Assignments

Due by the class date

August 27

Welcome to the first day of class

September 10

  • WatchA Trip to the Moon by George Melies and The Great Train Robbery  by Edwin Porter. Write a paper that’s a minimum of two pages on the artistic and technical difference between these two early films.  This is a paper about your observations of what they did, not a research paper. Submit the paper through Blackboard under “Submit Written Assignments” in the left hand menu.
  • Shoot – Five individual video shots with your phone, or other camera if you have one, that tell a visual story.  Label the clips from #1 to #5, put them in a folder with your name on it and upload them to Google Drive.

September 17

  • Shoot – Working in assigned teams, create and shoot a video where each team member contributes three shots to tell a story.  No editing required.   Each assignment should have at least three shots total of a person or persons doing something on camera.  The team should number each shot in the order you want them screened.

September 24

  • Storyboard Exercise – Watch a video or film of your choice, and choose a scene of interest. Storyboard a minimum of 15 shots from the scene and label each type of shot (CU, ECU, etc.). Download the storyboard template here or create your own. Title the video/film source.

Sample Storyboard #1
Sample Storyboard #2
Sample Storyboard #3

Blank Storyboard

October 1

  • Watch a Documentary – Choose a documentary that is at least 10 minutes long to watch and note the techniques and conventions used in its making. What do you notice about the camera operation, editing, narrative construction, and overall style? Write a minimum of three pages, typed, double spaced, on what you observed. Submit via Blackboard.
  • Documentary Assignment – Each group will come up with an idea for a documentary shoot and present it in class. The presentation should also include what role each crew member will be responsible for on the assignment.  There should be at least three shots of a person speaking, each at a different focal length, and have props so that at least three B roll shots or cutaways can be recorded.  It should be shot in a documentary style.

October 8

  • Shoot Documentary Assignment – Start shooting and/or recording if you are having it shot remotely. Put your Group’s names on the files and upload as sample of what you’ve shot to Google Drive. One person from each group will speak on camera about what you have shot and what’s still left to do
  • Adobe Premiere – Download these files from Adobe before class.  I will be demonstrating editing using the files during our class.

October 15

  • Edit Group Documentary assignment and upload finished version to this folder 
  • Edit the Hoverboard files from Adobe into a finished sequence on either Adobe Premiere or Shotcut.  Export the files and upload them to this folder by 11 PM on Thursday before class.

October 22

  • Editing Breakdown Assignment – Pick a scene or two from a Hollywood film you know and like.  Analyze the editing in those scenes.  Write a minimum of three pages focusing on the editing and include the following. Was the editing clean or choppy? Was the flow consistent? What unique effects were used? How were the transitions between scenes? What kinds of edits were used between shots and how the style of edits affected the entire scene. Upload it through Blackboard.

October 29

  • Desktop Movie – Create, shoot, and edit a movie at home using the Desktop Cinema format, stock footage, live shooting inside your home or some combination of all three, between one and two minutes long.  It can a topic of your choosing–how you’re bored at home, what you hope to do in the future, something that’s very important to you right now, etc. Upload it to Google Drive

November 5

  • Boring Room Challenge – Assigned groups will come up with their own version and start shooting.  Final video should be between one and two minutes long.  Use one to three locations.  You don’t have to use real people if you don’t want to-you could use props, objects, toy figures, etc.  Some of the raw footage will be screened in class, and then the edited versions will be due the following week. If you need further inspiration, you can look at some of the videos posted in the comments section under Brandon Li’s video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Fo0yL18Pc&list=RDCMUC3stPIuUoCDHG7COfwr0tEA&start_radio=1&t=0

November 12

  • Lighting Assignment – Using your phones or other cameras, do three practical lighting set ups on an object at home and a fourth separate setup outside.  Inside, do three point lighting, a setup using only hard light, and a setup using only soft light.  Outside, get a shot that shows the how the white balance of being outside can affect the look of your shot. Put your name on the files and upload it to the folder on Google Drive
  • Boring Room Challenge – Editing should be finished and Project uploaded to Google Drive

November 19

  • Mood Piece – Each student will shoot and edit their own project. Through various camera techniques, you will shoot material for which you establish a single mood – some examples are anxiety, anger, joy, panic, or frustration for instance – through your selection of subject matter, camera angles and lighting techniques.

This is not a storytelling assignment–you are not developing characters and a narrative, but rather creating images that convey a mood. Specifically, you need to bring at least 8 different shots where you’ve used the camera work-in terms of framing, composition, depth of field, lighting– to establish your selected mood. Three of the shots must be shot indoors using practical lights. Edit the shots together and you can use music and/or sound effects in your edit, but it’s not required.  In fact, a good test to see if you’ve succeeded in the assignment is to see if it plays well silently.

You cannot use faces in any of your shots. Upload it to Google Drive.

December 3

  • Mockumentary Project – Show footage in progress from this group project.

December 10

  • Mockumentary Project -Upload finished projects to Google Drive

December 17

  • Final Exam
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