Talenti made storyboards of her film idea,
and then the students went to work fleshing
out those ideas. Morrison said the class was a
fresh departure from the lecture-style teaching of the semester, where students absorb
theory and watch demonstrations. In Talenti’s
class, they learned by doing.
“The cool thing about this is that it’s so
experimental,” Morrison said. “Francesca
had us do 50 different weird things we
wouldn’t do with an ordinary boring
movie.” For one frame, Tippens and Morrison used the editing software to string
together 1,200 photographs of the human
body to make it look as if the camera were
slicing straight down the middle of a person. In another, they used the “mask” feature on their program to simulate lava bubbling from underneath a stove top.
Seniors Pete Rehm and J.J. Murphy
worked on audio to create sounds for the
largely silent film, manufacturing the sound
of a carrot coming out of the ground, of a
bird hitting a window and of a polar bear
ambling across campus. “I don’t think this
could be done in the semester,” Murphy
said. “The only time you could really give
to this class is a Saturday, and I don’t think
you could give that kind of time.”
Students taking American literature
from 1900 to 2000 covered essentially
everything they would in a normal semester, which includes reading two major novels, the work of five poets and three fiction
writers. Students kept up with the reading,
said James W. Coleman, professor of English
and comparative literature. The only drawback he saw was the tendency of a few students to get sleepy during the longer hours
of the course, but that could be controlled
with carefully planned breaks.
“The incentive for me was being able
to concentrate on one thing for a very
short period of time and being able to do
in-depth study and analysis as a result,”
Coleman wrote in an e-mail.
The Office of Institutional Research
and Assessment and individual departments
surveyed staff and student opinions. “We’re
going to do very careful evaluations to see
which ones within this range are best
suited to the Maymester experience,”
Owen said.
— Laura Oleniacz
You Planned Your Children’s Future …
Now Plan for Your Own!
Just as you planned for your children’s education many years before
they started college, you must start planning well in advance for your
retirement years.
People choose to live at Carol Woods because it gives them the
independence and time to try new things and make a difference in the
community that surrounds them. On any given day, you’ll find
Carol Woods’ residents doing everything from mentoring a student,
volunteering in the community or preserving a wildlife habitat, to
spending time at the on-campus Children’s Center.
Start planning today for an active tomorrow filled with opportunities for
continued learning, growing, and contributing!
1-800-518-9333
750 Weaver Dairy Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514 •
info@carolwoods.org
www.carolwoods.org • Carol Woods is an accredited, not-for-profit community
