Video Essay Assignments

These are final assignments for the course. You have two weeks to complete them. Create a video essay using the following questions as a guide:

  • Do you feel this course was useful to you? Please elaborate on why or why not.
  • What were your goals for taking this class? Did your goals change as you worked on it throughout the semester? Did you meet your goals?
  • What is the most interesting thing have you learned in this class and why?
  • Which topics of this class their least useful to you?
  • Do you feel that you are more (or less) prepared for your digital life than you were before?
  • If you were teaching this class what would you change so that the learning process would be more effective?

BE CREATIVE!

Gather Resources (25 pts)

  1. Review “How to make a Movie” article http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Movie
  2. Come up with a theme of your movie (here are some examples of student movies: https://introtodigitalliteracy.wordpress.com/examples-of-movies/).  Start with a general idea (for example, an action video, how-to video, etc) and then narrow it down to a specific subject (for example, if it is a how-to video what would you show your audience how to do).
  3. Create an outline of tasks, technology, and skills you will need to create your video. Remember, you will be your own director, cinematographer and possibly an actor.

Create a Movie Storyboard (25 pts)

For this assignment, we will be using at least 6 squares depicting the key events of your movie and instead of freehand drawing — digital pictures.

  1. Watch a few examples from practicing professionals about their storyboarding process: https://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4142987CFF2C5D49
  2. Login to your Prezi account: https://prezi.com/
  3. Working in Prezi’s “Assembly Template” create a storyboard for your video (you should use at least 6 squares). Instead of sketching each scene by hand, use a picture representing the scene. Use free media libraries at http://generator.acmi.net.au/library, https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=creative%20commons&sort=relevance&license=1%2C2%2C4%2C5%2C9%2C10, http://www.copyright-free-images.com/ or https://archive.org/details/image as resources for pictures. Place a picture of the idea in a visual box, and then write the action explaining what’s happening below it. Make sure you account for audio. For example, in the notes, you can include “ambient sounds” or a part of a dialog or narration.
  4. Write a short synopsis of your movie and post a link (or embed) your storyboard into the class blog.
  5. Preview other students’ storyboards and make a post evaluating the one you particularly like. In your evaluation, consider the following questions (these questions are from the grading rubric):
    • Focus on important events: Does the storyboard list all 6 most important events that occur in the movie? Do all boxes have illustrations?  Are all important events displayed in the right order?
    • Captions/notes: Are all captions and notes relate to the storyline of the movie?
    • Characters: Are all characters clearly identified and their actions matched to those in the storyline?
    • Creativity: Does the storyboard contains many creative details and descriptions. Does the selection of images contributes to the story and/or used imaginatively?

Create the Movie (100 pts)

1. Shoot your video according to the plan you have created in Assignment IV and following your storyboard.

2. Watch a screencast on how to edit and put together your video with Windows Movie Maker:


And using Apple iMovie:

3. Your movie should include title, movie, credits. (Your video should have either a soundtrack or narration).

4. Upload your video to YouTube and post a link to your movie (or embed your movie into) student blog with a short description of the subject.

Reflection (10 pts)

Reflect on one other student’s work using the following questions as a guide:

  • What is this film about (and what makes you think that)?
  • What ideas, values, and information are apparent? Implied?
  • What have I learned from this film?
  • What is my reaction to this film and what do I learn about myself from my reaction or interpretation?

Reflect on your learning (10 pts)

Make a post on class blog describing your experience creating your movie. Use following questions as a guide: What was the most difficult part? What was the easiest part? What was the most interesting part? Will you continue using video in the future (for example, for your school work)?
Comment on at least one other student’s reflection.