Nov 26

DRAFTS DUE

If you feel comfortable sharing your draft with the class, please use the Comment section (link to the left) to post a link to youtube or vimeo (or to your blog, if you have embedded the video).  I encourage everyone to have a look at what your classmates are doing and comment on their work.  While we have mostly sidestepped important issues of collaboration that are inherent in multimodal production, I hope, as we near the end, you can find time to engage with the disparate work in the class and give your two cents.

Today we will screen drafts from anyone who is ready and willing to share publicly.  If you would prefer not to have us comment on your work, you need to make sure I get access somehow (send a link, give me a file or DVD in person, send a file via dropbox or wetransfer) so that I can comment over the break.  As of today, you have about two and a half weeks to complete your final project.  If we don’t comment upon your film in class today (and you get me the file), I will do my best to get comments out before this weekend.

BLOG HW

Over the break (in addition to working on your documentary itself) take some notice as you watch TV and talk to your friends of the ways new movies are marketed virally on social media.  HERE is an example of a clever use of documentary to promote the new X-Men movie.  What documentary conventions are taken up by this short trailer? What is archival material and what is produced by the filmmakers?  How is it (if it is) effective?  HERE is a list of five of the best viral marketing campaigns.  What can you pull from these efforts to promote your film?  Blog about it over the break.  Remember, your reflection should cover the branding/promotion of your object documentary as well.  Get your thoughts down ‘in medias res’ so that your final reflection will be more accurate (and easier to write).

NOTE

In light of our initial delays with getting the Adobe Suit installed, I have made some adjustments (in your favor, I believe) to the ‘responses’ portion of the class requirements.  I urge you to have a look HERE for more details about what is expected.  For some background to this pedagogical thinking, look ‘at’ (and ‘through’) Richard Lanham’s work.  I’ve added a few PDFs to the Dropbox and there is an interview HERE.  There may be useful material here to use in your reflection (particularly the AT/THROUGH distinction).

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