Thursday, May 31, 2007

Water bottles, loose change, and a soundtrack


A friend of mine teaches writing and rhetoric at the local arts high school. Enviable job. Even when the kids are mentally gone on summer break and the air conditioner in Meredith's mobile classroom is kaput--the hour back in time was a breath of fresh air.

Instead of doing what's been done the last two times I've talked with her class (blah, blah, career in creative writing, blah, blah) I thought we could do something, well, creative.

And musically, my head has been in a soundtrack project for a friend's film. The film is sponsored by Green Pictures, a collaboration between filmmakers and the community theater.

The film is locally written, and produced. It's about an older woman who decides she doesn't want to be buried in the ground when she dies, and goes about convincing her stubborn son otherwise.

We watched the flick. Split into groups. And using only materials found in the room as instruments (it's an arts school, so somebody had a guitar, and a mac, with garage band) the kids had to illustrate the following scenes:
  • Film intro
  • Sitting in the cemetery
  • Driving in the car
  • Outro
You'll hear each of these sections respectively, plus some serious snickering.

Is this Kindermusik or what? Also, I've uploaded the song to my myspace page so the kids could hear it. Listen here, and click "Weaver Soundtrack" in the music player.

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