Introduction Video: Assignment Description

Google’s smart contact – a possible future for personal cameras, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2604543/Glass-without-glasses-Google-patents- smart-contact-lens-CAMERA-built-in.html

Your first assignment in this course will be a video, which has three purposes: You will provide a personal introduction, define science fiction as you understand it, and practice multimodal communication (as the video will be electronic, visual, oral and nonverbal while stemming from a written script).

Due Date You must post your video to both the class blog and T-Square by 11:59 PM on Saturday, May 21. Blog posts will often involve double-submission and both submissions must be on time. In your T-Square submission, also submit the reflection as an attached .doc or .docx file.

Required Elements for Video  90-120 seconds (1.5-2 minutes) long o Shorter videos will be penalized, and longer videos may end up losing their focus.  Content o Introduce Yourself . Begin your video with your name, major, and where you’re from . This information should take roughly 10-15 seconds o Define Science Fiction as You Understand It . Consider the following questions (not as a checklist to answer in order, but more as a set of guidelines):  What makes something count or not count as science fiction?  What are some features of this genre (e.g. common themes or tropes, character types, settings, etc.)? . Use The Fly and at least 1 other science fiction movie, TV show, short story, or book (not one assigned in the course but one that you watched or read) as supporting evidence for your argument. . Your definition should derive from your own experience with the genre, NOT from outside dictionary or scholarly definitions.  Attribute Sources o If you use images, film clips, or sounds that are not self-created, acknowledge them in the following ways: Page 2 of 5 . Provide a works cited list (links are fine) at the end of your video. . Provide links to these sources in the description box for your YouTube Video.  Audience o Your audience will be myself and your classmates, so aim for a conversational tone  Design o Consider how you can support your content by bringing in images and props or by utilizing sound beyond your own voice (see page 5 for some suggestions)  Category label: Introduction video  Tags: Please tag your post with at least 3 tags. Tags are general keywords that describe the content of your post. Your tags should NOT be: Introduction or video  Post Title: Your last name, assignment name (e.g. Krafft, Introduction Video)

Required Elements for Reflection Submit your reflection with the video on T-Square, as a .doc or .docx document with the file name “Last Name, Introduction Video Reflection”. You do not need to submit the reflection on the blog.

When you submit the project, you will also need to submit a two-part reflection. You’ll then save that reflection and return to it later in the semester as you prepare your final portfolio.

Write a one-paragraph introduction to the artifact that articulates your intellectual process for this project. Put another way, explain where your ideas came from and how they evolved during the course of the project. You should also discuss how composing processes (examples: prewriting, outlining, drafting, peer review, revising, editing) affected your intellectual process, and vice versa.

After the introductory paragraph, compose bullet points answering each of the following questions. Compose 2- 3 bullet points per question and 1-3 complete sentences per bullet point. Review this assignment sheet as you compose your answers.

1. What were the main intellectual goals of the assignment? Please situate these goals in terms of the course theme and in terms of the communication skills you were to learn or practice. 2. What is your argument or purpose? How did you make the argument or purpose visible and persuasive in your artifact? 3. Who is the intended audience for your artifact; why is this an appropriate audience? How is your choice of audience reflected in your artifact? 4. What are the defining features of the genre or media that you are using in this project? How do you make use of these features? 5. If you had more time for revision, what would you change and why?

Points Breakdown The introduction video is worth 50 points total (5% of your final grade in the course). The grade breakdown is roughly as follows, and, as with all course assignments, I will use the programmatic rubric to guide my assessment of your assignment.

Points Requirement 5 The Basics: On time, meets required elements 30 Content: Thoughtfully addresses assignment requirements; speaker demonstrates careful consideration of audience; project is a clear result of planning and rehearsal 10 Design: Speaker engages thoughtfully with the camera and produces clear audio and visual results; video explores the affordances of the medium in an engaging manner 5 Reflection: On time, meets required elements Page 3 of 5 Programmatic Rubric Scale Basic Beginning Developing Competent Mature Exemplary Rhetorical Awareness Overlooks two or more Overlooks at least one Attempts to respond to Addresses the situation Addresses the situation Addresses the situation Response to situation, aspects of the situation aspect of the situation or all aspects of the or assignment in a completely, with in a sophisticated manner including purpose, or assignment, and thus assignment and thus situation or assignment, complete but unexpected insight that could advance audience, register, and does not fulfill the task compromises but the attempt is perfunctory or professional discourse on context effectiveness incomplete predictable way the topic

Stance Involves an unspecified Makes an overly general Makes a simplistic or Makes an explicit and Makes a complex, Offers an inventive, Argument, significance or confusing argument; argument; significance implicit argument, or straightforward unified argument that expert-like argument that and implications (“so significance is not is difficult to discern, or multiple arguments that argument that does not clearly articulates a clearly articulates a what” factor) evident not appropriate to the have no clear connection oversimplify the position or stance; sophisticated rhetorical situation to one another; gestures problem or question; explores multiple position/stance; explores towards significance, but explores at least one implications of the multiple implications of does not fully develop it implication of the argument the argument in a argument in depth compelling manner Development of Ideas Claims requiring support Evidence and/or analysis Evidence provides Evidence and analysis Evidence fully supports Evidence and analysis Evidence, analysis, and are not backed by is weak or contradictory; minimal but necessary are substantive; they and proves the argument are precise, nuanced, substance necessary evidence; does not account for support to each point; support the argument and all related claims; fully developed, and lacks analysis of major important evidence that attempted analysis is not and related claims, but evidence is always work together to enhance pieces of evidence; could support or sufficient to prove the are mostly predictable paired with compelling the argument, content is not substantive disprove the argument argument analysis Organization Lacks unity in Uses insufficient Uses some effective States unifying claims Asserts and sustains a Artifact is organized to Structure and coherence, constituent parts; fails to unifying statements; unifying claims, but a with supporting points claim that develops achieve maximum including elements such as create coherence among uses few effective few are unclear; that relate clearly to the logically and coherence and introductions and constituent parts; connections; some inconsistently makes overall argument and progressively; adapts momentum; connections conclusions as well as contains major logical moves necessary connections between employs an effective but typical organizational are sophisticated and logical connections argumentative holes or to prove the argument points and the argument; mechanical scheme schemes for the context; complex when required between points fallacies are absent employs simplistic achieves substantive organization coherence Conventions Involves errors that risk Involves a major pattern Involves some Meets expectations, with Meets expectations Exceeds expectations Expectations for grammar, making the overall of errors distracting errors minor errors in a virtually flawless and manipulates mechanics, style, citation message distorted or manner conventions to advance incomprehensible the argument Design for Medium Lacks features necessary Omits some important Uses features that Supports the argument Promotes engagement Persuades with careful, Features that use or significant for the features; distracting support the argument, with features that are and supports the seamless integration of affordances of the genre to genre; uses features that inconsistencies in but some match generally suited to genre argument with features features and content and enhance factors such as conflict with or ignore features; uses features imprecisely with content; and content that efficiently use with innovative use of usability and the argument that don’t support involves minor affordances affordances comprehensibility argument omissions or inconsistencies Planning Your Video You will need to create a script, or at least some talking points, in order to keep your video organized and concise.

Consider that for most people speaking at a normal conversational rate, a half-page paragraph (in 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, with 1” margins) is equivalent to about one minute of talk, so your 1.5-2 minute video will have a script that’s 3/4-1 double-spaced page long.

Do NOT have your first recording be your only recording – rehearse and rerecord as much as possible to ensure that the video is high quality.

Be aware of your appearance, the appearance of your setting, your body language, voice (volume, diction, speaking pace), and eye contact.

Recording and Designing Your Video Use easily accessible technology to record your video such as a smartphone, tablet, tablet, or desktop computer with webcam and microphone. If you need to borrow a camera or any equipment, check out http://libguides.gatech.edu/gadgets.

Make sure that you shoot your video in landscape mode (to avoid black bars around your content) and consider using a tripod or having a friend act as a cameraman (if you are not using a stationary camera).

Ensure that your sound has audible playback and isn’t muffled or getting buried under background noise.

Consider the style and content of your video carefully – if you speak directly to the camera, make “eye contact” and focus on your vocal intonation (don’t just read from a script). But, also consider creative formats such as:  An image slideshow with a voiceover  A self-created animation, time-lapse, or stop-motion video o https://www.powtoon.com/2/ is a free resource for making simple animated videos  An engaging presentation involving props or live illustrations

Remember also that YouTube provides a video editor, which allows you to add captions, remove / add video segments, and so on.

You may choose to record the video in your dorm room, but also think about creative locations on or off campus or quiet spaces such as the Presentation Rehearsal Studios in Clough (see http://www.library.gatech.edu/about/rehearsal.php).

How to Submit Your Video To submit your video to http://blogs.iac.gatech.edu/body1102 you must:  Upload your video to YouTube o Set your video to unlisted (which allows anyone with the link to see the video but keeps the video out of YouTube search).  Log into the class blog using GA Tech username and password  Write a new post on the blog  Click – add media o Insert from URL  Check your post to ensure that the video shows up, ideally as an embedded video, not as a link.  Ensure that your post is properly categorized, tagged, and titled.

To submit your video on T-Square, you must:  Log into T-Square using GA Tech username and password  Go to the “assignment submission” tab and select “Introduction Video”  Paste your YouTube link into the text box and attach your reflection  Click submit

Please note that T-Square works best in Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Lateness Policy Videos posted late (i.e. after 11:59 PM on 5/21) will receive a maximum possible grade of C. I will not accept a video later than 1 week after the initial due date.

If necessary, students who join this class after 5/20 must meet with me to discuss making up the assignment.

Revision Policy In this class, you may choose to revise 1 blog post or the cyborg essay.

In order to be allowed any revision, you must send me an email or meet with me no later than 72 hours after I return the grade for the assignment. In the email or meeting, you must tell me what the most central issues with the initial assignment were (beyond the grade), what your plan for revision is, and a deadline for when you will submit the revised assignment (which can be no later than 1 week after the meeting and must occur prior to the last class meeting).

The revised assignment will receive an entirely new grade (not an average of the old and new grade). I do not guarantee a higher grade for revised work, but a revision cannot bring your grade down (unless you plagiarize the revised assignment).