Final Project
First, choose one of these themes or issues:
- Race in America
- Health care (in U.S.)
- Immigration (in U.S.)
- Mortgage crisis/U.S. economy
Second, find a STORY that helps explain or personalize the issue. Your story MUST have a strong central character. (It's hard to work with more than one character in such a short video, but if you insist, you can try using more than one. I don't recommend it, though.)
DO NOT use people you already know -- especially NOT your friends or family.
NOTE: Video is NOT the best vehicle for expressing facts and figures! Tell a human STORY!
Third, research and plan your story (see the Pitch assignment for details).
AFTER you receive the go-ahead for your pitch, shoot and edit.
- Add a good, appropriate title at the very beginning of the video.
- Add credits (all team members' names and roles) at the end. Credits must ALSO include this text:
We are journalism master's students in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida
Copyright © 2008
Wrap-up and Submit
Finally, when the editing is perfect:
- Compress the video (see Week 13)
- Write a short summary of the video in this format:
Title
Student Name and Student Name
Summary sentences. - Upload both to the assigned space (details to come!)
Length
This video must be at least 2:30 and NO LONGER than 4 minutes (including title and credits!). Shorter is better.
Be warned, you need a REALLY amazing and strong story to keep people interested for 4 minutes!
Details
Narration
You may use narration, and you should use it if it helps the story. However, it is not required.
You should let your subjects speak for themselves, but be careful to choose emotional and personal statements INSTEAD of factual ones.
Rule of thumb: Emotion = your interview subjects speaking; Facts = narration (or, possibly, inserted text on a black screen)
Natural SOT
Remember that sound from the scene enhances the story. Make sure you gather good sound while you are shooting. Why not take an audio recorder and mic with you? "Shoot with your ears." Wear your headphones.
Shots
Be sure to always shoot sequences, with AT LEAST five short, steady shots in each sequence, and a lot of variety (angle, distance), as you have been taught.
If you write a script and always note ECU, CU, MS and WS for each and every shot you put in, you will ensure a visually interesting result. Scripting this way will show you if you are using similar shots back-to-back. Make sure you use lots of close-ups and extreme close-ups!
Visual Storytelling
Motion and emotion are the keys to good video. Things that are not moving are BAD video.
Do not shoot objects unless people are moving them or doing something with them!
Do not shoot storefronts or scenery unless there is action there too!
Do not rely on talking heads!
Remember Angela Grant's advice: How do you choose stories for video?
Story Arc
To ensure that you actually are telling a STORY, diagram your story arc while you are writing the script. Team members should discuss what is the BEST open and the BEST close to serve the STORY. What is the climax, or the peak of the arc? What is the resolution?
These things don't "just happen" in video any more than they "just happen" in a text story. The storyteller constructs the story and places these elements -- deliberately and with care.
Grading
- 5 points: Story is acceptable, makes sense, is reasonably interesting
- 1 point: Strong open
- 1 point: Strong close and resolution
- 1 point: Arc of story, with a climax at about 3/4 of the length (followed by resolution)
- 1 point: Original as well as interesting; fresh
- 1 point: Title and credits (clean and no errors)
- 5 points: Technical professionalism (all shots start and stop cleanly; camera movement, if any, is very smooth; tripod used when appropriate; audio quality is consistent and good)
Total: 15 points
