Youth Media Program
What We Do |
Podcasts for Peace staff work with youth participants to facilitate a series of audio-visual projects that become more and more complex technically, creatively, and personally. Classes are taught with the intention of equipping youth participants with the skills and habits of mind to take responsibility for their own learning, empowering them to pursue whatever goals they choose to set for themselves in the future. |
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Zoom Q3 Audio/Video Recorder
As they complete these projects, participants learn photography, videography, and audio-visual editing skills using digital cameras, sound and video recording equipment, and audio-visual editing software. They are encouraged to collaborate and exchange feedback with their peers as they develop these projects from brainstorm to final edit. Participants also learn how to create compelling and logically structured fiction, personal reflections, and community activism projects through digital media (below). This work teaches valuable life skills such as perseverance, teamwork, self-esteem, and self-reflection.
Completed projects are screened at community meetings and posted on this website to support broader conversations about the personal and social issues they raise.
Completed projects are screened at community meetings and posted on this website to support broader conversations about the personal and social issues they raise.
Photo Stories
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DEFINITION:
A short, fictional narrative with conflict-resolution structure presented through recorded voice and still images. PROCESS: Participants learn basic narrative structure and technique to write their own fictional short stories. They later plan and shoot photos using digital cameras to visually represent them. Finally, participants record themselves reading their final drafts, and then edit the images, video, and voice recordings into complete video-narratives. WHY PHOTO STORIES? Participants practice writing and telling stories with their audience in mind and become familiar with the creative and technical processes involved in video-narrative production. This prepares them for more complex and challenging projects like Digital Reflections and Community Activism Projects (below). |
Jessica's FriendsWritten, produced, and edited by Alondra and Jinnifer
James coaches Jinnifer and Alondra on typing skills
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Digital Reflections
I Never Gave UpWritten, produced, and edited by Grethel, 11 Mika reviews one of Grethel's early drafts
In "I Never Gave Up," Grethel describes how and why she learned to sell lottery numbers at age 8 and relates this to her experiences with racism and classism.
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DEFINITION:
A short, first-person narrative in which the creator recounts a personal experience and explores its significance through recorded voice and still or moving images. PROCESS: Participants are first led through extensive brainstorming and personal reflection exercises as they identify experiences and topics of personal significance. Then they write and revise multiple drafts of what will become their scripts. They plan out photo and video shots to best convey their messages, then use Podcasts for Peace equipment to take those shots, record themselves reading their scripts, and edit all of these elements into a cohesive project of personal and often social significance. WHY DIGITAL REFLECTIONS? The self-interpretation and creative expression central to digital reflections can support transformative experiences for participants as they investigate the deeper significance of the stories they tell and the social contexts in which they are enacted. |
Community Activism Projects
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DEFINITION:
A non-fiction video project intended to make positive changes in the local or broader community, presented through recorded voice, interviews, photos, videos, and music. PROCESS: After deciding on a topic for the project, participants work together to research the issue and write a compelling, fact-based narration, which they record together. Then they learn how to prepare interview questions and conduct interviews. Using sound editing software, they select and insert appropriate interview clips into the narration. The next step is to decide what photos and videos to shoot for each section of the voice track, then to take those shots. Finally, participants use video editing software to match the photos and videos with the narration and interviews, make title and credit slides, and add visual effects and music. WHY COMMUNITY ACTIVISM PROJECTS? Aside from the considerable technical, creative, and rhetorical skills participants learn by completing these videos, Community Activism Projects inspire pride and confidence in young people’s ability to make positive changes in their communities and can serve as springboards for community activism on a larger scale. |
A Message to ENACALWater Service in Alemania Democrática
Written and produced by Celeste, 16, Elizabeth, 15, Erick, 13, Glenys, 13, José, 15, & Yerald, 16
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