1. Kristen, Joe, Ruomeng, Jura

2. Michelle, KC, Hannah, Ben

3. Claire, Martin, Hara

4. Danny, Albert, Tara

5. Vivian, Zuheir, Cynthia

photo by Hannah

agenda (production)

1. Screening: King Corn (9omins)

2. Journal: (15min)

1. What is research? How might research for a video project differ from that for a paper?
2. How do the filmmakers utilize video as a research tool in the film?
3. How are you using video as a research tool for your final project? What sources will you use and how will you evaluate their credibility?

3. Discussion

4. Small Groups: (30mins) Get into your small groups. Present your project idea, your pre-production/production posts, and any relevant footage you may have. Once again, the group discussion seeks to help each group member clarify and improve his/her ideas.

**Your small groups will be meeting again in one week to offer feedback on your footage and rough edits. Rough cuts are due Monday, 4/25, however, if you are scheduled to present on Wed 4/27, it may be beneficial for you to have a rough cut for class next week.**

5. Homework:

1. We are not meeting as a class on Monday. Use that time to work on your final projects. I will be in the classroom during class time if you want to come in to ask questions or talk about your project.
2. Video: Production should continue, but ideally be wrapping up by next week.
3. Journal: Remember that your Production post should be posted to your journal by Friday.
4. Journal: Start to review the Post-Production section of the Video and Journaling Template. This post needs to be complete and posted to your journal before class on Wednesday 4/27.

photo by Ruomeng

agenda (production)

1. Screening: Jesus Camp (84min)

*break*

2. Journal (10min): What role does the filmmakers’ belief have in the film? Do you think that the filmmakers are sympathetic to or critical of their subject? Why?

3.Tech Demo: aspect ratio and manual camera settings (white balance, focus, exposure)

4. Shooting Exercise: With your partner, practice setting the camera’s manual functions. For your final projects, I want you to make sure to either set the white balance to “auto” or set it manually. I also encourage you to experiment with setting the focus manually.

5. Homework:

1. Video: Production–start shooting sooner than later!
2. Journal: Remember to post your production journal entry by Friday.

photo by Martin

agenda (pre-production)

1. Final Presentations Signup
2. Individual Meetings: Discuss your plans for the final video with me (5 mins each).
3. Screening: Capitalism: A Love Story
4. Journal: (15 mins)
   1. Identify the ways in which the film utilizes authentic voice, narrative coherence, and communal relevance.
   2. In what ways do the filmmaker’s personal beliefs affect the film? Are his personal beliefs or biases presented overtly? Are they subtle? Why does this matter?
5. Discussion
6. Homework
   1. Find a partner and plan for one of you to bring a camera to class on Monday.
   2. Journal: Commit to a topic for your final video. Using the Video & Journaling Template, write about all topics in the “pre-production” stage that relate to your project. Please post this by Friday.
   3. Video: Move on to the “production” phase by next week: START SHOOTING.
   4. Journal: Review the “production” stage of the Video & Journaling Template. Start to work on a journal entry for this stage. Make sure this entry is complete and posted to your journal by next Friday.

Go to the Art Theater in downtown Champaign April 9, 10, or 14 to see the award-winning documentary, Inside Job, and write a 500 word response to the film. Remember that you are allowed up to three absences throughout the semester (not including mandatory presentation days) before your grade is negatively affected.

This will excuse one absence.

photo by Michelle

agenda (pre-production)

1. In class writing
   1. Find a partner.
   2. Read your partner’s “This I Believe” post. Evaluate the essay in terms of authentic voice, narrative coherence, and communal relevance. Post your response as a written comment on your partner’s blog (and post a copy on your own blog). Be generous with your comments and suggestions because these will be an important part of the Module03 grading rubric. (20 minutes)
2. Introduce This I Believe final video

Timeline:
4/04-4/08 Pre-Production planning
4/11-4/15 Production shooting
4/18-4/22 Post-Production editing
4/25 Rough Cuts DUE
4/27, 5/02, 5/04 Final Presentations

3. In class writing
   1. Review your ‘100 questions’ journal entry from the beginning of the semester.
   2. Review the current draft of your ‘this i believe’ statement.
   3. Use these two writings as a starting point for a 15-minute brainstorming free-write on possible topics for your next video project. This is the ‘dreaming’ phase in the project, so dream big and don’t worry yet about details.
4. Screening: Two Wars (30 mins)
5. Journal: Write a 100 word statement (no more!) that outlines how the following elements relate to the previous video: authentic voice, narrative coherence, communal relevance, and conflict. This should NOT be a casual, journal-like response. Write with authority. Make sure your statements directly address the prompt, and are clear and concise. (15min) Avoid a statement like, “I think that this video was very interesting. The video used authentic voice by showing his own life. It shows narrative coherence because it is an interesting story. It has communal relevance because people can relate to him and his family.” An alternative to this could be, “The narrator exposes the chaotic and surprising truth of his own childhood simply by approaching his family with a video camera. His documentary footage weaves a fascinating, if not frightening, tale of violence and dependence that uncovers the significance of family secrets.”
6. Small Group Share: Find a new partner. Read your partner’s 100 word statement and offer feedback on how she/he addressed the film’s authentic voice, narrative coherence, communal relevance, and conflict. What was effective and ineffective about the writing?
7. Homework
   1. Revise your “This I Believe” essay based on the feedback you received. Post the final draft on your journal (but keep your first draft too!).
   2. Make a recording of you speaking your “This I Believe” essay and post it on your journal. This could be in the form of you reading it in front of your webcam or a sound recording (remember the ZOOM audio recorders). You could even edit a video to accompany the sound. Choose a medium that you feel expresses the statement to it’s fullest.
   3. Considering your brainstorming free-write from today’s class, outline up to three potential topics for your final video. Come to class on Wed prepared to discuss them with me.

photo by Joe

agenda: Statements of Belief

1. Small Group Discussion (15 min): Consider the Lunsford assigned reading, your journal response, and the advertising exercise. Do you agree with the reading that everything is an argument? Why/why not? Share the advertisements that you found for one of your recent purchases and discuss as a group what arguments these advertisements might be making.
2. Writing Exercise
   list 5-10 beliefs that you hold to be true. Your beliefs can range from broad philosophical thoughts such as “nature is more important than nurture,” to more specific instances such as “cats are better than dogs.” (10 min)Choose 2 or 3 of the above beliefs and answer the following questions: (20 min)
   How did this idea form?
   How firmly do I believe it?
   Why do I maintain it?
   What would make me change my belief?
   Consider an instance when your beliefs changed. How and why did this happen?
3. Discussion: How do beliefs form? What has the power to change belief systems?
4. This is believe:
   1. this i believe website. Executive producer Dan Gediman, who introduced the series in 2005, argued that “The goal of This I Believe is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs but to encourage Americans to pursue the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.”
   2. examples of written essays that have been submitted
   3. the criteria for a successful statement of belief: authentic voice, narrative coherence, communal relevance. also consider these essay writing tips.
   4. examples produced in audio format by NPR: Consider how each author uses authentic voice, narrative coherence, and communal relevance to write an engaging text.
      1. Sara Adams :: Be Cool to the Pizza Delivery Dude
      2. Deirdre Sullivan :: Always go to the Funeral
      3. Phyllis Allen :: Leave your identity issues at the door
5. “I believe” in music exercise: The following songs reflect the personal creeds or philosophies of singers and songwriters for the past half-century. These songs represent beliefs that are at times inspirational and powerful, at others more sentimental and private…

Frank Sinatra
I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows.
I believe for everyone who goes astray, someone will come to show the way.
I believe, I believe.

Whitney Houston
I believe the children are our future.
Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside.

R. Kelly
I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky.
I think about it every night and day, spread my wings and fly away.
I believe I can soar. I see me running through that open door.
I believe I can fly.

Blessid Union of Souls
I believe that love is the answer.
I believe that love will find the way.

6. Find a partner and think of any recent songs with lyrics that present a personal philosophy. They do not need to have a blatant “I believe” structure. What emotional weight do the lyrics convey (or fail to convey)? Are some beliefs harder to communicate or personalize than others? Why?
7. “I believe” song share
8. Homework
   1. 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.

photo by Hara

Welcome to Module03! [rubric]

agenda: The Commodification of Belief

1. The Selling of a President
   The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal is the ultimate indignity to the democratic process. – Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson, 1956
   Television is no gimmick, and nobody will ever be elected to major office again without presenting themselves well on it. – Television producer and Nixon campaign consultant Roger Ailes, 1968
2. The Living Room Candidate
   1. 1952 :: compare Eisenhower’s “Ike for President” to Stevenson’s “I love the Gov”.
   2. 1988 :: Bush’s “Tank Drive” with Dukasis’s “Counter Punch”
   3. 2000 :: Bush Jr.’s ” Really MD” to Gore’s “Question”
   4. 2008 :: Obama’s “Country I love” to McCain’s “Man in the Arena”

   With the sound off: What colors are used; how many cuts are made from one scene to the next; what is inside the frame of the camera (is it mostly close-ups or far away shots); what types of people are in the commercial; is it fast paced, or do the images move slowly from one to the next?

   With the sound on:  What words stand out in the text, whose voices do you hear, what type of music is used, what is the pacing of the text, do the images and sound correlate or are they separate?

3. Screening: Please Vote for Me
4. Quick Write: Write a 100 word summery of the video just screened. Consider how you can concisely describe the content of the film, the director’s intentions, and the formal elements employed.
5. Advertising exercise: Think about three purchases you’ve made recently.  These should range from larger ticket items like electronics, to trivial daily purchases like gum, coffee etc. Go online and look for advertisements for the items, or go to the product website. For each item write a response to the following questions:
   1. Why did you choose to buy this specific product?
   2. Does the advertisement resonate with your own personal aesthetic?  How?
   3. Does the way the product is marketed appeal to your beliefs?
   4. What strategies do advertisers use to entice purchase of their product?
   5. Is advertising manipulative in an adverse way?
   6. What ethical standards do you think advertising should adhere to?
   7. Additionally, discuss the effect of advertising on your personal choices.
6. Homework
   1. Reading: Everything is an Argument (pages 1-15), Andrea Lunsford
   2. Journal: Can an argument really be any text that expresses a point of view? What kinds of arguments-if any-might be made by the following
      items?
      the embossed leather cover of a prayer book
      a Boston Red Sox cap
      the label on a best-selling rap CD
      the health warning on a package of cigarettes
      a belated birthday card
      the nutrition label on a can of soup
      an American flag pin on a shirt lapel
      a Rolex watch

THE BIG SHOW !!

1. Journal: What lingering questions do you have about your finished video? Make a list of questions you’d like to ask an audience.
2. View and discuss final versions of Art of the Real video projects
3. Homework:
   1. Those students who showed their projects in class should post a “presentation and distribution” entry on their journals which addresses the questions posed in this section of the Video & Journaling Template. All students should complete this journal posting by Friday at noon. Remember that this last phase of self-reflection and self-assessment is an important part of the module 02 grading rubric–don’t skimp on it!
   2. All Module02 journal content must be posted to your journal by Friday at noon.

photo by Tara

DRESS REHEARSAL

1. Please sit with your small groups from Monday.
2. In-class writing: (10min) How does it feel now that you’ve started to edit your footage? How is editing different from shooting? How are the two stages relating to and informing one another in your project?
3. Discussion
4. Re-convene discussion groups (45-60 min): Students show rough cuts in small groups. As usual, students should seek advice and input from their peers, and work to assist other students by asking questions, sharing impressions, and making suggestions. Each group should choose one project that will be viewed by the entire class.
5. All-class screening of selected projects: The entire class views and discusses the one project selected by each discussion group. Each group can summarize their discussion about the piece, then other class members can respond, ask questions, and share insights.
6. Homework:
   1. Finished Art of the Real video projects are due by the beginning of next class. All finished projects should be posted to your journal.
   2. Also, the first three sections of the Video and Journaling Template (pre-production, production, post-production) must be completed and posted to your journal by the beginning of next class.
   3. Remember attendance for next week’s screenings/critiques is mandatory.