1. Initial questions for students:
What is a PSA?
What are some PSAs that you can remember?
Why do you think PSAs are important?
What makes a good PSA?
Show the students a few examples of PSAs (this can be done by viewing them online.) After viewing each PSA, ask the following questions:
What is the message of the PSA?
Who is the target audience for the PSA?
What persuasive techniques does the PSA use? (Scare tactics, testimonial, re-enactment, symbolism, humor)
How effective is the PSA?
2. PSA Charades:
Summary: PSA Charades is a video exercise* in which students have only 10 seconds to convey a message. This exercise does not use any sound, so students must convey their message solely through visuals. PSA Charades will also enable your students to practice some of the camera techniques they have learned thus far, i.e. zooming, panning, tilting, etc. Through this exercise, students will learn what goes into thinking and executing an idea. Students will also learn about Public Service Announcements, gain production experience, work in groups, think creatively, and convey a message without the use of audio or speech.
*Please note: the production piece can be omitted if there is a lack of time.
Elements of an effective PSA:
- Clear message
- Clear target audience
- Persuasive visually and verbally
- Grabs the audiences attention
Rules for PSA Charades:
• Students must shoot a 10 second PSA without the use of sound.
• Students can act out their PSA but must not speak or reveal the message.
• There are no cuts allowed, the PSA must be one continuous take but students can use pans, tilts and zooms.
• The use of props and drawings is allowed.
• After all the groups are finished shooting, they must then guess the message behind each PSA.
STEP ONE: Depending on time, choose one of the approaches below:
A. Give students a couple of minutes to list issues that are important to them, their family, neighbors, city, country &/or world.
OR
B. Have the staff leader pick the topics for the PSA Charades beforehand. (Usually the topics are social, political, economic, or global issues, such as: global warming, teen pregnancy, environmental pollution, drug abuse, violence, homophobia, racism, imperialism, drunk driving, capitalism, vegetarianism, etc.)
STEP TWO: Break into small groups (3-5) and pick three topics from the bucket/basket. Each group gets to choose one of the three topics which they will make a PSA on. (If you are omitting the filming pice, have the students pick 5 topics, adn peform 3 of them.)
STEP THREE: After each group has chosen their PSA topic, give them approximately 10 minutes to brainstorm. They should come up with a message that they will convey visually. Within their groups, the students should be sure to plan how they will convey the topic. Here are some elements that they should consider:
What’s the message?
What’s the story or action you will try to communicate?
What characters are there if any?
How will you film the PSA? (Remember, the camera will be set in one spot, although it can pan or tilt)
Interpreting or creating a story for a social issue (such as the ones listed in Step 2) is difficult enough with sound. Without sound, at first it may seem impossible. The best thing to remember is to keep it simple. Be creative and have fun. Remind your students to be respectful of one another’s ideas. Compromise should be encouraged, especially if group members cannot agree on a single idea. Ideas may also be combined as long as they keep with the same topic.
STEP FOUR: Shooting the PSA
Once the students are ready, have them take about 5 minutes to shoot their PSA. All students must be treated equally and given an equal amount of time to shoot. Remember that the PSA Charades are supposed to be a surprise. Explain to everybody to not discuss
their PSA with each other.
Equipment Needed: A camera, a tripod, and a tape to record on.
• Set-up the camera and tripod in an area that is blocked-off so that one group cannot see another group acting out their PSA.
(REMEMBER: It’s a surprise.)
• Once each group is ready, film each "performance". Make sure you record 5 seconds of black before filming each individual PSA.
STEP FIVE: View and discuss the PSAs.
After viewing each PSA, ask the class, “What was the message of the PSA?” (Have all the students guess). Only after each student has made a guess, have the group that filmed the PSA confirm say if anyone guessed the correct message. Keep guessing until the right answer is found. Ask the students what visual clues they used to guess the message.
View the PSA again and ask:
What visual aspects did the group use to convey their message?
How successful were they?
Was the message clear? What confused you?
How might you try to convey the same message without words?
Explain the reasons why they did the charades: The PSA charades allows students to create a fun, group project that illustrates the importance of visual ideas and images. It gets students to think about developing a short, clear message which will help them when they create their longer PSA’s.
This information was taken from documentation provided by the Manhattan Neighborhood Network.