straight down the line

Week 9: End of Radio, Beginning of Video

By admin | March 16, 2015 | 0

March 16-22


This week we finish up listening to everyone’s radio shows and turn our attention to the next media genre will be exploring: video. We’ll be watching some more films and creating a close reading video essay for one of them. In addition, you’ll be starting to explore the video assignments in the Assignment Bank and continuing your Daily Creates.

NOTE: There is one more, very special radio show we’ll be broadcasting next Monday, 3/23 at 9:00 PM EST. Stay tuned for more info!

Participate in Radio Show Listen & Tweet Along

Schedule (shows start at 9PM EST):

  • Mon 3/16
    • Inside Talking
    • The Tune Squad
  • Tues 3/17
    • Get a Clue
    • Vixen’s Ventures
  • Wed 3/18
    • NOIR At Night
    • Silk Road
  • Thur 3/19
    • Dinner Party at 6
    • The Noir Buzz

You must listen along to someone else’s radio show, comment on Twitter and write a review post on your blog:

  • Be present and active on Twitter for at least one of the shows to share feedback real-time using the #noir106 hashtag.
  • Reflect on at least one radio show you listened to and were not a part of creating. Describe the experience of listening, the various sound elements employed, what parts worked, what parts didn’t, etc. Be thoughtful, critical, and most importantly respectful. Tag this radiolisten.

We strongly encourage at least one member of each group to be present on Twitter during the broadcast of their show. If possible, we may even invite you to join us on air for a few minutes before or after your show (via Skype).

Complete Your Radio Show Final Reflection

Complete a final reflection post about your radio show, focussing in particular on what it was like to listen to your show live, receive comments/criticism, etc. What would you do differently, if you had a chance? What did you enjoy the most about this project? What was the hardest thing about this project? What advice would you give to future ds106 students as they begin the radio show project?

Tag this post finalradio

Do Your Daily Creates

Complete at least 2 Daily Creates this week.

Learn How to Read a Movie

You have likely watched plenty of movies, but when we say “reading” movies, we mean looking at them with a keener eye for the cinematic elements that make them successful (or not). This is not about reviews of “good” or “bad” movies, but how well they convey the story to all our senses, how well they suspend our disbelief to make the plot real, to draw us in– how well they tell a story.

For your work in this week, you are expected to look for details in movies, many of which are found in Roger Ebert’s “How to Read a Movie” which you must read this week.

In addition, to get a deeper appreciation for the power of cinematic techniques, watch at least 3 of the following videos about filmmaking.

Apply Your New-Found Knowledge

Now that you’ve spent sometime thinking about how films are made and how we “read” them, we want you to apply that new information to a film from the following list of Noir classics:

When you’re done, you’re going to create your first video — a video essay in which you analyze at least one scene from the film you chose, through the critical lens of the readings/resources you reviewed this week.

This assignment is a slight variation on the classic ds106 Video Essay assignment in the Assignment Bank. For this class, you need only analyze one scene (although you’re welcome to do more), and you must choose a scene from a movie in the list above (which you must watch in its entirety!) In particular, your analysis should reflect what you learned by reading Ebert’s essay and reviewing the other filmmaking videos above.

Lucky for you, we have a whole page with advice and information about how to complete this assignment.

When you’re done, blog your video essay (being sure to embed the video in your post!) and tag it videoessay.

Do Your Video Assignments: Make a Choice

Choice One

Complete at least 8 stars of video assignments this week, and have at least 4 of them involve your noir character and one other character from the class in some way. If you choose this option, you will receive a second set of video assignments to complete next week.

Choice Two

For those of you who really enjoyed creating the radio shows, we’re giving you the option of taking a similar approach to video. You’ll divide up into groups of 3-6 characters (can be the same as your radio group, but don’t have to be) and produce a 15-30 minute video story together. Much like with radio, you can choose the format and story, but you must involve your noir characters in some way. Here’s how the work will be divided:

Week One

Organize into your group as quickly as possible and decide on your approach to your video episode. You may use the Video assignments in the Assignment Bank as inspiration for your show, but you don’t have to. In addition to planning this week (deciding on format, choosing a story to tell, writing a script, planning shooting locations, etc.), each group member must produce a short (30-60 seconds)  “trailer” for your show that introduces your concept, characters, story, etc.

Write up all your planning in a series of blog posts tagged videoshowplan and make sure you share your trailer in your weekly post.

Week Two

Working in your group, produce and edit your video episode. Write up your progress along the way in a second series of videoshowproduce  blog posts. Make sure you share your final show in your weekly summary.

Set up a Character Category

If you haven’t already done so, make sure you’ve set up a category on your blog for your character and make sure all your character posts are in it. Then go to this form and give us the URL of that category

Featured Image Credit: My Debut Photo by Tommy Clark on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Posted in Weekly Assignments

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