Video op-doc assignment
Opinion-Documentary (op-doc) (From Professor Renstrom’s RH104 couse)
Either alone or with a partner, shoot and edit a 5-7-minute-long “op-doc” that covers and offers commentary on some aspect(s) of the Digital Revolution that you have personally observed or engaged in during your time in London. For example, you could focus on car-sharing apps or autonomous vehicles, video games, virtual or augmented reality, life extension, human-machine merging, human-robot/machine interactions, data harvesting, social media, or many other potential topics. Any topic that explores technology or humanity in the Digital Revolution works—just be sure to be specific and coherent in your focus. Note: If you work with a partner, you will both receive the same grade.
The Form: You will have a take or main point on the topic (the opinion part) that you’re looking to demonstrate via the footage and the commentary (the documentary part). You’ll incorporate researched evidence as well as personal elements, such as photos, videos, and/or voice-overs. In this assignment, you’re not just trying to persuade viewers–you’re also trying to teach them and move them through imagery and sound. In achieving the three aims of informing, persuading, and moving viewers, you will demonstrate an understanding of pathos, ethos, and logos, as well as how to employ those rhetorical techniques across mediums.
Requirements: Combine firsthand (taken by you) video footage and/or photos with effective captions and/or voice-over narration, as well as sound effects and/or music to provide an compelling opinion informed by experience and research.
Research: In at least three points during your op-doc, you should refer to information you found via research that helps inform the point you’re making. Perhaps you want to use a statistic or a result from a scientific study in a caption or voice-over, etc. You can refer to course readings as well.
Filming: Capture far more photos, sounds, and video than you think you need. Make sure moving shots are stable. Make conscious choices in terms of distance, angle, lighting, color, depth, movement (pan, tilt, zoom in, pull out) as you film. Take advantage of the city and landscapes around you, and get footage that colorfully and compelling illustrates whatever point you’re making about the Digital Revolution. Having a partner to help film—especially if you’re narrating or demonstrating something about that place—can be very helpful!
Editing/Post-production: Edit your material in accordance with logical, deliberate organization. You’ll order sequences of shots/clips, create transitions, include voice-over and soundtrack, supply captions, change the duration and pacing of images and clips, etc. You should know how to do the following:
• Create dissolves or fades/other transitions between clips/frames
• Sync good quality voice-over over images/video—be precise, articulate, employ appropriate vocal emphasis, pacing, etc.
• Provide captions where necessary
• Pace the video in an engaging and appropriate way
• Add emotionally appropriate soundtrack, sourced according to copyright laws
• Fade between musical clips/audio soundtrack
• Compose and select good quality clips (no shaking/good lighting)
• Compose images and audio in a logical and coherent order
• Use establishing shots (for environments), long shots, close-ups, pans, tilts, and other camera angles in a way that supports the content (B-roll shots)
Artist Statement: A ~2 paragraph description of your video, its purpose, and your interest in and motivation to explore the topic, as well as a description of your approach and methodology in putting the video together. Essentially, you want to cover the what, why, where, and how. Artist statements often reveal the personality of the artist in word choice, tone, and style. If you worked with a partner, please also specific who did what. You’ll submit this statement on Blackboard, along with a Bibliography (unless you’ve put yours in the “credits” slide) AND a link to the video. Since you’ve only got 1-2 paragraphs to describe your work, please pay attention to every word and punctuation mark.
Citations: Present the bibliography as end credits in your video OR submit a written Bibliography with the artist’s statement. Either way, it must be properly formatted in Chicago style!
Remember to use signal phrases in your voice-overs (ie, introduce information orally by saying something like, “according to a study done at the University of London, 38% of people…”). You can also indicate the author’s last name after a direct quote or after paraphrased information in a caption (ie, “38% of people experience debilitating technostress” ~ Joe Smith). You can also cite an image or information on the bottom of the slide itself (like a footnote).
Submission: You can uphold your video to Blackboard, YouTube, Digication, or any other site. You must submit your Artist Statement with a link to the uploaded video to Blackboard.
We’ll work on these projects during the last week of class, so bring your laptop.
Due Sun, June 30 by 11:59 pm EST / Boston time
Rubric
Artist Statement: 10%
• Describes the motivation for the project
• Describes the methodology/process for planning and filming
• Articulates the target audience
• Specifies who did what (if you worked with a partner)
• Well-written and polished (no errors)
• Reflects critical thinking about visual rhetoric, ethos, pathos, logos, etc.
Hook/opening (attention-getting, compelling, thematically consistent): 5%
Main idea/take on the topic (the “opinion” part of the doc): 10%
Supplementary research: 10%
• Uses 3 sources found via research (stats, quotes, background, etc)
• Thoughtfully chosen for the audience and medium
• Supports the argument
Logical organization: 5%
Conclusion (thought-provoking, compelling, consistent): 5%
Attention to design principles (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity): 5%
• Contrast (of colors, sizes, etc.)
• Font type, size, and color
• Alignment on the slide
• Proximity/juxtaposition of information on a slide
• Thematic/design consistency
• Slides not too crowded
• Easy to read (font, color, etc)
A-roll footage: 15%
• Well delivered (doesn’t sound robotic, doesn’t sound like you’re reading, has personality, well enunciated/articulated, good use of volume, good use of pacing, etc.)
• Narration explains and analyzes evidence / observations (to support the main idea)
• Footage is well-staged and filmed (not shaky, doesn’t cut off the top of one’s head, etc)
B-roll visuals: 10%
• Visuals are well-chosen and match the A-roll (ie, an image of a cab if the narrator is talking about
transportation)
• Visuals are smoothly integrated into, or overlaid on top of, the A-roll
• Provides establishing shots of locations for context
Sound: 5%
• Sound effects have a clear purpose
• Song(s), if used, have a clear purpose
• Appropriate for the audience
• Match the visuals
• Help support the argument
Post-production/editing: 10%
• Transitions (dissolves/fades) between visual cuts are smooth
• Transitions between audio cuts are smooth
• Noises such as car horns or dogs barking have been removed
• Background noise has been removed
• Captions if/where necessary (and properly spelled, etc)
Bibliography / Credits: 5%
• ALL outside sources cited (information, photos, videos, sounds, songs, etc.)
• Properly formatted in Chicago style
• Evidence introduced in captions or voice-over where appropriate/helpful
Overall effect/feeling of video (think of this as the visual equivalent of “tone” or “mood”): 5%
• Appropriate for the audience and for the argument
• Achieves desired effect (to surprise, sadden, galvanize, etc)
Examples (professional quality)
“Ley Lines and Avebury Henge, the Better Version of Stonehenge” by Tom Scott
“No Guns for Christmas” by Stephen Bognar and Julia Reichert
https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000003413703/no-guns-for-christmas.html?playlistId=100000003465284
Student example
Helpful videos
Sample Artist Statement:
I am drawn to old places that have been around so long they look out of place in newer neighborhoods. That tension between how an older building looks and feels and how the recent constructions around it look and feel reveals a history of social, cultural, and economic changes. Some buildings seem like they’ve been forgotten by the passage of time while everything has evolved around them. I love those buildings—they’re like time capsules, and I’m always sad to see them get torn down or renovated.
In this video I juxtapose footage of old buildings that feel left behind with footage of newer buildings that symbolize the breakneck pace of technological advancement. I wanted viewers to see and to analyze the contrast—what, exactly, is different between the two? What do those differences suggest about the direction of our society? I made musical choices that suggest reverence for these works of architecture and their importance in our ever-changing society. In an attempt to make the view feel something for these buildings, I chose slower music with live instruments, rather than something electronic or fast-paced. Similarly, many of my camera shots are slow and lingering, which contrasts with the fast pace at which everything else moves. Ultimately, I hope to get across the point that new doesn’t always mean better, and that we can find beauty in battered old porches or cluttered storefronts—as long as they’re still standing and as long as we’re willing to look.