First Cuts Day 1

Tattoos

Chili

Dodgeball

Keeneland

4PAWS

Eventing

First Cut Presentation Time

Thursday
Tattoos
Chili
Dodgeball

Keeneland
4Paws
Eventing

Tuesday
Hockey
The Main Event
Study Abroad

Bodybuilders (Callie)
Bodybuilders (Chase)

First Cuts and Documentary Guidelines

Each Film Must have:

• A title (not "WRD 111 Documentary" but an actual title)
• 5 minutes of footage
• End credits (each group member's name and primary responsibilities)
• Citations (interview subjects; any footage, sounds, or images you took from somewhere else). Use the Purdue OWL as a guide for citing sources.

Each First Cut Presentation must:

• Feature a full-length, finished documentary video. This is not a "rough draft"
• Feature a brief spoken element from each group member (how you divide this task is up to you)
• Cover most or all of the questions below in the span of three minutes, and include a Question and Answer segment. Each group will paired with another group who will ask questions.

Questions to consider for your First Cuts presentation:

• What is the thesis and focus of your documentary? 
• What is the scope (why did you choose to focus on certain elements and ignore others? How did you decide what to cut and what to keep?)
• Who is the audience for your documentary? What do you want your audience to leave with intellectually and emotionally?
• What rhetorical choices we talked about in class did you incorporate in your film?
• What areas do you feel work best?
• What areas do you feel need improvement?
• What types of feedback would like? In other words, on which sections or elements of your documentary should we focus feedback?
• What were some elements or shots you wanted to get but couldn't? This will help us to not suggest shots that you've already considered.
• If you had an extra six months to work on this project, what would you have done differently? This is a fun question to talk about, because it lets us see the ideas you had that never made it to the documentary because of time constraints.

This is not an exhaustive list, nor is it a strict guideline; rather, use these questions to give you an idea of what your First Cuts presentation should cover.

You will also be assessed on your presentation skills. Taking into account the feedback you received from me on your Shark Tank Proposal, think about how to improve your:

• Tone, volume, and projection
• Eye contact, posture, and hand placement
• Pacing, spacing, usage of the room, and movement

Group Meeting Schedule

Tuesday
2:00 Hockey Team
2:20 Chili Cook-Off
2:40 Study Abroad

3:15 Service Dogs
3:35 Bodybuilders (Randi)

Thursday
2:00 The Main Event
2:20 Dodgeball
2:40 Tattoos

3:15 Keeneland
3:35 Eventing
3:55 Bodybuilders (Jon)

Remaining Schedule

As our semester comes to an end, I thought it might be helpful to outline how our remaining class periods will play out. At this point, we are done with any lecture-style class periods, and will spend class time working, meeting, or presenting.

November 6:
Schedule Group meetings. Group work time. Filming Day.

GROUPS SHOULD HAVE SOME FILMING DONE

November 11:
Group Meetings, part one. Each group needs to bring as much footage as possible for us to watch during class.

November 13:
Group Meetings, part two.

GROUPS SHOULD HAVE ALL FILMING DONE

November 18:
Editing Week. Any groups who wish to work at the Media Depot (or at home) must post a group work photo from that day. This is for attendance purposes.

November 20:
Editing Week. Any groups who wish to work at the Media Depot (or at home) must post a group work photo from that day.

GROUPS SHOULD HAVE FINISHED EDITING

November 25:
NO CLASS, Thanksgiving holiday break.

December 2:
Group presentation guidelines, presented by Eleanor. Schedule First Cuts presentation times.

GROUPS SHOULD HAVE PRESENTATIONS SCRIPTED AND OUTLINED

December 4:
First Cuts presentation, day one.

December 9:
First Cuts presentation, day two.

December 11:
Food party day! We will have some snacks and you will complete evaluation forms for this class. Please bring your laptop/tablet/device so you can complete all evaluations in class.

Finals Week:
NO CLASS. Final Cuts of your group's documentary, as well as your personal reflection essay, will be due by December 19 at noon. Anything submitted later than this will earn a zero.

Homework for 11-6

For Thursday, beyond continuing to work on your films, please read the chapter "Using Evidence" from our course textbook: The Town Branch Writer. Chapter 10 begins on page 310. There is no blog post associated with this assignment, simply read and think about the evidence (interviews) you're collecting, and how you might use it.

Interviewing Basics

As you begin filming, here are some tips and techniques for conducting successful interviews.