Proposal Elements

Each class came up with their own criteria for Proposals.

In no particular order:

8:00am
Project Goals
Plan for meeting Goals
Purpose
Audience
Tone
Specific elements (dialogue, narration, etc.)
Specific shots (introduction, conclusion)
Organization (transitions)
Music and sound choices
Presence (or invisibility) of directors, interviewers, and narrators
Filters and effects
Identification and title cards
Schedule and (shooting) Timetable

9:30am
Purpose
Issue
Timeline or Schedule
Division of Labor (group responsibilities)
Tone or Style
Content, shots, and interviews
Organization (transitions)
Audio
Filters and Effects
Audience

Media Application Tutorials

8:00am Groups

Holly, Chelsey, Elliot, Grant, Keaton: iMovie
Quiara, Trevor, Dustin, Clare, Austin: Audacity

9:30am Groups

Brandon, Tyler, Brooke, Cameron, Whitney: Movie Maker
Chloe, Muhannad, Charles, Jenna, Katie: iMovie
Meredith, Luca, Jen, Kendall, Rachel: Equipment
Shawnee, Evan, Taylor, Kimberlyn, Kristina: YouTube
Jackie, Carlos, Anna, David, Emilee: Audacity

Understanding Film Terms

Below are some key terms and explanations (with examples) of key film concepts and terms.  

The Filmic Image

• Mise-en-scene: the entirety of the image on the screen. More simply: what the viewer sees. 

• Frame: the imaginary border of the film. Think about it like a picture frame. 

• Shot: a single image of film. Can be any length, but must be unedited. 

• Scene: a series of shots which make up part of a narrative.  

Shot Lengths and Sizes

• Establishing shot: The largest shot; establishes an area the size of a town or campus.

• Long shot: A large shot which covers a space like a street or a room.

• Medium shot: A shot which captures characters from the knees or wait up. Most commonly used shot in American cinema. 

• Close shot: A shot which focuses on a character's face or a specific object. 

• Extreme Close-up: A shot which focuses on a small portion of a character's face/body or a specific object.  

Camera Angles

• High Angle: a shot from above the subject which looks down. 

• Low Angle: a shot from below the subject which looks up. 

• Sideways tilts: shots which are off-center.  

Camera Movements

• Pan shot: a shot which moves left-to-right or up-and-down on a stable axis. 

• Tracking shot: a shot which travels forward or backward.

• Zoom: camera zooms in or out on a subject.  

Editing

• Narrative editing: standard storytelling 

• Montage: clips which are meant to stand in for a story  

Cuts

• Cross-cut: standard cut from shot to shot. 

• Fade: shot fades into black or fades from black. 

• Iris: shot fades into or out of a specific object on the screen. 

• Dissolve: shot fades into the next shot; images are transposed or juxtaposed.  

Focus

• Deep: everything in the frame is in focus. 

• Soft: one specific object or subject on the screen is in focus. 

 Sound

• Narration: off-camera speech designed to give context to the images. 

• Dialogue: on or off-camera spoken exchange between characters. 

• Monologue: on or off-camera speech acts performed by a single character. 

• Music: can be diegetic (characters can hear the sound) or non-diegetic (characters can not hear the sound). 

• Effects: any sounds which are not spoken or musical; similar to music, can be diegetic or non-diegetic.

Media Tutorial Topics

These are just basic ideas for your group to explore. I can add more later, or you can pick your own.

iMovie tutorial
Movie Maker tutorial
YouTube editor tutorial
Lighting tutorial
Where to get cameras/equipment tutorial
Tripod, tracking, and stabilization tutorial
Working with multiple audio tracks tutorial
Filtering, effects, and saturation tutorial
Framing and image composition tutorial

Documentary Homework

For Thursday, please watch and respond to these three short films. I am looking for 250 words on the composition of the film and the different stylistic choices the directors made. We will discuss your responses in class on Thursday.

Podcast Submission Guidelines

Project 3 is due on Friday, March 8th by 10pm.

The final project will be submitted to your blog as a link from Soundcloud.

Soundcloud is a free audio hosting service, so one member of your group will need to sign up for an account and upload the .mp3 or .wav file and post the link to his or her blog.

Here is your submission process in a nutshell:
1. Complete editing and compiling of audio file; export as a .wav file
2. Sign in to Soundcloud and upload your file (name it something specific, not WRD 111 Project)
3. Copy the URL from your Soundcloud file and post it to your blog
4. Double-check your link (make sure it leads us correctly to your Soundcloud file)
5. Have a great Spring Break!

Finally, here is a link to the This American Life podcast we listened to on the first day of the project.

Audio Editing Programs

I alternate between using the following two free programs:

Goldwave
Audacity

For uploading and sharing, most of you have already found Dropbox and Google Drive.

For posting your final podcast, you will want to create and use a Soundcloud account. Soundcloud is a podcast/audio streaming website.

Finally, if you're looking for free, legal music to include in your podcast, please browse the Creative Commons website.

Happy editing!