Reflecting on Feedback

Start by explaining to students that most media works go through several drafts. The second draft, in particular, is where makers think more consciously about the choices they made in using each rule of notice. This process isn’t just about correcting mistakes but also about making the work more clear and improving your own understanding of what effect you want it to have on audiences.

Ask students if they have seen the movie “Toy Story” (specifically, the first in the series) and make sure that they all are familiar with its main characters and basic premise: When a young boy gets a new toy, Buzz Lightyear, his previous favourite toy – a cowboy doll named Woody – becomes jealous. When Woody accidentally knocks Buzz out a window, the two become separated from the boy and have to find their way back to him.

Have students access the student chapter “Toy Story: Black Friday.” Have them watch the videos (or show them on a digital projector or digital whiteboard) and then have students answer the questions below.

If you choose, you can have them work with a partner, or have students answer the questions in a whole-class discussion.

• What changes did the work’s creators make between this version and the final version? There are two important changes to the plot: Woody pushes Buzz out the window accidentally in the final version, and is not pushed out the window by the other toys. There are also major changes to the characters: Buzz no longer cares about whether or not he goes to Pizza Planet in the final version, and Woody is much less bossy with the other toys.

• Why do you think they made those changes? The changes to Woody’s character make him a more likeable and sympathetic character.

• Which changes do you think had the biggest effect? Between what Woody does to Buzz and the way he treats the other toys, it’s hard to imagine viewers would care very much about him. Having Woody fall out of the window right after Buzz would also have made a big difference in the story, because there would have been no time when Woody actually thought Buzz was gone.

Explain to students that when the animatic was first shown to Disney executives, they disliked it so strongly that they almost canceled the movie, which is why it’s referred to as the “Black Friday” version. The changes that were made led to it becoming one of the most successful animated movies of all time.

While not every work changes that much, almost everything does change somewhat. That’s why media makers rely on constructive feedback from other people to make their works better.