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Skills Exercises   10 pts possible for each exercise

Complete the exercise and post it to our class FaceBook page by the date and time specified on the Reading and Assignment Schedule. Be sure to ask ahead of time if you have any questions about the exercise. No points for late submissions.

 

#1 Analog Storytelling

Before we explore the world of digital storytelling, we are going to experience traditional oral storytelling as it's been practiced for hundreds of thousands of years. 

 

After reading "That Reminds Me of a Story," you should have a pretty good idea of what goes into a story. For this Skills Exercise, choose an event from your life that you believe represents a story as we have defined it. Jot down the main points. Then tell your story to the rest of the class. (We promise not to laugh, unless it's supposed to be funny.) You may use your notes or challenge yourself to tell the story completely from memory. Be sure to practice before storytelling day. Time limit: 3 minutes.

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#2 Copyright—Covering your Assets

Knowing how to use the intellectual property of others is a vital skill if you plan to work in the digital realm. In class, we discussed copyright law and ways to locate legally available assets (images, video, music, sound effects.) For this skills exercise, locate an online asset such as a piece of music, a photo, or video clip that’s legally available for you to use in a project.

 

Using the information you can gather from the metadata, prepare a correct credit for the media using the Attributing Creative Commons Assets handout. On our class FaceBook page, please paste the link to your asset and the credit--just the way it would look at the end of one of your class projects. A good example is the credits at the end of the stop-motion animation "Minty's Prom" in the Resources section. Then comment on 2 of your peers' asset attributions. See how complete the attributions are and suggest any revisions you think are necessary.

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#3  Sound Grab

I've mentioned before that one of the best ways to find great assets for your multimedia projects is to make them yourselves. Today we're going to get a taste of that by capturing some sounds and bringing them back to class to share.

• With a partner, go outside the classroom and listen for interesting sounds. Find 3 sounds to record. You may record inside or outside. Listen for sounds that occur naturally--footsteps, doors, faucets. Then think about sounds you could make with what you encounter--dropping the lid of a dumpster, scuffing your feet in gravel. 

• Using your phone, record several seconds of the sounds you find.

• Bring them back to class. We'll listen to all the sounds and try to identify their sources, and imagine ways that they could be used in a project.

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#4  Talking Heads

This exercise helps you practice filming a short interview. Ideally you'll use this exercise to conduct an interview for your 60-Second Doc project, but not necessarily. If you are working with a partner on the short documentary, then the two of you can do this Skills Exercise together. If you are working solo, then you'll have to do this assignment by yourself or partner up with someone who is also filming by themselves.

• Identify someone interesting to interview. For most of you this will be one of your friends. Identify what you'd like to focus the interview on. For example, one of your friends has several fresh-water fish tanks and is building a natural water filter with plants and gravel. This would be a fascinating topic since most of us don't have fish tanks or know much about tropical fish.

• Write 3-4 questions that both draw out information and show the person's passion or expertise.

• Film the interview. Consider the background, lighting, camera distance, and recording. You may choose to check out a wireless mic to get good quality audio. 

• Post the interview clip to our FB page by the due date. We will watch these in class.

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 #5 Quick Shot

This exercise is a good way to practice composing shots of different camera distance and camera angle. Come to class with a device that takes digital photos. You and a partner will receive an assignment of one type of shot, i.e. long shot, over-the-shouder, etc. You'll take three different versions of that shot in different locations. Then upload your shots to our class FB page and get back to class as quickly as possible so that we can look at the results in class.

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#6  Rough Cut Peer Review.

We will conduct our peer review as a "gallery" viewing. That means each of you will bring up your film on either a laptop or on one of the classroom monitors for others to see. Two or more students will review your film and provide critical feedback. Points for this Skills Exercise are earned by both posting your video and participating in the critical feedback activity.

 

 

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