cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by greekadman

For your final project in ds106 this fall, you are going to produce a media project around a single theme that explores at least three of the genres we’ve investigated this semester: visual/design, audio, video, web, remix/mashup. (Please note that for this project we’re combining visual and design as a single genre.)

Step One

Pick a person, place or thing that you would like to focus your project on. You could pick a book or movie, a character from a movie, a historical person, a place you’ve visited, an imaginary location from a TV show, the University you attend, a company, a political candidate, etc. Really, your options are limitless.

This is a chance to tell a creative story about the topic you choose. We won’t be asking you to share a factual report about a topic like you did in high school; instead, you’ll be creating a fictional narrative around the subject you choose. So choose wisely!

Step Two

Using the assignment repository for inspiration, come up with a plan for how to explore a narrative involving the topic you chose in Step One. Your plan should include creating 3-5 media pieces that use at least three of the genres we covered this fall.

For example:
If you chose Cinderella as your topic in step one, you might decide to produce the following set of media pieces:

• Visual/Design: A set of posters for the upcoming royal ball
• Web: A Pinterest board created by the stepsisters planning their outfits and ensemble for the ball
• Audio: A sound effect story of the sisters getting ready for the ball
• Visual: A playlist poem of the songs played at the ball that also explore the narrative of the story.
• Web: A remade Amazon product page for golden slippers or Consumer Reports report on the features of Pumpkin Carriages

The idea is that you are planning a media landscape around your narrative, built of the kinds of assignments you’ve been doing all semester. In general, in order for your project to be substantial enough to earn you a strong grade, you should aim for the total points of your assignments to be worth 15-20 stars. However, we do NOT want to limit you to ONLY those assignments that already exist in the repository. They can serve as inspiration, and you can come up with your pieces, even if they are not explicit, existing assignments.

Creating the media pieces is part of the project, how you weave them together and present them in your web site as a complete story is the goal.

Step Three (Due November 25th by midnight)

Write up a blog post in which you outline your plans for your final project. Be as detailed as possible about your topic choice (and why you picked it), your overall narrative, and your planned media pieces. By the following Sunday (December 2nd), your instructor will get back to you with feedback on your plan, so that you can have some sense of being on the right track

Step Four (Due December 14th by noon; this deadline is strict!)

Produce your project and share it on as a final post on your blog. Your summary should be more that “here are links to my media”- it should be the glue that weaves them together into a coherent narrative.

Be very thorough, check your links and embeds, as this is a product that should stand on its own and explain itself as a story.

cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by greekadman