Assignment #1

Assignment #2 – A Assignment #2 – B

Assignment #3

Assignment #4

Assignment #1 – Interview Montage

Part 1 – The Interviews
In the first part of this assignment you will interview members of your production group using a list of questions that will be provided to you. Each member of the group will be asked the same questions, but the answers will vary depending on the interviewee.

You are encouraged to answer the questions in full (not just “yes” or “no”) and to be as expressive and creative as possible with your responses… have fun with what you say, but try to be honest as well!

Important points to remember when shooting your interviews:

• Always check to make sure that “all is quiet on the set” before shooting. • Always ask the interviewee to introduce themselves at the start of the interview. • Be sure to ask the entire question to each interviewee every time. • Start/Stop the camera before/after every response. • Wait for the interviewee to prompt you for the next question before you stop recording.

Part 2 – The Editing
In the second part of this assignment, you will edit together responses from members of your group. You are encouraged to juxtapose a variety of speakers and responses, and create a “montage” of answers. Your montage could represent a conversation amongst the interviewees, or it you could structure the responses to make a cohesive statement with your montage. Feel free to experiment with this in any way you’d like. Your final product should be roughly 2-3 minutes. You do not need to use all of the responses.

Part 3 – The Blog Post
To complete your assignment, export your final video, and then create a new blog post with your embedded video.

In your blog post, you will also write a paragraph describing your interview process, and how you made decisions about your final edit. Each montage will be different, so it will be helpful to know why you chose to do what you did with your project.

Your assignment will be graded on the number of edits you make in your montage (you must make at least 6) and how creative you are in juxtaposing the various responses.

Assignment #1 Examples from 2009

Assignment #1 Examples from 2008

Related Tutorials from apple.com

#1: Creative A Movie
[Final Cut Express: Creating Your Movie]
#2: Timeline Basics
[Final Cut Express: Timeline Basics]

Assignment #2 – The Short Documentary

In this assignment you will become a reporter and create a short documentary covering an event or an aspect of the SMASH program. You are encouraged to cover anything in SMASH– an event, an activity, a class, or even something people do during free time. The point is to tell a story about something that is happening around you; with your own camera and your own voice.

You should start by thinking about an event or topic that you know you’ll be able to easily record on video. You will want to make sure that you have enough time to capture as much of the people and environment as possible. Do your best to capture elements of the environment from a variety of perspectives, and if possible, get some brief interviews with other people involved. This project is essentially composed of two components; b-roll and interviews.

You must either choose your topic from one on the list below or propose a topic and have it approved by the instructors.

Documentary Topics

• The Time Capsule Project (Thursday, 7/1)
• The Graffiti Wall Project (Thursday, 7/1)
• The SMASH RA Team
• Student Council Elections
• The Energy Theme in SMASH
• (Meyer Sound Field Trip)
• What makes SMASH scholars unique?
• Environmental news topic (STEM related)
• SMASH Career Aspirations
• What it means to be a SMASH instructor

Component 1 – Voiceover & Interviews

To tell your story, you will need to record a voiceover or conduct a self-interview with yourself about the footage you shot for your documentary. This interview or voiceover will serve as the narration for most of your video. The most efficient way to do this is to create a list of the footage and images you plan to use in your documentary, and use that list as an outline for what you say in your voiceover or self-interview.

A few ideas for recording your narration:

• Audio Only Voiceover: Use a microphone and GarageBand to record a voiceover narration.
• On-Camera Narration: Shoot footage of yourself narrating your story on-camera, ideally in a location that relates to your story or documentary.
• Green Screen Narration: Shoot footage of yourself on green screen, narrating the events of your story.
In addition to your self-interview, you must interview AT LEAST 2 people about the event or aspect of the SMASH program. If you are documenting a specific event, you will want to interview people while at that event to capture their reactions in the moment. If you are documenting an asepct of the SMASH program, you will want to schedule your interviews with your interviewees ahead of time (at least a day before) to ensure that you will have enough time to setup and ask all of your questions.

Component 2 – B-Roll

You will be telling your story with images, in addition to words, so it will be important that you capture as many visuals as possible. This can come in the form of video footage or photos; just capture as much as you can so that you have some options when you’re editing. A good idea would be to collect photos and capture most of the b-roll for your project before you create your voiceover narration.

Examples

2009 Class Example:

SMASH Technology: Week 1

Assignment #2 B – The Autobiographical Video

In this assignment you will create a video about yourself, focusing on one important aspect of your life that regularly influences you and drives you towards your goals. This project will essentially serve as a personal time capsule, documenting where you’ve come from, where you currently are as a SMASH scholar, and where you plan to be in the future. The point is to use your own camera and your own voice to show how one important aspect in  your life impacts your past, present, and future.

Project Components

Component 1 – Personal Storytelling: The Self Interview

To tell your story, you will need to have someone interview you with specific questions about your past, present, and future. This interview will serve as the narration or voiceover for most of your video. The most efficient way to do this is to write a brief essay about this important aspect in your life and then write questions that will allow you to recite most of your essay while on camera in the interview.

Step A: The personal essay

Write a brief essay about your life that essentially answers these 4 questions:

1. What is one aspect of your life (or personal quality) that has had a profound influence on your life and drives you towards your goals?

2. How has this aspect/quality has influenced your past?

3. How does your participation in the SMASH program intersect with this aspect/quality of your life?

4. How will this aspect/quality influence your future, and where do you want to be in 10 years?

Step B: The Interview Questions and Self-Interview

Interview Questions: Use your personal essay to reverse-engineer 5-10 questions that will allow you to recite your personal story through interview responses. You can use as many or as few as you want, but the overall goal is to translate your written essay into a spoken narration of your life.

For Example…

If your essay includes the line, “I am the youngest of eight girls and that has always allowed me to get along with large groups of girls and relate to people who are much older than me.”

You might write a question that reads, “How many siblings do you have and how does that influence your social skills?”

The Self Interview: You will want to have someone else interview you on camera and ask you the interview questions that you wrote. A good idea may be to shoot this on green screen, though you can shoot your self interview in any other location that will add to your personal story.

Component 2 – Visual Storytelling: Photos & B-Roll

You will be telling your story with images, in addition to words, so it will be important that you include as many visuals as possible. This can come in the form of video footage or photos; just capture as much as you can so that you have a variety of visuals with which to tell your story. You may even want to have someone film you or take photos of you here at SMASH for the part about your present life. Another good idea would be to collect as many photos, video clips, and b-roll shots before you conduct the interview with yourself.

Autobiography Example – Neil DeGrasse Tyson (Skip to 2:20)

Watch the full episode. See more Secret Life of Scientists.

Assignment #3 – The How-To Video

In this assignment, you and a partner will present a process to a viewer in a few, easy to remember, steps. This process could be something as technical as “How to Edit a Video in Final Cut Express” or as personal as, “How to Be a Good Public Speaker”. Regardless of which topic you choose, your topic must be related to something related to what you’ve learned in one of your SMASH classes.

Suggested Topics

• How-To create a sustainable community
• How-To conserve energy
• How-To measure energy
• How-To write about science

• How-To make a documentary
• How-To conduct an interview
• How-To use a green screen

Step I – Choose a Process
What would you like to teach the world? Choose wisely. You must select a process that can be filmed in SMASH, this can be inside or outside close by.

Step II – Scripting the Steps
Your How-To process must be broken down into easily digestible steps. Create simple, easy to remember, titles for each step (ie: “Step #3: Break the Eggs”). Identify which steps are large and which are small. Can the smaller ones fit within a larger step?

Create a shot list for each step and write out a detailed script with your exact instructions as you would say them in the video. Your shotlist must contain notes on the camera orientation (wide, mid-shot, or close-up).

Narrator
There must be an on screen narrator or host. This person must introduce the process, introduce each step, and guide the viewer. In short, your script must contain an Introduction, at least 5 main steps, and a conclusion.

Introduction : The Narrator introduces the process and explains the value of why they chose to teach this particular process.
Conclusion: He must also appear at the end of the video, applying what she has learned (enjoying the fruits of his/her labor).

Step III -Shooting
The shots you choose provide the visual detail for each step. Therefore, the closer the shot, the easier it will be for the viewer to understand.

Location: Choose a quiet setting where the entire process can be filmed in one session.

Host Duties: The Host needs to read each title card aloud.

Shot Diversity: You must film each step, in its entirety, from at least two angles/distances.

Audio: Because dialogue is so vital to this assignment, monitor and double check that your sound is coming through perfectly.

Acting: Be Enthusiastic! You want your viewer to be motivated to perform these steps.

Step IV – Editing: Make the Final Cut, Expressly
Time: Keep the final running time under 3 minutes. Some processes take much longer than 3 minutes, so skim over repetitive tasks, and use clever editing to accelerate time. We don’t need to wait 15 minutes while something bakes.

Text & Title Cards: Create consistent title cards to introduce each step. At times, a review of previously completed steps can be helpful. Clarity is king.

Requirements:

- Topic must be an actual defined process
- A math/science component
- A statement of purpose
- Clear Introduction & Conclusion
- Needed Materials (“You will need…”)
- How-To “Avatar”
- Voice Over
- Text/Titling for each individual step
- At least one useful tip, with titling
- Clear visual representation of each step
- No more than 3 minutes in length

Examples from 2009:

How-To Use a DSLR Camera

How-To Prepare For Your Math Test

How-To Play Conquian

Examples from Howcast.com:

Assignment #4 – The PSA: Public SMASH Announcement

In this assignment you will create a short video presenting a message that society can benefit from. Similar to the traditional Public Service Announcement, the Public SMASH Announcement sends a valuable message to the public from the SMASH Community.

The objective of your video is to persuade the viewer to take a specific action or adopt a favorable view of an issue or cause. Your PSA should function to do one of the following:

Create awareness of the problem or issue
Shows the importance of the problem or issue
Conveys simple forms of new information
Promotes behavioral change

Essential PSA Components: (MFA)² (MM FF AA)

Message — What simple piece of information is worth telling the world? This information ought to be something useful and relevant for any of your audience members.

Messenger(s) — Who should deliver this message, and how many people should it be? Some messages are more effective if it’s only one person delivering it, though at other times, it’s far more persuasive if multiple people deliver the message

Format — What should the format of this video be? A monologue? A poem? A skit? A demonstration? This may be the most important factor of your video as it’s ultimately how people will remember your message. Essentially, your format ought to be just as compelling as your message, if not more so.

Focus — While there may be many aspects of your message worth presenting, it is important that you focus on one specific aspect so that your audience can clearly digest your message. Pick the one element within your message that is most memorable and be sure to highlight that.

Audience — It is important that you identify one specific audience for your PSA. Your message may be valuable to a variety of people, but is important that you have one specific audience in mind so that you know the best way to craft your message. Your audience will always respond to a familiar scenario (school, dinner table, car, store, etc.), so consider the visual context of PSA and how that can accommodate your message.

Action — This video is intended to persuade your viewers, so think about what specific action(s) you want them to take after watching this video. Do you want them to change their behavior, or do you actually want to motivate them to go and do something? This is one of the most important considerations as it ultimately connects your message to the viewer’s mind.

Tutorials
Making a Public Service Announcement

Examples

Racial Unity

STEM: Make It A Reality For You

The Glass Ceiling

This Is Your Brain on Drugs

Proving Stereotypes Wrong