Assignments

Before class on Monday, April 8th, add a comment to this assignment with the following information:

Create a video documenting and reflecting on your two audio projects--audio essay and podcast. The video should reflect on the projects to make interesting points about composing using audio.

You can use the work on your first video reflection as a model. You will want to record the screen to capture aspects of your projects. You will also want to be sure to integrate sound from the projects into the video as you discuss them. 

Using the topic of your audio essay, create a conversational podcast episode. The episode should be 15-20 minutes in length and include at least two people. The podcast should also include audio samples that bring research or other relevant materials into the conversation. Here are more details:

Research driven: The podcast should provide an alternative means of exploring the research question(s) you have taken on in the audio essay. As such, it should include significant research. A key milestone will be the submission of a research brief on Friday March 29th. 

Compose a portfolio of your work in the class. Before getting started think about these big picture aspects of portfolios:  The portfolio serves two main purposes: 1) to allow continued revision of your projects, and 2) to promote reflection on what you have learned as a writer and thinker in the class. For the purpose of the portfolio composition, the reflections will matter the most--though they will be built upon solid, well-revised projects. Note that you will also be including your two portfolio videos for your projects.

Create an audio essay that explores the significance of a topic associated with our class. The aim of your audio essay is to conduct research, identify audio samples to compose with, and then use your voice to narrate a story that delivers that research in way that takes advantage of the medium of audio. The informal and aural qualities of sound will need to be balanced with the academic and informational aspects of the research.

You will narrow your focus after starting with one of these broad topics:

Memes

Electronic Literature

Literacy

Create a video documenting and reflecting on your first two projects--social media postings and video poem. The video should use narration to tell a story linked with your composing process. You can think of the story elements flexibly. You need not develop some kind of tall tale; rather use the narration to guide viewers through your project and toward some larger message that can be linked to this project. 

In this assignment, you will create at least six media artifacts, and then post them to Instagram. The artifacts will be:

• At least two collages that use text to create a short, meme-like message
• At least two animated GIF files
• At least two stories built using multiple short videos that you have developed using a video editor.

We will work on these elements in stages. Follow these steps:

Stage 1. Collage Memes

Download Adobe Photoshop. (You can use a different image editor as long as it supports layers.) 

Use a video editor to create an interpretation and analysis of a poem. This assignment will differ from a typical poetry analysis activity in that the final results of your work will be delivered not as an academic essay but as a remixed, video version of the poem you are studying. 

To get a sense of these possibilities, you can check out some samples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmUHzz4JLpc

https://vimeo.com/208608002