courses@JLR

WHAT

You will create a 3-10 minute video that engages with the theoretical perspectives we have studied. It may use original and/or appropriated footage and take any form, including but not limited to: a video blog, a documentary, a public service announcement, a fictional narrative, an artwork, a parody, or a remix. You’ll post your videos on the course website, and we’ll go over the available resources for producing and editing them. Keep in mind that this is not a production course, and your project doesn't have to be technically ambitious to succeed. You will be evaluated based on your incorporation of course material, the originality of your critical approach, and the effectiveness of its presentation.

WHY

The goals of this assignment are to:

• learn and mobilize some technical and formal aspects of online video
• communicate ideas creatively and visually
• experientially engage with theoretical concepts through participation
• present course concepts to a general internet audience

HOW

Here are some suggested approaches to different components of the project. There is also a page on the course website compiling links to video resources. You can meet with the professor and/or visit the tech desk in Meyer Multimedia Lab http://stucomp.stanford.edu/techdesk/hours/) for individualized guidance.

.source

You can film your own material using one of three Kodak zi8 video cameras dedicated for our class. To check one out, contact Christian at least a day in advance at cgainsley@stanford.edu (in the sub-basement of BLD 120). Remember to save your files before returning the camera: it connects a USB port and will appear like a hard drive called NO NAME (video files are in the folder DCIM). You can consult the camera manual online http://kodak.com/global/en/service/publications/urg01034toc.jhtml?pq-path=15530).

Recording your actions on the computer screen is another way to produce original source. There are various applications that do this, and you can find a tutorial on several at the blog ProfHacker http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Screencasting-101-the-Defi/22738/).

Alternately or in addition, you can use source material from existing online or digital video. There are many ways to find and download video from the internet, including services like keepvid.com that allow you to save videos from YouTube and other streaming sites. Before importing the files into an editor, you may need to convert them to a different format using a program like MPEG Streamclip http://squared5.com/).

.editing

Make sure to save an extra copy of all your source before you begin editing! Keep in mind that video can take up many GBs of space.

You may choose to edit your video on your own computer or on public computers in the multimedia lab. For public computers, you'll need a way to store your files (a portable drive or Stanford's AFS – seehttps://itservices.stanford.edu/service/afs).

Whether you have a Mac or PC, you probably already have free video editing software on your computer. See the website for links to tutorials on Windows Movie Maker and iMovie.

Remember to save frequently and keep backups while you're working on your project!

.exporting

The process of rendering and exporting a video can take an hour or two. Your program will give you various options about format and quality. For our purposes (streaming online), saving at a relatively small size will work best. You can consult some example settings for Mac programs athttp://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/webvideo/exporting/.

.copyright

I recommend that you consider applying a Creative Commons license to your work (seehttp://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/).

Since this is an educational activity offering critical commentary, you may legally use copyrighted material in your project without permission under the auspices of fair use. If you wish to take footage from a digitally protected form (like a DVD), you should be aware that the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions stipulate that cracking encryption is illegal even for the purposes of fair use.

WHERE

Our official class platform is the video plugin on the course website. To upload, you have to first select your file and then wait for it to process in the Kaltura editor (this can take some time). Then drag the thumbnail onto the timeline and save your video (you can also do any final editing here). Kaltura has tutorial videos about the interface athttp://corp.kaltura.com/userzone/tutorials. You can choose whether to make your video public or share it only with our course group.

WHEN

We will be viewing and commenting on the class’s videos at our final screening on Monday, May 24. To ensure adequate time to export and upload your project, you should plan to finish your editing by Sunday night and have a finished file of your video prepared by class time on Monday afternoon.