You already know how to crop, filter and trim photos and clips. Today you will look at media made by other people and try to tell what was done to it. A capture is the photo, clip or recording as it was first taken.
When you see a finished photo, clip or soundtrack online, can you tell what was done to it?
| Your call | What it means |
|---|---|
| As taken | No good reason to think the capture was changed. |
| Fair editing | Changed for clarity, length, framing, quality or privacy, without inventing a false story. |
| Altered to mislead | Changed so people believe something untrue. |
You will decide using tells, which are clues you can see or hear.
Not every change is a trick. A sports photographer who crops a photo so the goal fills the picture is making an ordinary edit. Manipulation means changing a photo, clip or recording. It becomes a problem when the change is hidden and makes you believe something untrue, such as a sentence cut from a speech so it means the opposite.
You will choose from three verdicts, or decisions:
- As taken: nothing important has been changed.
- Fair editing: changes make it clearer, shorter, better framed or more private, and they do not tell a false story.
- Altered to mislead: the change makes people believe something untrue.
As a class, look at and listen to all three items below. Then work through Item 1 together in the activity underneath. Talk out loud about what changed and whether that change tells a false story, agree on one verdict, and then reveal the reasoning. After that, everyone votes on all three items in the class poll on the next step.
Item 1: the parade photo
“The band marches through town in the rain.”
| The photographer's original | The posted version |
|---|---|
 |  |
Item 2: the councillor clip
“Councillor wants to close the youth club.” The post does not include the full, longer recording.
Item 3: the storm video
“Storm batters the coast as a walker fights to stay on his feet.”
Leave the section under the video closed until your teacher opens it after the poll.
Only after the class has called all three: the originals
The councillor's full recording:
The storm video as it was filmed, at normal speed, with no sound added:
The photos and the video are real. The captions, the posts and the councillor are made up for this lesson, and the councillor's voice is computer-generated.
As taken, fair edit, or altered?
Now everyone votes on every item on their own device. Round 1 is the item you just worked through together.
There is no score and no time limit. When the class has voted, the board shows how the class split, and then it shows the reasoning. After the discussion, your teacher can open the vote again to see if anyone has changed their mind.
- Read the item and make your choice.
- When the reasoning comes up, compare it with your own reason.
Being able to explain your choice matters more than getting it right, because the reasoning is what you are here to learn.
Class Poll
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