Unit 4 Pre-Production Planning Digital Video Production Lesson 9 Launching a Video Project

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2 Pre-Production Planning Digital Video Production Lesson 9: 1

3 Getting Started Lesson 9, is the first lesson in Pre-Production Planning Digital Video Production, the fourth unit within the AOIT Digital Video and Digital Media course. Lesson 9 launches " 2, A Documentary Video," a short video project that further develops students basic skills in planning and organizing a successful video shoot. Students choose a meaningful and appropriate documentary topic, pitch it to their production groups, select a topic for the group to produce, and complete an outline and narration script for their video. This lesson will likely require 7 of the 10 class sessions planned for this unit. Getting Started This section includes: Objectives Prerequisites Major Topic Standard(s) Key Concept(s) Taught Key Vocabulary Key Skills Taught Habits of Mind Curricular Integration 2

4 Profit Getting Started Objectives Choose meaningful and appropriate topics for 2 Develop, defend, and select a pitch for 2 Construct and organize a detailed outline and narration script for 2 Prerequisites Students need to understand the content of the previous lessons, particularly the overview of the production process Major Topic Successfully beginning a digital video project Standard(s) Use correct grammar, punctuation, and terminology to write and edit documents (States' Career Clusters F02.3) Apply active listening skills to obtain and clarify information (States' Career Clusters F02.6) Guide progress in assigned areas of responsibility/accountability (States' Career Clusters F03.1) Build interpersonal skills with individuals and other team members (States' Career Clusters F07.2) Use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources (ISTE, International Society for Technology in Education) Use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences (ISTE, International Society for Technology in Education) Key Concept(s) Taught Planning Pre-production Outlining Scripting 3

5 Getting Started 4

6 Materials and Resources Materials & Resources This section includes: Teacher Resources Student Resources Supplies Equipment Teacher Resources Teacher Resource 9.1, "Guide: Using Think-Pair-Share to Develop Criteria for an Effective Documentary Teacher Resource 9.2, "Multi-Vote Procedure for Selecting Documentary Video Topics" Teacher Resource 9.3, "Criteria: Pitch Scoring Sheet" Teacher Resource 9.4, "Handout: Documentary Outline Strips" Teacher Resource 9.5, "Rubric: Documentary Outline" Teacher Resource 9.6, "Bibliography: Unit 4, Lesson 9" Student Resources Student Resource 9.1, Worksheet: Writing Your Pitch Student Resource 9.2, Criteria: Pitch Student Resource 9.3, Worksheet: Documentary Outline Strips Student Resource 9.4, Rubric: Documentary Outline Supplies Board space (white or chalkboard) or flip chart Students' journals Additional Resources Word Template 9.1, "Documentary Outline Strips" (separate file) Copies of Documentary Outline Strip Worksheets or computer access to complete outline strips using Microsoft Word Web and/or library access for topic research (optional) 5

7 Assessment Assessment This section lists the student assessment products for this lesson and the criteria by which they should be assessed. Assessment Product Pitch for 2, a documentary video Outline for 2, a documentary video Assessment Criteria Teacher Resource 9.3: Criteria: Pitch Scoring Sheet Teacher Resource 9.5: Rubric: Documentary Outline 6

8 CLASS PERIOD Unit Overview Introduce 2 (a documentary video) to students. Explain that this unit is devoted to pre-production for : Selecting Topics Review the documentary genre with students. The genre can be defined on the board using the Defining Format (Rothstein, Rothstein, and Lauber, 2000). (Also see the NAF Learning Handbook.) Question Category Characteristics What is a documentary? A documentary is a media genre that 1. claims to be objective, authoritative, or persuasive 2. examines a place, aspect of life, social or political problem, or cause Have the students name any documentaries they have seen (film or video) and summarize the topic/theme of each in a simple sentence or two. One source for titles is the website for the American Film Foundation ( 7

9 Encourage the students to argue their own opinions about what makes a good documentary, using Teacher Resource 9.1, "Guide: Using Think-Pair-Share to Develop Criteria for an Effective Documentary." Based on the student contributions, emphasize how a good documentary tells an engaging story, presents a clear conflict (or problem), is thoughtful, and has a high impact on the audience. Next, help the students brainstorm potential topics that may be relevant to their lives. What would make a good topic or theme for 2? The topics should be engaging, relevant, and have the potential to be the basis for an interesting story. List each subject/theme as a short phrase or question. The best ones are provocative without being offensive or outside the bounds of material appropriate for a school project. Some examples: Do school dress codes have a positive or negative effect? The amazing rise of the school basketball team Is there discrimination in the school cafeteria? Does a famous local rapper deserve his success? The effects of the war in Iraq on our community Is our school doing enough to reduce our impact on global warming? 8

10 When choosing potential topics for 2, consider realistic production logistics. For example, if your school is in Seattle and your students want to do a documentary on the success of the New York Yankees, it will be impractical to shoot truly relevant video footage for the project. Students should be thinking about the people and places they will be able to shoot, in or around the school. Have them keep in mind that even if they are not permitted to take the video equipment off campus, they will be able to schedule local people to come to the school to shoot interview footage. Explain that you hope every student will get to work on a topic of his or her choosing. Take a quick poll to make sure that each of the topics has the popular interest of at least a few students. Use the multi-vote technique for narrowing the choices (Teacher Resource 9.2, "Guide: Multi- Vote Procedure for Selecting Documentary Video Topics ). Once the list is narrowed down to three to six popular topics, it is time to divide the class up into project groups. 9

11 3 10 2: Organizing Student Groups Write the identified class topics across the board as list headers. For each topic, ask the students for whom it is the most interesting topic to raise their hands. Write each student s name under the topic. On the board, group students for 2 based on the lists of students under the topics. The size of each project group will depend on the availability of equipment for your class. As with 1, each group will probably have at least two students and should not have more than five. There will likely be some topics for which more than one project group will emerge. It is even possible that all of your students will want to cover the same topic. You may need to do a bit of negotiating to move students from one topic to another to create even-sized groups : Writing the Pitch Now that each group knows its general topic for 2, it is time for each student to write a pitch to bring both vision and focus to the topic. Go over Student Resource 9.1, Worksheet: Writing Your Pitch, with the class. Explain that each student is required to write and present a pitch for his or her project topic. Review Student Resource 9.2, Criteria: Pitch, with the students to make sure they understand the grading expectations for their pitch. Have students begin to write their pitch in class, and have them finish and revise their pitch for homework, bringing in a final draft for the next class session. 10

12 CLASS PERIOD : Selecting the Pitch Each group must choose one of its student pitches to guide the production process for the 2 video. Briefly discuss with the class some selection criteria for the pitch, such as practical to produce and cohesive story arc. Ideally, each group should try to reach a consensus, but groups might need to settle for a majority vote. 1. Have each student read his or her pitch to his or her group. 2. Have each student take up to one minute to explain which pitch the group should choose and why. 3. Have each group try to reach consensus through discussion about which pitch is the one they want to produce. Let students know that they actually just need to select the lead pitch because they will be able to fold in elements from the other pitches as desired. 4. If a group can t reach consensus, work with them to guide the selection process. Help them understand which pitch makes the most sense to produce. If needed, conduct an anonymous majority vote to help the group select its pitch. After the selection process, collect the pitches and score them using Teacher Resource 9.3, Criteria: Pitch Scoring Sheet. 11

13 6 25 2: Revising the Pitch CLASS PERIOD 3 As soon as the students have selected the lead pitch for the project, they are ready to create a final version as a group. Have each group select one member to be the scribe, who will write the revised pitch with the group s input. Have the students share ideas on how to improve the chosen pitch without changing the focus of the pitch, of course. In discussing the pitch, they should add some of the best ideas from the other students pitches. In this way, they will develop the lead pitch into a final pitch that includes a lot of group input. Have the students finish the final pitch by the end of the class period Student Activity: Creating a Non-Profit Poster Have each group start a scripted outline for its video using its final pitch as a guide. Reassure students that they will have up to five class periods to complete this substantial piece of work properly. The outline should meet the target video length and other project objectives. Start by explaining the idea of a video outline to the students. Due to the project scope and time restrictions, the groups will not be developing a detailed storyboard for this project. Explain that an outline approach like this is common for smaller projects. The outline tool is part storyboard and part script. Their outlines will be made up of strips. Present Student Resource 9.3, Worksheet: Documentary Outline Strips, which includes completed examples. (For the project, use either Teacher Resource 9.4 or Word Template 9.1, Documentary Outline Strips. Choose from the two different formats, depending upon which one works better for your class situation. The Microsoft Word document is a template that students can fill out on a computer, combining and sorting the strips and then printing out complete drafts as needed. 12

14 Teacher Resource 9.4 is a document to print out for the students to write on directly. In this case, the students will cut out and rearrange the strips as needed like index cards to create the whole story arc of the project.) Explain that each strip on the outline will correspond to one sound bite in their project. Explain that on the strip for each sound bite, they need to explain what is happening visually (the video, still, or graphic image/images) and what words are being spoken on the main audio track (either the exact voice-over script or a description of an expected interview sound bite). For each sound bite, there is also a place to take notes about effects, transitions, soundtrack audio, and any other ideas for project elements. Explain that students will need to think about the images that best reinforce the sound bites and narration they want to use to cover the topic. As a rule of thumb, they should try to have a shot (or graphic or still image) for each sentence of audio. Here are some questions to you can write on the board: What images will show what the narrator and interviewees speak about? Can you shoot these images on video? Can you get existing video on these images? Where and how can you get access to the footage? If not, can you shoot stills or use existing stills? Are there simple charts or drawings that would show what people are talking about? What should they look like? How will you create them? Writing the project outline will probably involve some research, such as finding information on the Internet, reading books, or conducting pre-interviews with experts on the topic. 13

15 Review the sample project outline strips from Worksheet 9.3 with the students. These show what properly completed strips look like. Also, review Student Resource 9.4, "Rubric: Documentary Outline," so students understand the assessment criteria for their completed outline. Once students have the basic idea of how the outline strips will be written, the workload needs to be divided somewhat evenly among the group members. One way to help students understand how to divide the project is to use a meal analogy, since the video project is made up of a series of sound bites. If the whole project is a meal, then it can be seen as a series of courses (appetizer, salad, main course, dessert, etc.), and each course is made up of a series of bites. Each student will be responsible for writing the outline for one course of the meal. The next step is for the group to discuss and identify the actual courses of the video where each begins and ends, and what will happen in each one. Then they must divide the courses as evenly as possible among the group members. Circulate to make sure each student clearly understands the part of the group outline for which he or she is responsible. Optional: Have each student write a defining description of his or her course in his or her own journal. Have the students start writing the strips in their outlines. Depending on available class time and student needs, some of the outline writing can be completed as homework. 14

16 CLASS PERIOD : Drafting the Documentary Outline (continued) Have the students continue to draft the project outlines. Depending on available class time and student needs, some of the outline writing can be completed as homework. CLASS PERIOD : Completing a Rough Draft of the Documentary Online Have the students continue to draft the project outlines. Explain that they must complete a rough draft of the project outline this class period. If any students finish early, remind them that the strength of their video will depend on the strength of their outline, and have them use Student Resource 9.4, Rubric: Documentary Outline, to find ways to improve their outline. After class, evaluate each outline using Teacher Resource 9.5, Rubric: Documentary Outline. 15

17 CLASS PERIOD : Revising the Documentary Outline Return the outlines with your evaluation to the groups. Have students compare and contrast their ratings with yours. This can be done with a two-circle Venn diagram. Have students draw two large intersecting circles on a piece of paper. Within the intersection of the circles, have them list the ratings that were the same. In the circle on the left, have students list the teacher ratings that are different, and in the circle on the right, have them list their own ratings that are different. Have them think about why any of the ratings differed. Using the feedback they received on their rough draft from Teacher Resource 9.5, Rubric: Documentary Outline, have students continue to revise and improve the strips in their outline. In particular, have them work collaboratively as a group at this point to bring all of the strips up to the highest standard, creating the most compelling and cohesive story arc. At this point the students may decide to rearrange their sound bites or even whole parts of their project courses. 16

18 CLASS PERIOD : Completing the Documentary Outline Have the students continue to revise and polish the project outline. Explain that they must complete a final draft of the project outline this class period. If any group finishes early, remind the students again that the strength of their video will depend on the strength of their outline, and have them use Worksheet 9.4, Rubric: Documentary Outline, to find ways to improve their outline. Before handing in the final outline, have students number the strips in order on the lower left-hand corner so that each strip has an identified position within the outline. After class, evaluate the final draft of each outline using Teacher Resource 9.5, Rubric: Documentary Outline. Be sure to return the final drafts of the outlines to the groups because they will use these to guide the production of their projects Homework: Reflection on the Final Draft of the Documentary Outline Write the following prompts on the board for the students to write down and answer in their journals. Describe what your group improved from the rough draft to the final draft of your outline. Explain any areas of the outline that can still use some improvement. What about your story might change once you shoot video for your project? The students answers will be used to springboard the next lesson. 17

19 Extending the Lesson Extending the Lesson This section indicates possible supports for students with special needs, as well as enrichment extensions for advanced students. Additional Student Supports Cooperative learning techniques will help students with special needs succeed through peer teaching and division tasks and responsibilities. Enrichment Extensions To give students an even better idea of what makes a good documentary, have them view a documentary film of their choice, which can be rented from the video store, checked out of the public library, or seen on television. Some popular feature-length choices include: An Inconvenient Truth Buena Vista Social Club March of the Penguins Rize Spellbound Super Size Me The Heart of the Game There are also many televisions programs that are documentaries, including some found on public broadcasting networks, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and Travel Planet. Be sure students know the difference between a true documentary and a magazine-style show. For extra credit, have students write up a review of the documentary, with a focus on effective use of the production techniques they have learned so far. 18

20 Extending the Lesson As an alternative, give students a list of suggested readings and have them write a paragraph in their journals summarizing the reading they chose. Acting with a Pencil: Storyboarding Your Movie. The Complete Eejit s Guide to Film-making, Adobe Digital Kids Club. Preproduction. Introduction to Digital Video, Adobe Digital Kids Club. The Making of a Movie. Introduction to Digital Video, Adobe Digital Kids Club. Getting Started: Seven Steps for Digital Storytelling. Introduction to Digital Video, Okazaki, Ricky. Creating a Storyboard for Video Production. University of Hawaii, www2.hawaii.edu/~ricky/etec/storyboarding.html 19