Multimodal video production
Inquiry III: Creative Multimodal Production
To be an informed, well-rounded citizen and consumer in the 21st century, it is pivotal to be able to read and write in a variety of media. As you have learned from the first inquiry, arguments can come in many forms—visuals, alphabetic, gestural, sounds. This inquiry provides you the opportunity to compose in a digital genre and acquire literacy beyond print—in other words, to develop “multiliteracies.” You will explore how sounds, images, alphabetic texts, and digital effects can create and impact meanings.
Task
Compose a YouTube video that blends images, words, sounds and video clips to answer a critical and sophisticated inquiry question of your choice, a “level 3 question.” Think of this project as an explorative documentary framed around a focused question/issue that you have always wanted to explore, something you have questions about. Then conduct research and gather materials to develop an analytical argument that will be presented in the form of a video.
While you may choose any topic, your video must be framed around a succinct critical question, and it must thoroughly answer it in a creative and analytical manner, so you should not merely present “facts” (information) but you want to articulate some kind of critical commentary/perspective that demonstrates deep thinking about your topic. In addition, you must have a clear sense of audience and rhetorical purpose; you must know whom you want to reach and what effects you want the video to have. Once your project is done, you will circulate it in three different places to reach your target viewers.
Medium
A digital video clip of 6 to 7 minutes to be publically published on YouTube
Due
See course calendar. You will publish your project on YouTube and paste the on your blog. This will be how you “submit” your work.
Steps (taken and modified from Dr. Jason Palmeri):
- Inquiry Question: Pick a topic of interest and create an inquiry question. Use the “Level 1, 2, 3 Question Exercise” as a heuristic to help you form a critical and sophisticated inquiry.
- Spoken Words: Your video may contain scripted, voiceover narration. If you are writing a story about other people, you might also consider audiorecording and then editing interviews.
- Still Images: Ideally, you will already have some digital photos that relate to your topic (or you will be able to go out and take some digital photos that fit your topic). If you have printed photos that relate to your topic, you can scan them at the CIM center (or at the book scanner on the main floor of the library). You also can find a wide variety of creative commons images that you can use at http://flickr.com/creativecommons (though you will need to give the photographers credit). I will ask that you not use any copyrighted images in your work. You must include citations of any images that you did not create in the credits of your movie.
- Music or atmospheric sounds: You may want to add a musical soundtrack to heighten the emotional effect of your story (or to elucidate the structure of the story). You can find creative commons licensed music at http://freeplaymusic.com. I will ask that you not use copyrighted music in your digital stories. You also might choose to record atmospheric sounds (i.e. the sound of a crowd or a bird) if they could contribute to your story.
- Alphabetic Text: You might wish to use words on a screen (title slides or pictures of text) in order to tell your story. Remember to think carefully about pacing and avoid using unnecessarily large blocks of text.
- Video: Incorporate video of your own shooting or from a legal source
Note
Throughout this process, you will keep a weekly process/reflection journal that details your progress, moves and thoughts on the project. You must also respect and follow copyright law.
