The Media Activism and Participatory Politics (MAPP) Summer Workshop is a fun, hands-on experience that helps young people unlock the power of fiction for real change. With an emphasis on world-building and creative storytelling, the workshop focuses on learning through making, helping students develop important media literacy and production skills. Part of an ongoing effort by media makers and researchers from USC to integrate peer-based learning, popular culture, and media production into civic curricula, the workshop draws on a broad range of powerful media produced by youth communities to achieve social change.  We encourage participants to think critically about previous examples of civic media and act creatively as they translate these insights into their own media practice.

The workshop is organized around 5 2hr sessions, that break down as follows:

Session 1:

• Introductions - “What do you wish for your world?”

• The power of video - “How are groups using YouTube to change the world?”

• Make a feeling - Collaborative video production exercise about conveying emotions without words. Make, view, discuss.   

• View and discuss other youth generated media (selected from MAPP cases)

• Think of media examples you’d like to bring in and share next time.

• World Building - Creating a shared vision of a world where the things you wish can really happen. What are some key characteristics of this world? What problems does this world have to solve? How do these characteristics and problems compare to problems we see in this world?

Session 2:

• View and discuss the videos that workshoppers bring in

• Talk about stories: What is a story? What characteristics does a story have?

• Return to World Building:  What stories happen in the world we’re imagining together?

• Working in smaller groups, come up with stories of things that happen in this shared world.  Find a creative way to share stories with the whole group (acting them out, narrating them, etc.)

• Fantasy Newscast: Turn the stories each group has come up with into TV news style reports that will join together in a newscast.  What are the elements that make up a news story?

• Create a filming plan for each group’s Fantasy Newscast story.  One team will be assigned the roles of ‘Anchor’ and oversee how all the stories fit together.

Session 3:

• Finalize filming plans (including location scouting).

• Create props and costumes if needed..

• Proceed with filming (MAPP facilitates and supports filming. News anchor team oversees overall plan for newscast.)

Session 4:

• Youth edit video of their stories in iMovie or using the YouTube online editing tool.  Computers provided by MAPP team.  

Session 5:

• Shared viewing and discussion of Fantasy Newscast.

• Discuss each story, the stories collectively, focus on creative expression, technical details, representation, remix, audience etc.

• Create video advice from this workshop group to future workshop participants.