path we travel than the place we arrive to. Our learnings are more important than the final result.

Final Project

In the final project, we will be selecting a goal, an activity, a task, a discipline, an Art, a production, or anything that we really like as a starting point.

We have to think about a task related to Educación Plástica, Visual y Audiovisual (EPVA), the name for our subject (there were no longer names), and in which we can work with digital media (digital image, static or dynamic, like video).

I can choose any project that meets the following three requirements:

1. I like it! I am interested in it and it encourages me to work because it excites me.
2. It is related to Arts (EPVA).
3. I will work with digital media (preferably audiovisual).

Blog

Again, we will be using the blog that some of us already initiate on the first term. Those of you that decided on other options, must create a blog to work this term. The most useful choice, if you have to create a new blog, is WordPress. It is a flexible platform that fits our needs perfectly.

The blog is the tool we are going to use to show our progress. In addition, we can use it as a communication and exchange tool.

It will be assessed every week and you will get tips and advice to improve your project as much as possible. Thats is what a project is all about, it is a learning process.

1st of ESO bilingual students, remember that we already have a common blog, so you don’t need to create any new ones. We will use our blog Salty Bilinguals. I will explain you more at class ?.

How are  we going to work?

We can work individually or in teams, depending on the project you are planning to work in. There are no constraints on this point. But, you should do teams in a coherent way and you should check before the viability of the teams. Woking in big teams is not appropriate for some projects.

What will my project consist of?

We must select a final goal. If you don’t have a clear idea on what to do, the best way to choose is getting information about the different things you can work in. If I know the options it is going to be easier to make a good choice. As I am going to dedicate some time to this, searching in the Internet or reading this lines, I should reflect this work in my blog. It is time, work and effort that I am spending, and I want it to be valued. The best way is to keep all the information in my blog.

As an example, we are going to suppose that I have been looking at the different possibilities and, finally, I have decided myself «to film a documentary». Because I like videos and I would like to interview different people and inform about things that happen in my surroundings.

Now that I have a clear idea about what I am doing,

First task. Step 1. Get the essential information to achieve my final goal. Continuing with the same example, I want to film a documentary, and therefore I need to know some things to achieve this. What should I know before I film a documentary? What resources do I need? What shows up in a documentary? Which are the best documentaries? Why? What kind of problems I am going to find? How can I solve them?. If I am capable of answering all of these questions, then I am ready to film my first documentary.

This is what we should do to face all we want to achieve. You have to be able to search, analyse and select all the information you need. Learn and be prepared.

Second task. Step 2. I know what I should do to achieve my goal, although I have no practise, I have no experience so it is difficult for me. That is why I need to practise, make mistakes, be wrong and get better. Improve my skills. We have time enough to improve the technique and do a good job. As I am going to film a documentary, I have to try the videocamera, the sound, prepare interviews, etc.

Some of you usually find these a bit boring, but it is a great satisfaction to discover things on your own, and beeing capable of finding the solutions to the future problems. You are more capable than you believe!

Third task. Step 3. I know the information I need to achieve my goal. I have been practising and I have improved my skills. Now, I can film my first documentary with the confidence that I will do a good job.

We should plan carefully the final product of our project, because we want to show all that we have learned in these two and a half months we have ahead.

We can choose any final work, it all depends in the topic you have selected. You are going to decide, although you should ask for advice just to make sure that we have time enough to complete the project. Sometimes we are very ambitious and we plan unreasonable or very hard projects for the time we have.

As I have said to you before, previous afternoon work does not show what you have learned in the whole term and it would not have the requiered minimum quality. Furthermore, it will be more satisfying for you to end up with a project that you are proud of.

It is important that you plan yourself, manage your time efficiently, so you can develop and finish all project steps. Think in how many time you are going to use for each step and set deadlines. Be careful that you do not stagnate on one of the steps without finishing the project. Maybe you should elaborate a work calendar with your own deadlines…

¡Remember! I am here to help you.

What is my project going to be about?

Here you have some topics that you can use for your project. Just a list by the moment, although I will be publishing more information about each one of them:

• Audiovisuals. Tutorial, Video diaries, Documentary, Shortfilm, Video-Art, Awareness, Advertising Spot, TV Program (news, interview, talk show, report, etc.), Educational Videos, etc.
• Painting Techniques:
  • Dry Techniques: Lápices, Sanguina, Pastel, Carboncillo, etc.
  • Wet Techniques: Tintas, Acrílico, Gouache, Acuarela, Óleo, etc.
• Wall painting. Mural, Graffiti, etc.
• Illustration. Comic, Caricature, Portrait, Landscape, etc.
• Photography. Portrait, Landscape, Photo Montage, etc.
• Technical Drawing. Contents & special exercises. Flat Geometry and Space Geometry.
• Sculpture. Clay Modelling, Assemblage, etc.
• Engraving. Linoleum, Dry Point, etc.
• Graphic Design. Corporate Image, Logo, Poster, Triptych, Brochure, etc.

Assessment

It is important to stress the relevance of your effort and your work in these, aproximately, two months and a half we have got ahead. Your learning process and the development of your project will be assessed weekly.

This weekly assessment will be done through your blog. That is why it is so important to keep it updated, regularly publish content and take part in other colleagues blogs. This is going to be important in your final mark.

The Blog should be our diary, the place in which we think about what we are doing and we get other colleagues opinions and advices.

It is not only that you deliver what you are ask for, but that you harness the learning process we will be heading this term. That is why all the process is going to be assessed and not only the delivered work.

It is important that you plan yourself, get your tasks organised so you have time enough to develop all project steps. Think in how many time you are going to use for each step and set deadlines. Be careful that you do not stagnate on one of the steps without finishing the project. Maybe you should elaborate a work calendar with your own deadlines…

Summary

Final Project.

• You can work individually or in teams.
• It has to motivate you. Choose something you really like.
• Related to Arts (EPVA). Have a look at the possible topics.
• Using digital media. Still Image & Digital Video.

Project steps:

1. Research. Searching of all the needed information in order to dachieve my project goal.
2. Testing. Practise and skills improvement.
3. Final Product. End result of my learning process.

It is very important the way we get organised. Think about how many time your spending in each step and set deadlines. Be careful that you do not stagnate on one of the steps without finishing the project.

Each step is important in order to achieve a good result.

Blog.

It will be used as a diary. We will publish in the blog all the work we are doing for our project and it will be useful to keep in touch with my colleagues.

It is the way I am going to be assessed every week. So, it is important to keep it updated.

Assessment.

Project development and learning process will be assessed weekly. Your effort and your work are very important. Previous afternoon work does not show what you have learned in the whole term and it would not have the requiered minimum quality.

This information is a very brief selection, as a reminder. It is convenient to read all the information to clearly understand the project.

Let me know if there is something you don’t understand or something I can do to help you!!