4/6/15-4/19/15

This week we’ll be taking a big turn in ds106, with each agency being assigned a case to investigate over the next two weeks. You’ll have to gather evidence, build a narrative, and share your progress. Don’t wait until the end; cases should be evolving and developing regularly between now and 4/19/15. Make sure you register your agency ASAP so that you receive your case file! 

Registering Your Agency

The very first thing you must do to start your work for the next two weeks is register your agency. This will kick off a process in which we will contact you (via your site’s contact form!) with the file you’ll be working on. You can’t start working until you register your agency. Please only register each agency once.  

Working Your Case

Once you have your case, it’s time to start working. You have two weeks to complete your case. What does that mean? That’s a little bit up to you. Generally, we’ve provided you with a mystery and some evidence; it’s your job to continue the story using a multitude of media and working as your character. Here are the general requirements:

Choose a Primary Media

You must choose a primary media (video, audio, photography portfolio, design portfolio, or Web site) to tell the story of your investigation. Your primary media choice doesn’t have to be a single production (you could produce a series of audio pieces, for example), but it should be the primary means by which you are telling your story.

Choose Your Supplemental Media

You must produce at least three supplemental media pieces to “surround” and supplement your primary media. These can be smaller projects, but you must do at least three different media (in other words, don’t do three of one kind).

Narrate Your Agency’s Progress on Twitter

Either using your characters’s or your agency’s Twitter account (or both), make sure you are regularly narrating your investigation. Don’t wait until the evening of 4/19/15 and then inundate us with a flurry of status updates! Choose a hashtag that is unique to your agency’s investigation and use it whenever you tweet. 

Provide Character Status Updates

On your Web site, provide at least four status updates about how your agency’s investigation is going (from the point of view of your character). They are due by Wednesday, 4/8/15; Sunday, 4/12/15; Wednesday 4/15/15; and Sunday 4/19/15.

Share Your Agency’s Progress

In addition, you must use your agency’s Web site to share your case progress, post evidence, etc. Hint: your agency’s blog section would be a logical place for this to happen.

Your overall goal here is to tell a rich, transmedia narrative about your investigation into your case. You can take this in whatever direction you want! Unearth new evidence, track down strange characters, propose bizarre solutions. There is no right answer; this is your chance to use all of the media skills you’ve learned over the last 11 weeks to tell a compelling, interesting, deep story.

You’ll notice that we haven’t assigned any points from the Assignment Bank this week. You’re welcome to use the Assignment Bank as inspiration for the work you do, but that is not required. (If you come up with a good assignment idea, this might be a great opportunity to fulfill the requirement to suggest 2 assignments for the Assignment Bank!) In terms of “how much” work you should do? You should do the amount of work that is necessary to tell us a good story.

As is mentioned elsewhere here, this story should be unfolding over the next two weeks. Please do not wait until the last day of this two week time frame to tell us your story!