R|com Creative Blog

from the Flip website, the Flip Ultra HD, their top-of-the-line camera.

We’ve recently started principal photography on a new documentary called Harmony: The Story of Rock Our World. I could go on and on about how wonderful this program is and how exceptional the teacher is who started it five years ago, but I think it’s probably better if I just let you hear directly from her in this short we produced last spring about the program.

Yeah, she’s amazing, isn’t she?

This production is going to take us around the world interacting with teachers and classrooms that are lucky to have one computer and a dial up connection, let alone high tech digital tools in each students’ hands. However, in order to produce a feature-length documentary about the program, we need each classroom to videotape their Rock Our World efforts. And since we’re making a film in 1080i, it would be really nice if they were videotaping their efforts in HD. Hence, our conundrum. Well, one of our conundrums.

from their website, the Kodak Zi8, which shoots 1080p.

What small camera should we get into the hands of the Rock Our World classes around the world, that’s easy to use, that allows for VERY SIMPLE file upload to iDisks, but that still produces a picture we can use in post production? Oh yeah, and it has to be INCREDIBLY CHEAP.

You’re thinking Flip, aren’t you? We were too. The best Flip out there shoots “Video: 16:9 widescreen, HD 720p (1280 x 720) at 30 frames per second (fps) progressive scan; recorded as MP4 files,” according to their website, and that will work just fine with our production. It won’t be great, since we’re shooting 1080i and the Flip shoots 720p, but I’m willing to convert in Final Cut Pro, even though I rage at the conversion time each time I hit the render button.

But this lovely teacher who runs Rock Our World, told me about the new Kodak competition to the Flip. Have you heard about the Kodak Zi8? It shoots in 1080p and is $20/unit cheaper.

I need to get to a local Best Buy and check these two little darlings out. I also plan to steal Carol Anne’s Kodak and my sister’s Flip at an event in Nebraska the weekend of October 16th. I hope have more for you when I return.

Our team is very excited about a new project that we’re undertaking: A magazine-style documentary on a wonderful education program called Rock Our World. Created by elementary school teacher Carol Anne McGuire, Rock Our World links schools from around the world to collaborate on the creation of music using technologies from Apple Computer. Far from a sales program, Rock Our World has far-reaching effects on communication, collaboration, and the entire education process.

Students from Jamestown Elementary chat with students from Mexico City about their shared music project.

I first met Carol Anne shortly after she was awarded the title of Apple Distinguished Educator. At the time, most ADEs were college professors, so this was a big deal, not only for Carol Anne, but for Apple as well. We produced some short videos for the Apple Education Team and working with Carol Anne was a joy. She is filled with energy, as is her husband Bobby – and together, they could take on (it seems) any project and take it from a glint of an idea, to a polished success story.

The idea behind Rock Our World is simple: Children work together to create original music using personal computers. As an example, let’s say you have ten schools from countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Isreal, Germany, Australia, Japan, etc. Each school begins the project by recording a drum track into an application called GarageBand. The drum track can be recorded using live instruments or sampled sounds.

The recorded percussion tracks are then sent to the “next” school. There, the students add a bass line to the music – and pass it on. By the time the tracks have circled the globe a few times, a complete series of songs will have been created. Along the way, students can speak to each other using iChat, a video conferencing system integrated into the Mac OS. The ability for these schools to see one another, share music, and communicate as they do breaks some important barriers to learning. In today’s world, the need for cross-collaboration between countries, never mind cities, is becoming of increasing importance. Carol Anne and her team are pioneers in this regard. Their program is more than four years old already, while many schools and districts are still in the, “Wouldn’t it be nice if one day…” category. Not only is Carol Anne an Apple ADE, she is also a Google Educator, Disney Educator Award Winner, and the list goes on…

We’re in the pre-production stage now, and expect to have a completed project in time for the CUE conference in March of 2009. We’ll keep you posted! You can also follow Rock Our World via Twitter.