WRT 400: Writing with Video and Across Media

Fall 2011, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:00-8:20 p.m., HBC 227 http://patrickberry.com/wwv

Project 4 Communities at Work The theme for Project 4 is Communities at Work. It is the most open of all of our projects this semester. It is meant to evoke the idea of group of people working and living together in real or virtual spaces. It can range from family connections to protesters. Your movie should take into account the different techniques youve learned this semester and work towards producing a rhetorically sophisticated piece that illustrates your work as a filmmaker and writer. Your project can take two basic forms. 1) Create a documentary on a particular community at work, which features interviews with people. Take a look at the documentary critiquing Autism Speaks on our class blog for just one example: http://patrickberry.com/wwv/blog/ 2) Create a piece of creative nonfiction set to video that addresses, broadly speaking, the theme communities at work. Two examples to consider are Ryan Scammells A Length of Time is Measured by the Space Between Two Hands http://www.ninthletter.com/featured_artist/artist/18/ and John Breslands Watch My Feet http://www.ninthletter.com/featured_artist/artist/21/. You movie will need to be 5-7 minutes. Your will also an essay (2-3 pages) in which you introduce your movie, describe your inspiration of it, and reflect on the process of making it. Schedule Tuesday, November 15 Proposal due Discuss your idea for project 4 (approximately two pages). Identify an example or examples that illustrate some of the techniques or qualities that youd like to achieve. Email proposals to me before class. Drafts of movie due Final movie due Essay due Patrick W. Berry
pwberry@syr.edu, office: HBC 235 office hours: Tuesdays 3:00-5:00 p.m. and by appointment

Tuesday, November 29 Thursday, December 8 Friday, December 9

All work must be submitted on time. All students must submit a movie draft and participate in workshops. All movies should 1. begin with a slide that contains the title of your movie and your name. 2. feature media that you created yourself or obtained from sites such as Creative Commons. 3. conclude with a legible list of credits. 4. feature reasonably high-quality audio and video that you shot yourself. 5. incorporate a variety of shots and angles. 6. incorporate revision suggestions from workshop. 7. be 5-7 minutes 8. avoid or limit shaky filming. All essays should 1. introduce your movie (describe your inspiration for it) 2. describe your process, exploring the techniques you employed. 3. be approximately 600-900 words. (Essays will account for approximately 25% of your grade.)