6th Grade Students

Developing Media Literacy Skills

How are Political Commercials Manipulated to Influence?

Based on the PBS website: The 30 Second Candidate

Part 1:  Concept

Using  "Tricks of the Trade"  on the PBS website, we viewed various editing techniques that are commonly used in political commercials to influence viewers.  Step by step, students saw how the same 30 second video clip could be manipulated with special effects to cast it in a positive or negative light. The concept was quite simple, but extremely effective.

 "Tricks of the Trade" - the original clip

     no sound - no manipulation 

"Tricks of the Trade" - the original clip

     manipulated to be positive  

            Visit the PBS website for details

"Tricks of the Trade" - the original clip

     manipulated to be negative 

           Visit the PBS website for details

Part 2:  Examples

• Students viewed samples of historic political ads from the 1952 Eisenhower presidential campaign.
• Students watched several commercials from both 2008 presidential campaigns. 
• Students also examined a handful of unoffical ads created by organizations other than the official campaigns.
• In discussion, student were asked to identify which tactics were used in each commercial.  

Part 3:  Create Commercials

Student were teamed-up and asked to construct their own 30 second commercials.  They were to incorporate various techniques they had learned to influence viewers in either a positive or negative way. Since they were currently studying Ancient Greece, they were asked to make their commercials for a Greek god.

The Problem: 12 Greek gods form the Pantheon Forum, the governing body on Mt. Olympus. This even number of gods creates the potential for the vote to be tied, often resulting in a deadlock .

The Assignment: Promote the elevation of a specific 13th god to the Pantheon OR urge the removal of 1 of the current 12 gods to reduce the number to 11.

• Students were asked to work in mixed gender groups of two to three members.
• Students were asked to identify their Greek god and decide if their ad would be positive or negative.
• Students were asked to plan their commercial by creating a storyboard.
• Students were permitted to create still images or "order" animations from the 8th grade tech club.
• Students used Adobe Photoshop, Garageband and iMovie 6 to construct their commercials.

Teacher Notes

21st Century Skills @ The Elisabeth Morrow School

Programs Used:

GarageBand

Adobe Photoshop Elements

iMovie 6

Teachers:

Marianne Malmstrom, Middle School Tech Teacher

Ronnee Lipman: 6th Grade Teacher

Special Thanks:

Sarah Rolle, Tech Coordinator

Micah Malmstrom, Tech Support