assignment

You will work in a group to complete a group project, developed in stages over the course of the semester.  Your group will submit a collaboratively produced research dossier as a preliminary step toward the completion of your final project. The research dossier provides the foundation for the final project and is made up of:

1. an annotated bibliography
2. an analysis of the assigned object
3. a research screencast (in which you will use an online screencasting tool to record and narrate the path of your research process)

The research dossier project will provide you with the content you will need to create a remix video and reflective pop-up remix video. It will also introduce you to the process of academic research. The research dossier project breaks the process of research down into comprehensible pieces: each stage of the project will bring you closer to the construction of a robust collection of materials that engage your subject area.

training session

First, you will attend a library research training session. The library session will introduce you to resources and strategies for using the rich research resources available at the Colleges. By the end of the library session, each group will need to have collected 12 images and 6 articles that relate to your subject area. You will use these images and articles in our iMovie training session, and as a springboard for your final project. Further, several questions on the quiz following the research training session will engage materials introduced during the session, so take notes!

annotated bibliography

Your research dossier will include an annotated bibliography.  An annotated bibliography is a list of sources that includes a summary and an evaluation of each key source. Your bibliography should include approximately 15 sources (5 sources per group member).  Each source should include an annotation – a short one-paragraph analysis (approximately 100-150 words) that provides a summary, assessment, and reflection based on your initial review of the source.  For each group member, your set of 5 sources should include: at least one article from a scholarly journal (print or digital), at least one article from a trade publication (print or digital), and at least one image (a film poster, a production still, etc.)  Your bibliography should demonstrate the breadth and the depth of your research, documenting a research process that moves beyond simple Google searches to engage multiple research tools and rigorous research methods.  A balance between primary and secondary sources and between print and electronic sources will produce a rich bibliography.

Your bibliography should also include as an appendix a list of 6 annotated sources (2 sources per group member) that you have opted not to use as sources for your final project.  These sources should be included on a separate page and labeled as rejected sources.  Your brief annotations for these sources (approximately 100 words) should discuss the reasons you found these sources to be unsuitable for your project.  This section of your bibliography should demonstrate your ability to evaluate critically the sources you locate.

Each student in your group will be responsible for preparing annotations for 5 included sources and 2 rejected sources. All sources for the annotated bibliography should be integrated into one document formatted in MLA style and correctly alphabetized.

Please consult the resource documents posted in the Group Project Resources folder on Blackboard for relevant guidelines. Each group member should indicate which annotations she prepared by writing her name parenthetically at the end of each citation she authored. Please do not duplicate sources.

sample entry:

La Motte, Richard. “Designing Costumes For The Historical Film.” Cineaste 29.2 (2004): 50-54. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.

Richard La Motte writes an intriguing article concerning “the attempts of motion picture production designers and costume designers to achieve historical” truth, with an emphasis on costume designers.  Based on his own work as a “Costumer, Costume Department Supervisor, and Costume Designer,” his personal and often critical account regarding this craft is indeed noteworthy.  With respect to historical authenticity, La Motte acknowledges the creative liberties designers often take but, in turn, discusses the importance of withholding judgment until an overall understanding is obtained.  La Motte provides a direct and honest assessment of a costume designer’s job, and corresponding role, in connection with a film as a whole and describes the challenges associated with creating costumes for not only historical films but modern films as well. (Student’s name.)

analysis of text

The analysis of your text object will include three elements: detailed screening notes; three 200 word essays, each focusing on one element (editing, color, character movment, sound, &tc) that is prominent in the text, with attention to specific details; and one 500 word essay that identifies a social or historical issue that is prominent in the text, and then argues for how a remix of that text can address that issue.

research screencast

The screencast will be a scripted recording that leads the viewer through your research process by following the path of your online research process.  You will choose salient examples from your search process and use screencasting technology to record a narrated re-enactment of your research path. This screencast is meant to demonstrate the pathways your group has followed, to serve as an example of research methods, to illustrate the development of your intellectual investment in your research subject, and to allow your voices and thoughts to be heard in a provocative and media-rich format.  Your screencast should be focused on the research process for your project rather than on the generic use of research tools.  In other words, each group’s research screencast should be very different from the screencasts produced by the other groups and should provide a glimpse of the project that your group is planning.  The research screencast should be approximately 3 minutes long. You should prepare a written script and a storyboard for the screencast before you begin the recording process.  [Please consult the instructions for using Screen-cast-o-matic prepared by the Digital Learning Center and posted in the Group Project Resources folder on Canvas.  The screencasting technology will be reviewed in class before the dossier is due.]

subject areas

For this project, you will be researching one of the texts we have watched in class: one experimental film, one broadcast television show, one genre film, and one documentary. Your research will aim to contextualize your particular text within the traditions of its form and as an example of that kind of form in its moment in time. So, you will want to develop a research process that focuses on that text, and you will want to demonstrate knowledge of both the text and its form. You will want to focus on the following questions: what were the historical conditions of this text’s production? what elements define this text? what have critics said about this text? what ideology is promoted by this text?