This is a group project and has four components: a short
documentary, a written analysis, your presentation of that analysis by two
members of your group, and a question and answer session.
Group Work:You will select your own groups of
three or four students to work on this project together.You’ll be allowed to work together
during class, but you’ll also have to meet outside of class.Each group member will present progress
reports to ensure that everyone is doing their part.If a member does not
do the work s/he has agreed to do, s/he will be removed from the group and will
have to complete the project on her/his own.
Short Video:The video should be between 3-5
minutes long and you have two options:
Option 1. You can
make a short documentary about a person, a group of people or organization that
have experienced otherness and/or work toward helping others better understand
and/or counter it.You will
interview at least two people and also have footage of their professional
and/or daily life or photographs of their past to use as B-roll and intersperse
throughout.You will talk to your
subjects in advance and get permission from them, as well as work around their
schedule.Shooting will take place on the weekend of March 9-11.If your subjects need to shoot during
the week, you can do it on Friday, March 9.You will not be ready to shoot prior to that time, so make
sure that those dates work for your subjects.You must have a film plan when you show up to shoot.The plan will encompass the questions
you want to ask, the topics you want your subjects to discuss, as well as the
B-roll you want to shoot.For this
assignment you need to interview at least two people about your topic and use
B-roll effectively.
Option 2. You can
make a preview for a film that deals with otherness.You would choose an aspect of otherness such as race,
immigration, sexual orientation, gender, social class, etc. and create a story
around it.Your story can be a
straightforward drama or comedy or a genre film such as sci-fi, fantasy,
superhero, horror, etc.You will
research the aspect of otherness you want to address, as well as the
conventions of the genre you choose.Be creative.Remember that
whatever you come up with you’ll need to be able to render in film with limited
technology and skills. You are welcome to mix you own footage with footage from
other works that fit your vision. You will need to have a detailed storyboard
and a screenplay for this option.Feel free to use humor if that’s the tone you think best fits your work.
Shooting will take place on the weekend
of March 9-11.If your actors
need to shoot during the week, you can do it on Friday, March 9.You will not be ready to shoot prior to
that time, so make sure that that date works for your actors.
Editing the
Footage:
During this section, we will learn basic screenwriting and
storyboarding to help you work on your videos.You will also be taught how edit digital video using
iMovie.You can use your own
video cameras and tripods or borrow them from the reference desk at Hicks
Library.If you borrow one from
Hicks, they are on loan for three days only, so you’ll have to shoot and
capture the footage to a hard drive during that time.
Cameras and tripod
numbers are limited at Hicks, so you need to order them right away.
Unless you get one of the cameras that use memory cards, you
will also need to purchase a mini DV tape for your camera.You can buy these at Purdue’s College
Bookstores or at places like Target, where they are slightly cheaper.If you change cameras for whatever
reason, donot use the same tape but a new one.Groups that have used the same tape on different cameras in
the past have lost half their footage, usually the one they filmed with the
first camera.
I understand that not all students own Mac computers—which
are needed to run iMovie.The DLC
has a number of Macs that students can reserve in order to edit their
footage.Students with regular
Macs will be able to download the footage directly into their computer using
the firewire cable that comes with the cameras.Students with MacBook Pros, however, will need to reserve a
Mac at the DLC in order to download the footage since MacBook Pros do not have
a firewire port.
In order to reserve Mac computers at the DLC, please go
here: http://www.dlc.purdue.edu/reservations.cfm.
You will be asked to log in using your Purdue ID, then you will go to “Select
Operating System” and choose Mac.You will then go to “Search by Computer Name” and choose Macs 1 through
5.Only these five computers have
the firewire port required to download footage.Footage is downloaded in real time, so that if you film for
an hour, it will take you an hour to download it.Make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to download the
footage, since sometimes it takes a while to get a handle on the process.
NOTE:You must
reserve a computer and do so in advance or there may be no computers
available when you go to download your footage.
Once you have downloaded the footage, you want to save it
into an external hard drive (whether or not you are using your own computer,
since video footage takes up a lot of space).If someone in your group owns a Mac-compatible external hard
drive, please use that one.If
not, we have a limited number of hard drives you can borrow from the office in
Heavilon 302. Mention that you are Alexandra Hidalgo’s student when you ask for
one of the drives that have been reserved to be used by my students.You will save your project on the
external hard drive and keep it there until after you have received the graded
final result from me.If you
borrow a hard drive, make sure to ask to keep it till Monday, April 2.
If you have your own Mac computer, you can use it to edit
the footage once you have it in the hard drive.If you don’t have your own Mac computer, you can reserve a
Mac at the DLC and work on editing your film there.The staff at the DLC are knowledgeable about iMovie and will
be able to answer your questions as you work.Whether or not you decide to work on your own computer, you
could do your editing at the DLC so you can take advantage of the staff’s
guidance.
I will provide you with templates of releases, which you
will ask every one of your subjects to sign before you film them.You will turn in scans of the releases
along with the rest of the assignment and keep the originals for
yourselves.
Written Analysis:Your analysis essay should be
double-spaced and 5-8 pages long (around 1,500 - 2,400 words). You will need at least three sources.
One from the web, one from print (newspapers don’t count as print for our
purposes) or the library catalogue, and a third that can be whatever you wish
as long as it’s credible. You can have more than three sources but don’t get
carried away.No more than eight
would be advisable.The essay
serves two purposes:it reports
your research findings and then it analyzes your video. For the second part of
your paper, you will analyze your choices as filmmakers.How did your questions, camera angles,
editing and mise-en-scène help you make the points you wanted to make?
Presentations:Two group members will present the
video during our screening days.The first member will speak before we watch the video and will share the
research information that was found on the issue.The second member will speak after we have watched the video
and will analyze it for the class.The information you are presenting will come from your written
analysis.You are welcome to use
Powerpoint but you can also do an oral presentation.It’s up to you.
Question and Answer
Session:The whole group will
answer questions from classmates about both the video and the analysis.You will be evaluated on your ability
to reply in a coherent and knowledgeable manner.
Keep in mind the concepts of ethos, pathos, logos and having
a clear thesis that we have discussed in class, as well as audience awareness,
tone and language.Remember to
take into account what your audience knows about this topic and what their
already established opinions are. Visual rhetoric is vital to this
assignment.Make sure to integrate
what we have discussed and read about visual rhetoric as you work on your
videos and the analysis.
Your names must be on the assignment and you need to give
the video and the written analysis a title. The film plan, screenplay and storyboard workshop will take place on Thursday,
March 8.Bring one hard copy
of each to share with other groups.Video screenings and
presentations will take place on Tuesday, March 27 and Thursday, March 29.You will email me the vimeo or YouTube
link, the written analysis and the scanned releases on the day of your
presentation.I will return
work electronically.Everyone will
receive their graded assignments within a week of turning them in, but not all
at the same time.I will return
them as I grade them, and I will grade them in the order that they reach my
inbox at: [email protected].
A “C” project should:
• Meet all requirements of the assignment.
• Provide appropriate description so that an audience can
understand the situations and issues
involved.
• Have a thesis that follows logically from the body of the
written analysis.
• Control surface errors.
• Use MLA citation to document all sources.
• Demonstrate an understanding of film elements such as
editing, framing, mise-en-scène and lighting.
A “B” project should do everything a “C” paper does but
should also:
• Show evidence that possible audience objections have been
anticipated and responded to.
• Incorporate sources smoothly.
• Include an analysis that interrogates the experiences,
observations and sources critically.
• Create filmic images that correspond with the topic being
explored.
• Craft an entertaining and informative video.
An “A” project should do everything a “B” paper does but
should also:
• Arrive at a thesis that is original, insightful and
sensible.
• Show a flair with language and visual rhetoric.
• Have a clear organizational strategy based on audience
needs.
• Use B-roll in an original and pertinent manner.
• Create a video that produces a strong (intended) reaction
in the audience such as laughter, compassion, admiration, etc.