Shot

Analysis Video Essay Project (MCS 273)

NAME:

5: Expert/Excellent; 4: Advanced/Good; 3.75: Basic/Satisfactory; 3.53.0: Needs Significant Work; 2: Barely Acceptable; 1: Unacceptable

PROPOSAL (5%) DUE by the deadline specified on the course site; returned the following class period.

VIDEO ESSAY: BASICS (5%)

ON TIME: The video essay should be submitted by the deadline specified on the course site. TITLE: Preceding the video should be a title that draws in the reader and reflects the creators' argument. Some form of NARRATION should properly lead the viewers through the argument. LENGTH: about 4.5 min (not underdeveloped, not excessive) indicating the creator has control over the argument.

VIDEO ESSAY: ARGUMENT, EXECUTION, ETC. (10%)

THE THESIS should be easy to locate, arguable, clearly stated, and able to be supported with evidence. FORMAL ELEMENTS/QUANTITY: While it may necessarily focus more on some than others, the video essay should touch on all four stylistic elements of film art (mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound). ACCURACY: The author of video essay should accurately identify the formal elements throughout the video essay. QUALITY: All evidence should relate to the thesis; there should be no question about its purpose or significance. STYLE: The project should be aesthetically pleasing. The author should consider formal issues in addition to content (i.e., the creator must consider ideas of image, voice, pacing, text, sound, music, montage, rhythm, etc.). Edits/transitions should be clean, functioning as guideposts, leading the reader from one point to another. Sound should be loud enough that the viewer doesn't have to strain to hear.

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT: BASICS (2%)
ON TIME: The supplemental report should be submitted by the deadline specified on the course site. LENGTH: roughly 4 pages (not underdeveloped, not excessive), indicating the creator has control over the argument. FILM TITLES (and titles of TV shows, books, newspapers, journals, websites) should be underlined or italicized. ACTORS' NAMES and the DIRECTOR/RELEASE DATE should be placed in parentheses the first time they are cited.

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT: ARGUMENT, EXECUTION, ETC. (8%)

CONTENT/GOAL: This paper should serve as an accompaniment to your visual presentation and a continuation of your argument. It should include pertinent evidence/information, images, dialogue, etc. the shot analysis/video essay may have omitted because of the time constraint (e.g., why the author selected certain clips/images and ignored others, why s/he took on the argument s/he did, and what others might say in response). The author might also consider the project's aesthetics: the ordering, shot/scene transitions used, background music and narration style chosen, etc. and how these decisions support the thesis and the overall scope of the video essay. CONCLUSION: The essay should sum up the project and ask the viewer to think further about the film, messages, etc. A BIBLIOGRAPHY should be included at the end of the video essay project or in the report. GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, ETC.: Responses should be free of mechanical, syntactical, grammatical, and punctuation errors that make it difficult and tedious to read. Also, topic sentences and transition words should function as guideposts, leading the reader from one point to another.

NOTES:

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