Assignments

revised 11/09/09

FINAL STORY ASSIGNMENTS
11/09/09

BLOG POST 9
due midnight Sunday, Nov. 15

•    First Five Graphs text story
•    video sequence with edited video and audio
•    post on news blog

FINAL PROJECT IDEAS
due midnight Sunday, Nov. 15

•    short summary of one or more final project proposals
•    post on news blog

BLOG POST 10
due midnight Sunday, Nov. 22

•    First Five Graphs text story
•    video sequence with edited video and audio
•    post on news blog

FINAL PROJECT
due midnight Sunday, Dec. 13

Assignment: Create a multimedia news package based on your original reporting.  It must include a video package, text, still photos and any other multimedia elements of your choosing.

The minimum contents are:
•    text story of 750 words or more, First Five Graphs format
•    at least 4 sources, including at least 2 non-students
•    edited video package with audio, 2 minutes or more
•    photo slideshow with edited audio
•    one or more still photos with cutlines

Optional contents include:
•    sidebar text stories
•    additional video
•    additional slideshows
•    additional photos
•    audio clips
•    infographics
•    links to other sites

Post your finished project on your news blog.

#  #  #

Video Shooting Assignment

For this assignment you are to shoot a sequence of video. Your sequence will show someone performing some type of action. What the action is doesn’t really matter. It can be someone walking into a room and logging on to a computer to surf the Web. It can be someone making a sandwich. It can be someone making something. Just make sure a sequence of actions is involved and that the overall sequence is long enough to get a variety of shots from.

It might be helpful to think of a story statement to keep you focused on the sequence.

Make sure you record a variety of shots (wide, medium and close). Explore different camera angles and composition. Remember to record each shot for 9-10 seconds.

Bring your tape with your recorded sequence shots to class Wednesday, Nov. 4.

X  X  X

PRESENTATIONS ASSIGNMENT
revised 11/01/09

OBJECTIVE—A media firm has hired your consulting group to research and design the multimedia news sites for the future. You have been assigned to three teams looking into different aspects of this task and asked to prepare three 10-minute presentations. The first two presentations will be based on your review of all online media. The last presentation will assign you to critique a specific online site. To ensure the best ideas are brought to the table, your bosses have tasked three more teams within the company to make simultaneous presentations on the same subjects. In other words, you are competing with your peers.  After each presentation, your co-workers will vote on which team delivered the more compelling presentation for inclusion in the consulting group’s final report.

GRADING—Your three presentations will account for 15% of your final grade. Presentations 5 and 6 will be assigned twice as many points as the first four presentations. Your instructors will determine 60% of your grade on each assignment, and your classmates will determine the remaining 40%. The team with the most votes will receive extra points. Members of the presenting teams will not participate in the voting. Team membership will be rotated throughout the semester. The grade assigned by your instructors will be based on an evaluation of 1) your presentation of the problem or challenge, 2) your discussion of the solution, 3) examples of current practices, both good and bad, 4) the conclusions you reach, 5) the creativity and practicality of your suggestions, and 6) the participation of all team members.

SCHEDULE—All presentations are scheduled during Wednesday class sessions, in the following order:

Sept. 23
Presentation 1: Future of Online News
•    Team 1—Emily Calhoun, Emily Payne, Kyle Salomon
•    Team 2—Brittany Creedon, Bryan Dugan, Chinh Doan

Sept. 30
Presentation 2: Role of Audio/Radio
•    Team 3—Kathleen Evans, Scott Moehlenbrock, Dusty Somers
•    Team 4—Stephanie Brooks, Jason Johnson, Karlie Tipton

Oct. 14
Presentation 3: Role of Visual Journalism
•    Team 1—Calhoun, Creedon, Evans
•    Team 2—Johnson, Payne, Dugan

Oct. 21
Presentation 4: Role of Information Graphics
•    Team 3—Moehlenbrock, Doan, Tipton
•    Team 4—Salomon, Somers, Brooks

Nov. 18
Presentation 5: Oklahoma Gazette (Managing Editor Rodd Lott will attend)
•    Team 1—Brooks, Calhoun, Doan
•    Team 2—Creedon, Johnson, Moehlenbrock

Nov. 23
Presentation 6: Oklahoma Observer (Editor Arnold Hamilton will attend
•    Team 3—Dugan, Evans, Salomon
•    Team 4—Payne, Somers, Tipton

HINTS—Presentation 1 is a big picture exercise designed to get you to think about the new world of online news dissemination, what works and what doesn’t, where the industry seems to be headed, and what kind of online news site our client should develop. In this and all of the presentations, you will want to display live websites and explain why they are either good or bad examples of current practices. Presentations 2-4 focus on a particular subset of online news. You should research their existing use, show examples and present your conclusions about “best practices” for the future. Presentations 5 and 6 ask you to critique a specific website and make recommendations to its editor. You should try to keep the publication’s journalistic mission and target audience in mind when making your recommendations.

RESOURCES

Click here to download Word document with hyperlinks

Research
State of the News Media
Pew Internet and American Life Project

Award Winners
Online News Association
National Press Photographers Association

Institutes, Educators
Knight Digital Media Center at Berkeley
Mindy McAdams
Poynter Institute

Agenda-Setting News Websites
New York Times
Multimedia
Video
Washington Post
Photo
Chicago Tribune
Rocky Mountain News
Las Vegas Sun

Multimedia Blogs
Visual Journalist
Online Journalist
Media Storm
Innovative Interactivity

#  #  #

Blog Post 7 Assignment
Oct. 26, 2009

•    Check out a camera and microphone.
•    Log your Crisis PR or Fort Sill videos.
•    Pick one or two responses that can be packaged into a short video
•    clip. 60 to 90 seconds would be ideal.
•    Record a narrated intro and signoff.
•    Watch these PaceSetter tutorials:
o    Creating lower thirds in Final Cut Pro
o    Export Final Cut Pro sequence to post on Blogger
o    Posting your video clip on Blogger
•    Log & Capture the Crisis PR or Fort Sill clip, leaving enough video at the front and back end to accommodate your intro and signoff.
•    Log & Capture your narration.
•    Insert the narration track on the timeline.
•    Edit the audio and video tracks.
•    Add lower thirds to identify the press conference participants.
•    Export the finished video clip and post on Blogger.

#  #  #

CRISIS PR ASSIGNMENT
10/05/09

The following students have signed up to participate in the Crisis PR press conferences from noon to 1:20 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, in Room 3150 of Gaylord Hall.

•    Steph Brooks
•    Emily Calhoun
•    Kathleen Evans
•    Emily Payne
•    Kyle Salomon
•    Dusty Somers
•    Karlie Tipton

These press conferences are being held during one session of Professor Shari Veil’s upper-level Crisis PR class. She will assign her students to teams that will attempt to defend a client involved in a questionable or controversial news event.

Here’s your assignment:

•    Check out a camera, external mic and tripod before the class.
•    Meet Darcy outside Room 3150 at 11:55 a.m. sharp. You will be docked points if you show up late.
•    You will be assigned one crisis response team to cover, but I expect you to participate in the questioning of all of the teams.
•    You will need to read your assigned crisis scenario quickly, formulate some questions, set up your camera and record enough video to be able to assemble a short video report on your assigned team.
•    You should record a variety of camera shots, not just one static, wide-angle shot of the team making its presentation. Get some close-ups of the participants and people in the audience, using a variety of camera angles. Get some B-roll footage of papers on the podium, the entry to the classroom, etc. You’ll need to detach your camera from the tripod at times and get up close. Don’t worry about blocking someone’s view, and feel free to move around a lot.
•    You are expected to ask tough questions so your crisis team can’t just stick to its prepared talking points during the presentation. Part of your grade will be based on participation.
•    You are also expected to participate aggressively in the questioning of other teams.
•    When the class is over, be sure to keep your mini-DV tape so you can work with it later. You’ll receive more instructions from us on what kind of video to assemble.

Here’s an example of the kind of crisis situation Shari’s students will be attempting to defend:

Crisis 9: Twenty-three cases of what had been thought to be stomach flu have now been connected to salmonella-contaminated chicken at your client’s Bricktown restaurant. Thirty-eight patrons are waiting for the results of their tests, and more customers are going to the hospital with similar symptoms. While no one has died, Carter Bryant, age four, is in critical condition. Past health inspection reports cited the restaurant for not having the rotisserie hot enough to kill the bacteria.

#  #  #

PROJECTS ASSIGNMENTS

You will be assigned a Midterm Project and a Final Project. These assignments will be similar to your blog posts, but they will contain longer stories with more extensive multimedia components. The Midterm Project must include an audio slide show, text, still photos and any other multimedia elements you prepare. Your Final Project must contain a video package, text, still photos and any other elements you choose to include. On the weeks your projects are due, you will not do a regular blog post.

MIDTERM PROJECT
Deadline: midnight Sunday, Oct. 25
Assignment: Create a multimedia news package designed for online display. It can be a straight news story or a news feature. It must be based on your original reporting and include a photo slideshow, audio clip, text story, additional still photos and any other multimedia elements you want to include.
The minimum contents are:
•    text story of 750 words or more
•    photo slideshow (silent audio track)
•    audio clip
•    one or more additional still photos with cutlines (captions)
Optional contents include:
•    sidebar text stories
•    more slideshows and photos
•    more audio clips
•    infographics
•    links to other sites
Post your finished project on your news blog. (We will teach you how to embed audio clips and Soundslides projects in Blogger.)

FINAL PROJECT
MIDTERM PROJECT
Deadline: midnight Sunday, Dec. 13
Assignment: Create a multimedia news package based on your original reporting.  It must include a video package, text, still photos and any other multimedia elements of your choosing.
The minimum contents are:
•    edited video package with audio, 2 minutes or more
•    photo slideshow with edited audio
•    text story of 750 words or more
•    one or more still photos with cutlines
Optional contents include:
•    sidebar text stories
•    additional video
•    slideshows
•    additional photos
•    audio clips
•    infographics
•    links to other sites
Post your finished project on your news blog. (We will teach you how to embed video files in Blogger.)

#  #  #

revised 09/29/09

BLOG POST 5 INSTRUCTIONS

Blog Post 5 is due midnight Sunday, Oct. 4. It consists of two separate posts:

1) Your completed audio file. The steps involved in this process are explained in the PaceSetter tutorials on Capturing Audio Clips, Export Audio from a Video Clip, Converting an Audio Clip’s File Format, and Embedding MP3s on Blogger.

2) A description of your Midterm Project plan (more than one idea is OK). Your project will consist of a long story, a slideshow that contains 10-30 still photographs, and an audio clip.

#  #  #

OUTSIDE-CLASS ASSIGNMENT
Sept. 20, 2009

You are required to participate in at least one of these outside-of-class events:

Crisis PR Press Conferences
noon-1:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, Gaylord 3150

Fort Sill Press Officer Training
10:30 a.m.-noon, Friday, Oct. 23, various locations

Fort Sill Press Officer Training
10:30 a.m.-noon, Friday, Dec. 4

Alternative Assignment
(description and date negotiated with instructor)

You only need to sign up for one of these options.

In each case, your assignment is to attend, report and videotape a confrontational press conference on behalf of your news organization. You are expected to participate in the questioning and prepare a multimedia news package about the event you covered.

I encourage you to choose one of the first three options. If your schedule doesn’t allow you to do so, you and I will need to negotiate an alternative assignment that requires you to do essentially the same thing, but at a different time and place.

The Crisis PR Press Conferences are held during one session of Professor Shari Veil’s upper-level Crisis PR class. She will assign her students to teams that will attempt to defend a client involved in a questionable or controversial news event.

The Fort Sill Press Officer Training sessions are part of a day-long program designed to help Army press officers experience what they might encounter in a press briefing involving a sensitive military incident or operation.

We will provide you with more information about these events and your assignment as the dates draw near.

#  #  #

Research
State of the News Media
Pew Internet and American Life Project

Award Winners
Online News Association
National Press Photographers Association

Institutes, Educators
Knight Digital Media Center at Berkeley
Mindy McAdams
Poynter Institute

Agenda-Setting News Websites
New York Times
Multimedia
Video
Washington Post
Photo
Chicago Tribune
Rocky Mountain News
Las Vegas Sun

Multimedia Blogs
Visual Journalist
Online Journalist
Media Storm
Innovative Interactivity

#  #  #

PWOP ASSIGNMENT
Sept. 3, 2009

DUE: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009
WHERE: Bring JPG images to class

PORTRAIT WITHOUT A PERSON

OBJECTIVE—This exercise is designed to train your mind to “see” more intently.  At work and at home, most people surround themselves with visual clues to their character. The clues might include framed photos of family members camping in the woods, or a computer monitor framed with Post-it notes. (The family photos suggest a person who loves her family and is active on the weekends; the Post-it notes suggest a person who is either very busy or has trouble keeping track of his schedule.) These visual clues give viewers an insight into who these people are.

TASK—Take a picture of someone without that person in the photo. Look around the person’s home or office to discover the visual clues with which they surround themselves. For this assignment (and this assignment only), you may move or position objects (with the permission of the person). In other words, you may stage the photo, which normally is not allowed in photojournalism. Use photographic elements such as composition, focal point and depth of field in your execution of this assignment.

HINT—If you are photographing a setting you see every day, it may be more difficult to notice the subtle visual clues than if you were shooting in a fresh and new surrounding. Once you pick a setting, notice the “surface” items, such as pens on a desk, a calendar underneath. Then, look closer. Keep looking until you begin to “see” the person. The goal is to discover the small details that tell the story about this person. Then, start to shoot or arrange the elements.

GRADING
•    Photographic technique
(composition, focal point, depth of field, focal point)
•    Photoshop skills
(cropping, printing, contrast, resolution)
•    Story selection
(conceptual skills, content)
•    Storytelling skill
(image choice, viewer appeal)

IMAGE SPECS
•    72 dpi
•    600 pixels on the long edge
•    Use a file name like ViethSOP.jpg

RESOURCES
•    JMC Website—PaceSetter—Courses—JMC 3003—Sony HDR-HC9
•    (coming soon) PaceSetter—Courses—JMC 3003—Multimedia Concepts—Photo Composition
•    Sony HDR-HC9 manual (posted on class website)

#  #  #

SELF-BIO
08/26/09

Write Self-Bio of 500 words or more. Write it like a feature story. Use a creative lead. Make it revealing. Tell me something distinctive about you. Your story doesn’t need to focus exclusively on your interest and experience in journalism or your career goals, but mention them in passing so I’ll know where you are headed. Let me know how this class fits into the trajectory of your life. (If you’ve written a Self-Bio for me in a previous class, pretend you’ve never met me before.) Format your story as a Word document. The filename should start with your last name, like this: ViethSelfBio.doc.  Use double spacing in this and every other Word text document you turn in for this class. At the top of the first page, include the following information, substituting your name, etc.:

Self-Bio
Warren Vieth
wvieth@ou.edu
Aug. 26, 2009
523 words

Upload your Word file to the Self-Bio Dropbox in D2L by midnight Sunday, Aug. 30.

#  #  #