In Project 4, we’re returning to the beginning: this is another story all about you. The difference, though, is this time you’re talking about where you want to go rather than where you’ve been.
If you’ve followed the instructions faithfully for mini-project 2 (which is, to be honest, practice for this project), you’re very close to being up and running already. I’m not going to rehash everything here in terms of getting your file structure set up or anything under the Advice for Recording Great Video section in the MP2 assignment. Instead, I’m going to give you a brief of what you should be working toward.
That said, given the strict 4-6 minute requirement, I encourage you to storyboard out the following segments:
Of course, the segments are just that: smaller chunks that make up the whole. Each will have multiple elements (video, audio, images) within them. Consider each one of these a take-away: each should be self-contained, make a point, but again be part of the whole.
You will need to complete a script, as before, and also a storyboard. You’re again encouraged to use this storyboarding template from Indie Film Hustle as it’s fairly customizable and easy to work with.
I want you to show (not tell!) me where you’re going. As mentioned, you probably touched on this in your introduction video. This is a chance for you to explore what you want to explore about your own future, your overarching goals, the space in which you want to reside if all goes to plan. For example, why do you want to be X? What does becoming X or being Y or experiencing Z mean to you? What are you doing to make that happen?
One key aspect of this assignment is to focus on the idea that it is better to show and not tell. While there is video narration, of course, you want to avoid (and by “avoid” I mean “don’t do this”) having screens full of text, and especially don’t read the text on the screen, if there is any!
The content of the video should be about you, obviously, but that doesn’t mean it can’t heavily involve those you love, for example, if they’re a driving force behind you doing what you’re doing and becoming whom you want to become. What if you’re, say, already happy with where you are in your life? Well, perhaps you want to become more giving. Perhaps you want to focus on doing more for charity, for example, or you just want to improve something about yourself. That’s perfectly acceptable in terms of the topic for this project.
Remember: you aren’t doing this to impress anyone. It’s not a contest.
Avoid fill. While it may seem like 4-6 minutes is a long time, I assure you it is not. Every second in your final composition should be serving a purpose. Much like you’ll hear chefs say that every ingredient in a dish needs to have a job and, if it doesn’t, it shouldn’t be there, every image, every bit of narration, every video clip in your finished composition should be doing some work.
If you want some advice on taking photos (or even video) of things that can support your story, here’s (yet another) Peter McKinnon video that has a lot of really good advice, even if the focus of the video is outside our topic.
For example, if you’re talking about doing something in the future and it’s heavily based on a family member and you have a great old vintage picture of them, perhaps instead of just scanning it or trying to take a picture of just the photo, you treat that photograph like Peter treats his products, and take a picture of it in a meaningful setting. Throw a KBE on that image and you’ve got a potentially very powerful image for your final composition.
Since this is about you, I encourage you to take your completed script and try to do a full interview-style talking-to-the-camera recording of the entire thing that you can chop up and use when you need to in the final video.
Tip: it can be very powerful to use audio narration over a non-speaking clip of yourself from the talking-head style recording. If you’re speaking of something that’s emotionally very charged, perhaps just use footage of you looking at the camera while you’re doing audio narration overtop it. Use your imagination! Remember that you’re telling a story and stories are built on emotional connections. Don’t think of the camera as a tool; think of it as the person you’re telling the story to.
Much like mini-project 2, you have a few specific technical requirements beyond the content requirements described below.
As always, I want you to see these content requirements as being scaffolding for your creativity rather than confining or restricting. If you have a creatively justified reason to break out of this mold, please contact me and pitch me the idea. I’ll likely agree to it but I want to make sure you’re doing something different for the right reasons.
Also, one overarching requirement that comes before everything you see below: you are the focus, so your voice, your presence, your narrative needs to be as clean and clear as possible.
Consider this a checklist for the content in your final production.
Remember that you should be crediting everything you use in your video that you didn’t not create, yourself. You’re welcome to call yourself writer, director, producer, and have fun with that, but when it comes to the content you’re using to create this work, credit where credit’s due. You don’t need to credit this assignment or your instructor.
So, to recap, for the content you’re submitting, you’ll need:
As before, you’ve noticed that high definition video files can get quite large, even for short videos. And, as before, either upload the MP4 to YouTube and choose Unlisted or upload to Google Drive and choose Anyone with the link can view or Anyone at the University of Arizona can view.
Tip: the easiest way to submit all this is to combine them all into a single PDF and submit that. The exception to this is the brief reflection, which should be included in the assignment submission comments area.
