This assignment has two parts. First, working in groups of four or five or so, make a three to five minute YouTube (or YouTube-like) video about some aspect of writing. Second, working by yourself, write a 1500 or so word essay where you reflect on the process of “writing” and producing a video about writing. In what ways are producing a short movie similar to writing a short essay? In what ways are they different?
A bit about collaboration:
- Because this is an online class, I will be setting up the collaborative groups. This will be coming soon!
- Each group will have to decide and agree on the subject of your video fairly soon in the process (see the class schedule for specifics). I will need to approve the subject of your group’s video, and I reserve the right to guide your group in a slightly different direction. Once your group has decided on a topic for the video, you and your group members can’t change topics.
- We will talk about the collaborative process in some detail– I’ll be posting some thoughts on the process, how it should work, etc.. But keep in mind that not everyone needs to do all parts of the project (for example, not everyone needs to do the editing, the acting, the filming, etc.), though everyone does need to participate in a roughly equal amount of the project. It is obviously bad if someone doesn’t do their “fair share,” but it is also bad if someone becomes a “ball-hog” and insists on doing all of the project themselves.
- If you think about it, you’ve been “collaborating” all term in various ways, so I am sure that much of this work can be done electronically. That being said, there is a pretty good chance that at least some of the group will have to meet face to face at a mutually agreeable time. Working this out among the group members is part of the collaborative process.
- In order to keep everyone working within groups “honest” about the work they are doing, each of you will need to write me a message when you submit your individual essay for this project which explains a) what work that particular group member did, b) what work that particular group member thinks that other people in the group did, and c) what sort of grade that particular group member thinks I ought to give to other people in the group. I will factor these self and peer evaluations into my grading of these projects.
About putting together the movie:
- I’ll be posting about this to the class web site soon. Many of you already have some sort of video camera, and I have a number of simple video cameras students can borrow as well. If you have a Macintosh computer, you probably already have a copy of iMovie (though there are different versions of this software, some better than others). Microsoft’s Movie Maker is a free software for Windows and Vista computer users.But let me emphasize two things about this. First, I have devoted a fair amount of time in this unit’s schedule so that you can work together on your movie. Second, remember that the goal of this project is NOT to make great movies! Rather, our goals here are to learn a bit more about making multimedia presentations and about the similarities and differences between making a brief video collaboratively and writing a traditional essay individually.
- I am here to help! I can loan you a camera and even give you some basic help on working with the software, so do not hesitate to ask for help from me on this.
- Your group will post your videos on YouTube, which is very easy to do.
Can you give us an example?
Sure. Here are the three examples, two from the version of the course I taught last fall, and one from the course I taught last winter (and all of these courses were online). Two of them are better than the others, but you get the general idea:
About the individual essay:
Each of you will write a brief (1500 words or so) reflective essay about your group’s video project and the process of putting it together. In your essays, you should recount your experiences in making your group’s video, and you should make connections to the assigned readings and videos. This could take a variety of different directions, but I do have a couple of tips and suggestions for things to keep in mind as you work on this part of the project.
- Again, remember we’re not doing this assignment to make “great videos,” at least not directly. Rather, we’re doing this project to think about and analyze the similarities and differences in the “process” of traditional “words in a row” writing and this collaborative and multimedia “writing” project. As you work with your group on your video, you might want to keep some notes for yourself on this: how are the writing steps (e.g., brainstorming, drafting, revising,etc.) similar or different? What are the similarities and differences in working with the different technologies of video? What do you prefer about making a video? About writing a traditional essay?
- Your essay should both reflect on your own experiences and processes and should make connections to the assigned readings. Obviously, you should make reference to the items assigned for this unit (and I would include the Michael Wesch video as an example of a “reading,” so you can reference that), but you will probably find some of the earlier readings useful for this assignment as well.
- While it is likely you will spend quite a bit of time making your short video, keep in mind that the most important part of the project is the essay. In other words, don’t do this part of the assignment as an afterthought at the last minute!
- Finally, as has been the case with all the other essays this term, keep in mind an audience of readers from outside of our class, and think of this writing assignment not as an essay test question to answer; rather, think of it as a starting point for you to explore in a short essay of your own.
I think this could be kind of cool since it’s likely it will need to be filmed in pieces. Could be rather complicated, too, though.
I have taken a few video classes, so I’ll be able to do filming and editing at a decent level. This assignment seems fun. I have always thought that media is a great way to “write,” so this is right up my alley.
On another note, that Lady Gaga video was funny.
I am highly terrified about this project. One I am very camera shy and two working with a group always scare me. I am excited to learn how to make and edit videos that part should be cool.
These videos where nice to look at but it didnt give me any idea as to what I would want to attempt.
I agree with Maxine. I am not fond of cameras! I haven’t done any video editing or making, so this is all new to me.
As of right now, this assignment is terrifying to me. For me, it seems group projects like this are either really fun or a total nightmare. Obviously, I want this one to be really fun, but there’s that worry in the back of my mind that it could be a disaster. I’m glad we have the opportunity to meet face to face with group partners, if possible. I don’t know that I could handle the restriction of keeping it solely online. Of course, it might end up that way, but I like knowing there’s at least the possibility of some face to face interactions for this project this semester.
I think working with people from this class won’t be too bad, and there are plenty of ways to do this assignment without even having to meet face-to-face. That could even be the subject of a video: online collaboration of writing.
I think this project has a lot of potential. the only thing that worries me is having a great idea and not being able to execute it. I think that’s what happened with the harry potter one, it seemed like a good concept but it just didn’t pan out. the lady gaga one was pretty funny, it must have taken a long time to rewrite that song. I hope that I’m able to work well with group members because I think it’s really important that when you’re in a group you find a way to work together and make the project work. also, I like that the examples are all very different so it shows that we can come up with a wide range of directions to take this assignment.
One of the other things I want you all to take away from these examples is that they really don’t need to be great filmmaking. Really, what’s most important here is what you observe about the process: that is, what’s it like to “write” a movie collaboratively versus writing an essay individually?
I think this project sounds interesting. My only hope is that a schedule can be worked out with my group member’s because I have a limited schedule of being on campus. Being there only two days a week for a limited time. But I’m sure that is just a minor problem that could be worked out.
Like I said, there are lots and lots of ways for this kind of collaboration to work out. Being in the same place at the same time is just one of them….
I think this project sounds rather fun, there are obviously going to be some challenges, but so does any other project.
I agree this project sounds fun! I love interactive projects.
I understand that they dont have to great but at the same time you dont want to be that student who had the cheesy project that is shown year after year as to DONT DO THIS project!
I watched an actual commercial get filmed today and it made me curious of my own. Kind of excited now, to do the filming NOT the acting!
That’s it exactly. No one wants to be the “What NOT to do” group!!!
Ha! I don’t have any “DON’T DO THIS” projects, and I think that’d be kind of mean and irresponsible on my part, too. So no worries there. And I want to emphasize– I don’t think I can emphasize this enough, really– that the main goal of this assignment is for you to write reflectively on the video-making process.
You need to make a good of a collaborative video as you can, and working well together is of course a big part of the assignment. But more important than that is your individual essay where you: a) reflect on the similarities and differences between movie making and writing, and b) make connections to the readings from this unit and previous units in terms of writing and technology.
Thats good to know! I still dont feel that comfortable collaborating over the internet. This should get interesting. Will takes lots of notes for future references.
I’m hoping to get a fun group for this! I’m not very experienced with video making and not at all experienced with editing. I’m fairly creative though, so hopefully I can help in that area!
This seems like it can work out very well or very badly! I am hopeful that my group and I will be able to be in the very well category. Thank you Steven for offering to loan us Cameras, I panicked a bit before I read your post, which I see, was completely unneeded.
I agree, it could be either really good or bad. I know that I go to school and work, both full time, but I’m willing to do my best to work around peoples schedules. I’m on campus 2-3 days a week anyway, so that could work.
I actually own a crappy old video camera that I got at a garage sale, but it works.
I have been trying to think about a fun and original idea for the subject for a movie, and my brain has come up with NOTHING. Anyone have any cool ideas?
I did the same thing Megan F. but I have a camera on my computer so that might work.
@Megan A, I am also at lost for ideas. Cant wait to see who we are in groups with!
I’m fairly confident that this will go well for all the groups. I am able to meet on most days, if I am given enough notice. Otherwise, I can talk online. AIM, Yahoo, etc. Google chat too, I suppose. There are a lot of way I’ll be able to talk and help. I’m sure just posting to our group forum, if we get one like usual, will be adequate.
I’m glad to see so many people are also excited about this project. I think it can be a blast to get together and shoot videos.
It seems like there is quite a bit to cover in the essay portion. Could be difficult to tie everything into the readings well.
I agree here. We didn’t go through some tumultuous brainstorming process. We kind of just took our first idea and went with it.
That is true I’m running into that problem. Its tough to get 1500 words even harder to tie to the readings.
I am being honest in my paper–we didn’t have good organization. Communcating on a board seemed harder for us.