Well, folks, you did it! You’re at the final production, as it were. Up to this point, if you’ve been faithfully following all the requirements and instructions, you’ve got every foundational skill you need to write, design, record, and produce something amazing. And guess what: that’s just what you’re doing for Project 5!
Objectives
Demonstrate proficiency with Adobe Premiere Pro, industry-standard video editing software
Demonstrate proficiency with Adobe Audition, industry-standard audio editing software
Within an arbitrary length requirement, communicate a meaningful message with intent
Stick to said arbitrary time constraint
Find a balance between telling a story and effective video and audio production
Appreciate the value of showing and not telling
Apply the skills learned in digital storytelling and production to digital literacy
Create an original multimedia work that employs the skills learned up to this point
Preparation
The basics of this project are actually pretty simple: you’ll be bringing together all you’ve learned into a cohesive video that tells a story. Sounds a lot like what you’ve been doing so far but this time that story is up to you. I’ll give you the requirements for included content but the rest is yours to build freely.
But I don’t know what to pick, I hear you saying. Here are some suggested topics (but remember, you can choose whatever topic you like as long as you haven’t done it before):
Sell something.
Teach us a particular topic.
Create your own TED Talk.
Demonstrate doing or creating something you’re passionate about.
Tell a story about one specific instance in your life or A-Day-In-The-Life (ie, make a vlog).
Tell the story of something historical, perhaps an event or person that’s meaningful to you.
Interview someone and tell their story (with their permission, of course!).
The topics are limitless but, again, just be sure not to pick something you’ve already done! Whatever it is, your goal with this final project is to create an emotional attachment to the viewer. You’ve got myriad tools in your belt to do this by now!
Here are some more videos I find useful for my own video production but I encourage you to re-watch the videos linked in the other projects!
You should be focusing on 4-6 main points in the video. It should absolutely be one coherent story/demonstration/etc but you should be able to break it down into smaller chunks that are digestable on their own.
Use 1-2 3rd party videos (remember, “3rd party video” for our purposes is just video content that’s not you talking to camera)
Really take advantage of making some of that sweet, sweet B-roll!
Use at least 4-6 separate clips of you speaking (point being: these will need to have other videos and images interspersed but with your narrative continuing over them)
Use no on-screen text aside from the intro/conclusion/credits unless you’ve got someone else on the screen (ie, an interview) and it’s a lower-third to introduce them
Be sure to have some background music that adds to the emotional impact of the video and is not just there to fill silence.
You’ll likely want to go back into Audition and use the Remix function to get the music to stretch to the exact length you need for the video
At least 1-2 still images with Ken Burns effect
Include the Zeigarnik Effect
At least 1-2 videos that use either slow or fast motion for purposeful effect
Use no transitions between clips beyond a basic fade at the beginning and/or end
Really pay attention to lighting, background staging, and so on.
Look at the camera and treat it like a person. Remember, you’re presenting and telling a story (and those are done to and for people, not just a camera).
Again: use no content that you’ve already used in previous assignments!
Deliverables
These are the items you’ll need to submit in order for the project to be considered completed. Please use the provided rubric and reflection worksheet and submit it to D2L!
A script that’s been adhered to in the video that includes at least some form of storyboard (this can be actual sketched scenes or just descriptions along with durations)
Included in this script/storyboard document should be your credits. That is, the list of all the assets you used that you didn’t create. You don’t need to include the actual images, for example, just the URL for them.
The exported MP4 video file (not the .prproj file!) that meets the following requirements:
Is between 6 and 8 minutes long (strict confines to this one, folks!)
Does not cover the same topic as any of the previous projects or mini-projects
Includes no more than 1 minute of combined intro, conclusion, and credits but does include all three of them
Is at least 720p, at least 24fps, encoded H264, and is horizontally oriented (the YouTube presets in Premiere are fine)
Rolling credits that include all the assets you used beyond the content you created, yourself, and the individuals involved in the video
A screenshot of your Premiere Pro project that shows the timeline where your edits have been made
A short (1-2 page) narrative reflection on the project. (Included in rubric/reflection worksheet.)
Submitted via D2L to the P5 assignment dropbox a single PDF that contains the script/storyboard, the screenshot, the narrative, the self-grading rubric, and a link to the video (as usual, either on YouTube as Unlisted or via Google Drive set to “Anyone with link can view” or “Anyone at the University of Arizona with link can view”)
This is important that I can see your video, remember!
Also, please put the link to the video in the #premiere channel in our Team and be sure to watch your classmates' videos!
This course is adapted from ETCV 301: Interpreting and Presenting Digitally, developed for the University of Arizona by Dr. Stephen Arnold.