Name: Class: Date: Digital Documentary

Transcription

1 Name: Class: Date: 1 Digital Documentary You will be creating a digital documentary to share with your fellow classmates on the research you conduct on the topic you choose. The simple definition of documentary is nonfiction film. You will integrate your knowledge and visual literacy by combining images, words, voice and/or music into a digital format with the Microsoft Movie Maker. You will also need to use a research folder (see page 3) to keep track of your work, resources, and materials. As you go through this project, use this checklist to guide you: Have I done enough research using many resources to create my digital documentary? Are the images that I used interesting and compelling for telling my digital documentary? Is my script fluid? Is the information I share rich with fascinating details from the topic I chose to research? Did I include all the components of my digital documentary: Engaging title Organization Meaningful information gathered through research Point of view The Seven Elements of Digital Documentaries Bibliography of resources

2 2 I. What is my topic? Teacher evaluation: *************************************************************************************************** II. Pre Search: Gather some general resources and information to help develop your research questions (see below). Note: Only use printed material such as books and encyclopedias during presearch. Please do not use the internet until your research questions have been written and approved. Feel free to construct and use your Research Folder (see page 3) to begin listing your references. *************************************************************************************************** III. What research questions will I use in this project to share in my digital documentary? For example, if I chose to research crystals, my questions might be: What are crystals? How are crystals formed? Where are crystals found? And why? How are crystals different from rocks? (What are geodes?) What are the various uses for crystals today? My Research Questions: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Teacher evaluation: **************************************************************************************************

3 3 Outside Front Back of 2 Cover of 2 Pocket Pocket Folder Folder Name: Class: Completed Color Coded Research Note Cards Inside the 2 Pocket Folder Background Research References Research Questions

4 4 IV. Research: Use your research folder and find out as much about your topic as possible. Be sure to answer each of your research questions thoroughly. Note: 1. Remember, you are conducting research! This means you must use many references from different books, periodicals, web sites, and more. 2. As you research and complete the research fact cards, please keep the following in mind: No more than 2 sentences per note card, and be sure to use your own words (please do not steal the words from the authors of the books you are gathering research from). Teacher evaluation: *************************************************************************************************** The Seven Elements of a Digital Documentary These elements will give you guidance in writing your script and constructing your documentary: Point (of view) Documentaries are told to make a point and share knowledge. Dramatic Structure Reflect your true voice. Don t allow your writing to become too complicated. Grab the audience with important points, depth, and descriptive language. Emotional Content Why is this research so important and inspiring? Share reality with your audience. The Gift of Your Voice Your voice in your documentary should be strong and sure. Practice your recording voice by reading you script several times. The Power of the Soundtrack Music can set the mood for our documentary, establish a rhythm, and change the way we perceive visual information. Economy Consider your images with meaning; which truly relates to your narration. To illustrate your documentary effectively, use a small number of images. You will use a storyboard and look at every possible way to edit your words and then choose your images wisely. Pacing The rhythm of your script and images will determine what sustains the audience s interest. Changing the pace is very effective. You should include pauses, starts, stops, and stretches of conversation. ***************************************************************************************************

5 V. Script: What will it take to bring about engaging and powerful writing? Use your research index cards: Organize your fact cards in a sequence that will flow effectively in your documentary. Make sure that you are teaching your audience things they may not already know or are sharing interesting facts with them. Add more facts where you think there aren t enough. Think of your audience as you compose the script: Create powerful leads in each section of your documentary to grab the attention of your audience. Incorporate rich descriptive language. Create effective transitions in your writing. To ensure that your digital documentary is about 3 minutes when narrated, your script should be no more that 1½ - 2 double space typed pages. Re-read your script: Is there anything you need to add to make your script extraordinary? Is there anything you need to delete to help with the sequence and flow of your script (write tightly economically)? 5 Teacher evaluation: *************************************************************************************************** VI. Choosing Digital Images: Find images to enhance your documentary. Create a folder in your My Documents (on the network your student log-in) and copy the images into that folder. Be sure to re-name each of the files so you remember what file is what image. Be sure that the images that you insert into the documentary are: Relevant to your research Clear and viewable - no smaller than 200 x 200 pixels. For example: 600 x 512 pixels - 124k It s important to click into: See full-size image before copying the picture. Don t forget to copy the URL to site the source of the image you used. Paste it under the image in a text box. Be sure that there are not too many images that your audience loses focus on the narration in your documentary but also not too few images that your audience doesn t have enough pictorial support of your research. By the way, images or symbols can be used to illustrate a point (sadness = broken flower). Please note: before importing the images to Microsoft Movie Maker, you must resize all your images to, at the most, Web Large (640 x 480 px). Otherwise, you will have issues of freezing due to excessive amounts of data. Teacher This document evaluation: uses excepts from Joe lamberts

6 6 VII. Creating a Storyboard: Use the storyboard template on pages 7, 8, & 9 to help plan your documentary. Suggestions: Let the images speak for themselves and use the words to say the rest. In general, 3 4 seconds is about the ideal length for any still image to appear on the screen. Too short, and the audience might have a hard time recognizing what s being shown; too long, and boredom can set in. Question; can a script be cut down and the image left to speak the missing words? VIII. Choosing a Soundtrack: You are going to choose a soundtrack to play as a background for your digital documentary. Instrumental music is better suited to the style and meaning of your script. You don t want the music to overshadow and distract your audience from your documentary. You may use the following legal free music download sites, or choose to create your own soundtrack (i.e. Garageband): o o o IX. We will be using Windows Movie Maker and Audacity to create your documentary. Please note: before importing the images to Microsoft Movie Maker, you must resize all your images to, at the most, Web Large (640 x 480 px). Otherwise, you will have issues of freezing due to excessive amounts of data. Please note: remember to SAVE and save often! X. Bibliography: The last part of your documentary will be a bibliography page. Please be sure to use the MLA format. Use page 10 as a guide to help you with this format. XI. Title: The title you choose for your Digital Documentary should capture the essence of the piece and creates interest XII. Finalize XIII. Celebrate your success!!! Teacher evaluation:

7 Project Title: 7 Audio (words or sentence) Time (mins., secs.) Image/Video (file name)

8 8 Audio (words or sentence) Time (mins., secs.) Image/Video (file name)

9 9 Audio (words or sentence) Time (mins., secs.) Image/Video (file name)

10 10 A bibliography is an alphabetical list of all the sources you have consulted for an essay or research paper. You must list the sources in a specific MLA format, which is documented below. Use this guide to help you create your bibliography. List citations in alphabetical order by the last name of the author. If there is no author, alphabetize by title. Book with 1 author: Author. Title. City of publication: Publisher, Date. Robinson, Adam. What Smart Students Know. New York: Crown Paperbacks, Book with 2 or more authors: Authors. Title. City of publication: Publisher, Date. Parker, Derek and Julia Barker. Atlas of the Supernatural. New York: Prentice Hall, Encyclopedia: Author (if given). Title of Article. Title of book or publication. Edition year ed. Pope, Clifford. Crocodile. World Book ed. Internet Source: Author. Title. Date of posting. <URL> Bradshaw, Gary S. Wilbur and Orville Wright. Oct < Magazine: Author(s). Title of Article. Name of Magazine. Date: Page numbers. Satchell, Michael. To Save the Sequoias. Newsweek. 7 Oct. 1996: Newspaper: Author. Title of article. Name of Newspaper. Date: Pages. Murphy, Sean. It Floats. New York Times. 21 May 1999: A1+B13. Video: Title. Director or producer. Medium. Distributor, Date. Eyewitness: Planets. Dir. Alex Hearle. Videocassette. DK Vision, CD-ROM: Author (if given). Title of section. Title of publication. CD-ROM. Edition, release, or version. City of publication: Publisher, year. King, Martin Luther, Jr. The Best Electronic Encyclopedia. CD-ROM ed. New York: Home Town Publishing, Interview: Person interviewed. Type of interview (personal, telephone,..). Date. Parsons, Mary. Telephone interview. 30 May 1998.