Writing with Video . … . section t4

Return them to the Oregon St computer lab.

CITES will not allow any exceptions and will charge you a substantial fee if you miss this deadline.

We will not meet Tuesday — use it as a workday.

We will meet at the regularly scheduled time on Thursday.

1. continue shooting
2. be prepared to show raw footage at next meeting.
3. come to class with at least two specific questions about your project that you wish to discuss with your group.

1. journal: using the video production template, write the pre production stage of your journal
2. move on to the ‘production’ phase by next week: start shooting
3. journal: write about all relevant topics in the ‘production’ stage of the production template

1. Revise your “This I Believe” essay based on the feedback you received. Post the final draft on your journal
2. Make a recording of you speaking your “This I Believe” essay and post it on your journal as well. This could be in the form of you reading it in front of your Isight camera, or a sound recording (remember the ZOOM audio recorders), or could even have an edited video to accompany the sound. Choose a medium that you feel expresses the statement to its fullest.
3. Re-read your brainstorming free-write from today’s class. develop a series of interview questions that you can ask other people to help you clarify your ideas and narrow down your list of possible project topics. Interview at least 5 people, use your list of questions, and get a feel for what your possible topics inspire in others. What information do they know about the topics? which topics generate the greatest response, questions, and/or interest? What personal beliefs do your interviewees express? Record at least 3 of these interviews on video.
4. Compile a quick rough cut of the most interesting statements or exchanges from your interview footage. These do not need to be slick or elegant, they should just collect highlights of your conversations. This cut should only be 1-2 minutes long.
5. Based on your brainstorming list, your subject interviews, and whatever additional meditation necessary, make a final decision about a topic for you next video.

1. reading: Everything is an Argument, Andrea Lunsford
2. post responses to the four questions on pages 43-44 of the assigned reading. these will be discussed at the next class.
3. write your own ‘this i believe’ essay. follow the criteria for a successful statement of belief: authentic voice, narrative coherence, communal relevance; and also the essay writing tips. note: this does not necessarily have to be on the same subject you’ll ultimately do the final video on. you could use this exercise to test out a possible idea you’ll use for the video but you could also do it on something completely different.

while I’m away this week:

• meet face to face with your groups at least once this week for at least a couple of hours; use this meeting time to:
  1. talk about any problems or questions each of you might have and how you might be able to resolve them
  2. ask specific questions about your ideas and process — get as much feedback as you can
  3. view raw footage and/or works in progress — you really should have at least some edited material to show, at least later in the week if not Tuesday
• keep working on your journal — it’ll help you work through ideas, questions and problems and it’ll be a much better journal if you work on it throughout the process rather than filling it all in at the end of the process
• go back and review the footage you shot last week of the 10-question interview you did with a classmate. create a quick 1-2 minute rough cut in which you completely MISREPRESENT the statements of that person — post this to your module 2 page; you can do this by, for example:
  • switching questions and answers around — put an answer to one question after another question to give a false impression
  • using new voice overs or captions before an answer or statement the person made in order to give a false impression
  • cutting and splicing to make it appear they are saying something they did not say
  • important: do not misrepresent them in a way that would cause embarrassment or harm to their reputations — don’t do to them something you wouldn’t want to be done to you
  • also important: try to have this done before you meet with your group mates and show them the misrepresentation video you made of the people you interviewed; we’ll also watch them in class but this is meant as a short exercise to help you think about how to represent someone accurately and ethically — don’t spend too much time making the misrepresentation video — it’s an exercise to help you with your main priority, the final video for this module
• finish all shooting and editing of the video — they are due next week and we’ll begin watching them Tuesday 3/17

1. check out these sites:
   • storyboard wikipedia page
   • josh sheppard has a nice site with lots of examples of storyboards
   • basic storyboard template
   • some interesting examples from a hitchcock film
   • three quicktime movies of shrek creators ‘acting out’ some of their storyboards
2. if you haven’t made one already, create a module 2 page
3. finish pre production journal entries and post to your module 2 page
4. refer to video/journaling template and complete a ‘production stage’ journal entry that addresses all eight items in this section of the template
5. START SHOOTING! bring, and be prepared to show, raw footage during next class
6. make sure you save the interviews you shot today — you’ll need them next week
7. completely optional: check out this site for some basic info on html tags (or just do an internet search for “html tags”)

1. continue brainstorming about possible ideas for a video project. come to the next class with at least 1, but no more than 3 possibilities.
2. read: “Making Analogs of Reality,” Barry Hampe
3. in response to the article, post two talking points on your journal. Talking points are topics brought up in the reading that you would like to have a dialogue with others about. It could be something that was not clear to you in the text, a point you disagree with, or a topic you feel would be interesting to get multiple perspectives on. These questions should entice dialogue, rather than simply elicit an easy yes or no answer.
4. start a post or a page titled “Hampe Advice.” Hampe gives numerous “warnings” or suggestions to first time documentary film makers. Keep of log of suggestions that resonate with you.
5. prepare a ten-question interview centered around a topic of your choice. You will interview a classmate with these questions in class and record it with your ISight camera, so have the questions posted on your e-journal, but also printed or written out.

1. post your video and written manifesto to your module 1 page, under the heading ‘exercise two’
2. reading: “The Significance of Film Form,” David Bordwell
3. optional journal assignment: response to Bordwell reading