OCT 1

Discuss Evocative Objects:

• Get in three groups, one for each essay.
• As a group, pick one person to transcribe the group’s answers to these prompts: Describe the object the author is considering. What are the first things that come to mind when you think of the author’s account of the object? Describe how the author relates to the chosen object personally. Mention at least three. In what ways did the object find a significant place in the author’s individual ecology or “networks”? How is this object analysis structured?  Is there a narrative?  What are the metaphors that are deployed?  Then as a group, discuss how you would remediate this text into a video. What colors or moods do you associate with this object? What music do you associate with this object? What other people would come into contact with this object? Where or in what locations would you find this object? Name three other objects that come into contact with this object. What kind of other images, video clips, or sound clips would you associate with this object? How will you research or where would you find these elements?
• Groups quickly report out to class on their remix strategies.

For Thursday, Oct 3:

-Read the Center for Social Media’s BEST PRACTICES for Documentary Filmmakers (as a pdf on Db as well).

-Finish watching RIP: A Remix Manifesto (on Db)

-In preparation for next week’s audio discussions and assignment, spend some time with Audacity tutorials and have a look at the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives.

Advertisement

Blog Header #1

SEPT 24

Turn in Response #1

BLOG:

Please spend 10-15 minutes writing about the object you are considering for your final project.  In this post, concentrate on HISTORY.  Here are some prompts to get you started.

• What is interesting about the object’s history? Which details of the object are more significant as a result of considering its history/culture?
• Has the object always looked and worked the way it does now, or has its design or details changed over time? Has the object always been made in the same way? If something has changed about the object, what might this tell us about changes in the purposes of the object and changes in cultural demands?
• How does the current historical/cultural period influence our understanding of the object? Is there another historical period or cultural context that would produce a different understanding of the object?
• Is there archival media available for your object?

When you are finished, take a screenshot (png) of your blog and send via email to harmoncb@email.sc.edu  If you don’t know how to take a screenshot, check here.

(Note on Blogs:  I’ll continue to look in on how these are going, so….make sure to stay up to date…and if you haven’t yet, make sure to include a relevant ‘about’ section with a photo ASAP!)

 

Arrange yourselves into groups of 2-3 and screen/discuss each other’s USC/UNC films.  Pick one of the three films and tweet a link to it with #harmon460 and #bestdraft Consider the following:

Did the film use all the required media?

Was there a narrative at all?

How did the music/audio relate to the images?

What worked?  What didn’t work?

How could it be improved?

Did it make you think any differently about the object at hand?

 

LOOKING AHEAD

In preparation for composing a proposal for your object documentary project (due on OCT 12), be thinking about some preliminary questions.  Why is your object interesting enough for a film?  How can you limit the scope enough to make interesting points that connect to larger issues in 5 minutes?  Whom will you interview?  Where will you find/create media?  What is the style you’ll adopt?  What do you anticipate finding out?

I will post specific requirements for the proposal by Oct 1.

Remember, no class on Thursday.  For next Tuesday Oct 1, make sure to read Evocative Objects and Lundberg’s Guide to Rhetoric (Chapter 1).

 

 

9.19.2013

Tweet (or blog in under 140 characters) your response to the following prompt (include #harmon460):

How can the conceptual structure(s) suggested by John Law’s Aircraft Stories help you distill your own thoughts about your Object Documentary?

WORK DAY (redux).

Finish your film.  Make sure to give yourself enough time to export.  Make sure that your finished mp4 is on your disc and/or uploaded to vimeo/youtube.  You’ll need to blog/tweet the link to youtube/vimeo.  Here is the original assignment:

iMovie WORKDAY

Export a 1-2 minute HD movie by the end of class.  Your video should engage some aspect of the USC/UNC game from last week.  It should include at least one instance of EACH of the following:

-Still Image

-Moving Image

-Audio (voice over or soundtrack)

-Text (at least a title and credits…your name, the date, the class)

Save the file to your flash/hard drive and post it to vimeo/youtube over the weekend.  Post a link to your video in a blog post along with a paragraph(s) reflecting on your experience editing this piece.  Also tweet a link to your video (with #harmon460 and a # of your choosing).

-What was most challenging?

-What surprised you?

-What works in your video?  What doesn’t?

FOR NEXT TIME: Response #1

We have gotten through four of Law’s six stated reasons for creating Aircraft Stories.  I’d like for you to return to the introduction over the weekend and write a response (in a traditional 2-3 page essay…double-spaced, times new roman 12 point type…) to the Law that gives your interpretation of the last two rationales he gives for the book (hint: performative writing and a critique of critique).  Draw on the Chapter 1 as well as your experience in the non-linear digital composition (iMovie) we’ve just completed.  You might also use this opportunity to explore some structural ideas for your object documentary that may have been influenced by Law’s thoughts on objects.

So, you need to bring in a hard copy of your response next Tuesday.  Also REMINDER: make sure to blog about this film and send the link to your video to twitter with #harmon460.

I’ll introduce the revised syllabus (and new deadlines) on Tuesday.

DAY 6 (Sept 10)

How to use the readings:

Think about the categories/descriptors/metaphors they use.

Think about the style and arrangement.

Use these examples (or metaphors of your own) to think reflexively about your object and about the process of documenting this object.

Deploy this kind of reflexivity in your blog posts, your proposal and at the end of the semester in your portfolios.

In-class Blog

Pick one of the following prompts and write a blog post about it.  Make it clear with which prompt you’re engaging.  Link the post to twitter with #harmon460.

1.Why, in 2013, would you still be asked to read Aristotle? Which of his three categories/classes of rhetoric do you think will be most useful for describing an object you know in a documentary-style film?

 

2.In the introduction to Aircraft Stories, Law gives six ‘things’ his book is ‘about’.  Describe the most interesting to you and explain why.  Be specific.

 

3.As he describes what his book is ‘about’ in the introduction, Law uses a variety of verbs.  List five of them, then pick the most revealing verb and explain why he chose it.  (Avoid the verb ‘to be’).

 

Email Etiquette

Think through the ideas of ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos in the genre of email messages to professors.

Use a greeting.  (Dear, Good morning, Hello, etc, and the name of the recipient).

Use complete sentences and correct grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.

Include a pertinent SUBJECT LINE (not just ‘Re…’).

Include your whole name with a clear closing.

Don’t send emails at 3am.

For Next Time

•Pick another of the 3 prompts above and write a blog about it that encapsulates some of today’s discussion.

•Check #harmon460 and visit some of the other blogs among your classmates.  Think about the style, both visual and textual.  Leave a comment if one occurs to you. PS…leaving comments and tweets = easy good participation grade.  

•If you haven’t, finish reading BOTH chapters of Aircraft Stories.  We’ll discuss ‘OBJECTS’ next time.

DAY 5 (Sept 5)

iMovie WORKDAY

Export a 1-2 minute HD movie by the end of class.  Your video should engage some aspect of the USC/UNC game from last week.  It should include at least one instance of EACH of the following:

-Still Image

-Moving Image

-Audio (voice over or soundtrack)

-Text (at least a title and credits…your name, the date, the class)

Save the file to your flash/hard drive and post it to vimeo/youtube over the weekend.  Post a link to your video in a blog post along with a paragraph(s) reflecting on your experience editing this piece.  Also tweet a link to your video (with #harmon460 and a # of your choosing).

-What was most challenging?

-What surprised you?

-What works in your video?  What doesn’t?

For next Tuesday…READ Aristotle On Rhetoric (p1-10) and John Law’s Introduction to Aircraft Stories (both on the class Dropbox).

(here is the email I sent out yesterday…if you aren’t getting these, you need to check that your Blackboard email is set to an address you regularly check)

In anticipation of a work day tomorrow, I’d like to reiterate some of the points from yesterday’s class. First, bring a hard/flash drive of some kind with you to class along with a pair of headphones (preferably a pair that cover your ears). Also, bring any media you collected last week. If if you didnt collect any media, I strongly suggest going through the ‘media’ folder on dropbox and think about how you might utilize it for a short film (remember, copy/paste DONT drag and drop from Dropbox). You might also do some image searches on google and collect media that way. The goal for tomorrow is to export a very short film that examines (again, not necessarily in a narrative or coherent manner) some aspect of the USC/UNC game from last week. (Check out the blog for a longer description of what I was after if you are still confused). The point is to demystify the process of editing so that we can move forward with some of the more theoretical/conceptual work of object oriented documentary production AFTER you’ve already done it. IT DOESNT NEED TO LOOK GOOD! But it does need to include some sound (so if you are a musician or have friends that make music, bring an mp3 file or two), some images (that you took or gathered) and some text.

Because of the diversity of experience in our class, if you have little or no experience editing or with iMovie, I strongly suggest watching a tutorial or two tonight or tomorrow before class. I’ll go over the process very briefly at the beginning of class and then let you start editing on your own. Here are a few links that might help! There are also some production documents (as PDFs) in Dropbox.

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/movies/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCq2ncg7Mqg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7NZRqLrIKk

As we discussed yesterday, there are a myriad of tutorials in different styles, so if these particular videos annoy you to no end, do some searches of your own (search ‘iMovie 09 tutorial’ or the like). There are also some links/tutorials that might be helpful to review on the class website.

Again, bring your media, bring headphones, and bring an open mind…we’ll be jumping in the deep end. But, hopefully, you’ll finish the day with an exported digital media composition.

DAY 4 (Sept 3)

USC/UNC

Find a partner and discuss your experience documenting the USC/UNC game last week.  Share the media you gathered and discuss the following:

-What types of media did you gather? How?

-How did you store it? Transport it?

-What ‘object’ did you concentrate upon?

-What worked, what didn’t?

-Have a look through Twitter to find information/opinion about the game.

In-Class Blog

Compose a short blog entry about some aspect of your experience during the game last Thursday.  (Refer back to the original prompt as needed).  It should take you about 45-90 seconds to read this post aloud.

LINK YOUR BLOG TO TWITTER AND THE CLASS WEBSITE

#harmon460 for Twitter

Post a link to harmon460.wordpress.com/blogs

1-2 Minute Movie

By the end of class Thursday (Sept 5), produce a short (1-2 minute) movie using iMovie to highlight a particular aspect of/object from the USC/UNC game.  This film need not be narrative or make much sense…just 1-2 minutes long utilizing either your own media or the media I’ve provided on DB.  The goal is to export a video and become filmmakers.

How to save an iMovie Project

Photo Essay in iMovie

Media Storm (Darkness Visible)

Screen Capture on a Mac

For Next Time:

•Revise/Expand your blog from today into a voice over for your 1-2 minute film.

•Watch iMovie tutorials as needed (especially on titles)!

•Bring headphones to class for Thursday’s workday.

•For NEXT TUESDAY…read the introduction to John Law’s Aircraft Stories and Aristotle’s On Rhetoric (In the dropbox)