cc licensed image from fotopedia

It’s time to make movies! Video is perhaps the most rich of storytelling forms, and we want you to focus explicitly now on video storytelling. The only assignments on your plate are to work on video assignments, and all of which are due in two weeks time.

But here is the warning, danger danger Will Robinson– DO NOT LEAVE THIS FOR THE LAST WEEKEND. You should have a good start for the two assignments you did the pre-work for last week.

And, we want you to really focus on the storytelling aspect of your video making–do not focus on just the technical points or making the video.  Be very sure that your video tells a story somehow and that when you write up your blog post you are providing full details and context for your videos.

Creating your videos is all you need to do for two weeks, no daily creates, no reviewing other material.

Your Video Mission

Over the next two weeks, your task is completion of 16 stars of assignments from the Video Assignments.  We want you really to focus on more than just completing the required numer of stars. Just doing 16 stars worth of work earns you a “C.”; going above and beyond and creating something interesting and compelling will move you into “B” and “A” territory.

All your video work should be uploaded to YouTube and you must write a post for each completed assignment in which you embed your YouTube video. If you are looking for a paragraph length, it should be at least 4 paragraphs

Here is how you bring your “A” game to ds106 — beyond the usual things we expect to see, pay attention to:

• Include the title of the assignment, its description, and a link to it in your writeup. Describe at least two examples (if they exist) of other students work, or the original example provided and how well you think it achieved the assignment.
• Expand to share why you chose this assignment. What is the back story? What is the inspiration for your work? How does it relate to your own life or experience?
• Just making a video is the baseline. Be inventive in how you interpret the assignment. Think about the common elements that make up movies to include in your own work: a title sequence, closing credits, music and sound effects (if appropriate). Maybe even include outtakes at the end. More than that, this class is about storytelling, so ask yourself (and include in your writeup), “How is this a story? or part of a story?” The other way to do this is to go beyond just sticking your video in your blog, but use your writing around the video to make it a story, make the video and text work together.
• Describe your process, and more than “I downloaded clips and imported them to my video editor.” Share techniques, effects, editing methods, etc. If you use any media (video clips, still images. music) you got from elsewhere, you must include a reference to it, including a link.
• Get some feedback. Ask other people to look at your work, and include their feedback. Show people you know or solicit feedback on twitter.

Weekly Summary

Due midnight, Sunday, November 18
Your week summary should not take much to do. Besides linking to the work you did for the last two weeks, make room to write some reflection on what you learned about creating stories in video — and not just the technical aspects, but what did you find were the compelling elements of story in the work you did.