Final Video Project Assignment

INQ Final Video Project:
Identify a Problem/Question and Propose a Solution/Response


Project Description

Reflect on your first semester at college. What problems have you faced and what have you learned? Brainstorm ideas that concern yourself as well as SCSU as well as college students in general (readings, class discussions, blog posts, and presentations might help with this phase.)

Out of your brainstorming, choose one topic or a set of related topics. make sure your video will not cover so much ground that it won’t go enough in-depth but also make sure your topic is broad enough to keep your viewers’ interest in the video. It can be possible to fit just about any topic into a problem/solution format, but if you are lost for a topic, feel free to choose one that we came up with in class. Make sure you come up with an original title to open your video.

The video itself should present the problem/topic/set of questions. There are many ways to sketch out your ideas in this part, including using narration, research, data, quotes, surveys, interviews, and filmed skits. Explore the nuances of the problem, not just the surface. What causes it? Why is it important? Who does it affect or matter to? What consequences stem from it? What are people trying to do about it? Why aren’t more people doing more about it? (These are just a few questions you might explore in this part of the assignment.

The video should also present some possible responses to the problem and evaluate them, pointing viewers to what you see as the best solution and why. How can this solution be implemented? What are the steps viewers need to take? What will be the effect of such an implementation? How would the lives of college students change for the better? However, also consider some obstacles that may need to be overcome in addressing the problem in this way.

Finally, the video should leave viewers with some type of closure. This might be another place to use creativity in your presentation style (perhaps by including a skit or interview or survey quotes or image/text montage). Also remember to have credits roll at the end to acknowledge any research or people that might have contributed to your project. Also, make sure you list yourself as the author/creator of the video either on your title page or as a closing signature.


Project Criteria

Your video should be 8-10 minutes long, include photo, sound, text, and video, and should be submitted in a format that can be uploaded to the internet (youtube, vimeo, blogger) and linked to or embedded on your blog.

Be sure to narrow down your focus so that the video has a clear beginning, middle, and end with a significant portion of the video devoted to exploring the problem, a significant portion devoted to possible solutions, and a significant portion devoted to the conclusion. The video should inform as well as engage. It should demonstrate creativity as well as college-level thinking. It should make some interesting concluding points, and it should provide evidence to back up those points. Finally, try to make the project unique, distinctive, and not just like everyone else's in class, both in topic/content as well as form/style.


Project Deadlines

⌾ Project Proposal due Wednesday, November 23, posted on your blog (this will count for your blog grade for the week)

⌾ Video 1st draft due Tuesday, November 29

⌾ Video 2nd drafts due December 1-December 8 (sign-up in class for a screening date)

⌾ Final Video due by the Saturday of Final Exam Week, midnight



Additional Project Resources

This assignment mirrors a problem/solution essay, so you may find it helpful to read more about that genre in thinking about how to structure your video: http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-write-problem-solution-essay

Video Projects incorporate many elements of digital storytelling, so you may find the links gathered at this page helpful: http://couros.wikispaces.com/digitalstorytelling