Image and Music Movie Project

Your assignment is to make a music video (which operates as entertainment, argument, and overview) of at least 3 minutes length, in a style of successive image collage.

Purpose: To use images and music and make a visual/aural argument that disputes or fights against a teenager stereotype of your choice. So think about how you believe your generation or age is often represented (perhaps in popular culture), talked about (by adults, teachers, or someone else), or in some way viewed pessimistically or poorly. Which stereotype or assumption pisses you off the most (anger can be a great, creative motivator). Focus in on something fairly specific and then work to prove the stereotype wrong, show the contrast, or at least, show how there is more complexity to the truth behind the assumption.

This is very general and broad, hence everyone’s will be different and perhaps also accomplish a much more specific purpose, which is, of course, entirely up to you.

Audience and Context: The audience in your mind should be people most likely to have that stereotype in mind. But who’s really going to see it? At the very least you must upload your video to your Purdue website where you are free to promote it as much or as little as you like. I’d also encourage you to upload the final video to Youtube (students have done this in the past to great effect). Finally, with your permissions, I’d like to upload all the videos to a page on my website. All these contexts will open up your video to a range of new audiences, and therefore, this must be considered rhetorically.

Video Requirements:

You will be using Windows Movie Maker, which allows you to make a slideshow like presentation of pictures with music playing in the background.

Your movie must be the entire duration of one song. The song choice is up to you, but the song’s lyrics, music, and mood must somehow inform and work with the argument you are trying to make. I’ve seen people mix multiple parts of songs, which is fine but a more tricky, technical proposition (and not always effective). The minimum length of the movie is 3 minutes, so choose your song accordingly. Warning, these things take a lot of time to make, so if you choose a song that is too long you are creating a lot more work for yourself!

The visuals will be a shifting slideshow of pictures. The pictures can be taken from Google Image, another photo websource, your own personal pictures that you take or have taken, or a mix of all of these. The pictures must be ordered, relevant, and taken together to form your argument (along with optional, text-based slides). Rhetorical consideration must also be given to effects put on the pictures and the transition effects between the pictures. Everything should be working together to accomplish your purpose.

The movie must contain some credits which give your name, credit to the author of the song and the song title, and some form of citation to where you got the images

Essay Requirements:

You will also write a 4-6 page paper to turn in to me with the video. The essay must (you know the drill) explain the range of your rhetorical decisions and how those decisions (the song, the pics, the cuts, the edits, the effects, etc.) work with your audience, purpose, and context. As with the photobook, you’re trying to show me in your essay that thought, consideration, and purpose went into every little decision throughout your entire movie.

Additional Concerns:

If you are not tech savy with making mp3 files of music, don’t worry. Lend me a CD, tell me the song, and I will make you a file. Additionally, if you know a song you want to use, but don’t have it, and don’t know how to obtain it online, ask me and I will attempt to get it for you. Finally, if you eventually draw a complete blank and can’t think of an appropriate song to use, I will make suggestions. Of course, I would rather not, because it really takes the movie away from being a personal statement by you.

Additional Notes:

1. Feel free to use your own photos. You can take photos of friends, or I even encourage you to star in your own video. The movie would likely not be all your own pics, but you can mix your own with found images.

2. Follow Windows Movie Maker instructions very carefully. It’s very easy to screw up and lose your whole assignment.

3. The best videos will take a lot of time to make, but I believe the outcome is well worth it.