The Video Article (VA) project asks you to produce a screencast video that teaches viewers about a topic with which you have personal/professional expertise. The VA project is challenging because it requires understanding of design and the ability to communicate effectively using all of the design media with which we work this semester (text, images, video, sound).
This project requires prototype and final submissions (Version 1, Version 2). All files are submitted to a Video Article folder in your shared course space on Dropbox.com.
For the submission stages, you'll post the following documents:
For the full list of core and supporting documents/files, see Submission Requirements.
The Video Article project adds 2 new dimensions to your explorations of design thinking and information design: professional authority; dynamic content. Together, these considerations challenge you to expand your design strategy in key ways. The following learning and doing strategies will help you manage this project.
When we claim we possess knowledge and experience enough to inform others on a given topic, we by extension claim authority through our expertise. Consider for a moment what that really means. At base, we ask audience members to trust the knowlege we share with them. That in turn means that our knowledge must be trustworthy.
Teachers at all levels routinely ask students to write and deliver reports on topics that prior to the assignment were areas of inquiry about which those students had little or no knowledge. We call it research, and by insinuation suggest that this is somehow equivalent to true scholarly knowledge and expertise. But this is a false equivalency, one that later inspires people to claim expertise while sharing inaccurate or outright fraudulent information through platforms such as social media streams. The research they do to acquire this knowledge is not the same as the research that results in deep, studied, scholarly/professional expertise.
To offer you an opportunity to consider what it means to move closer to speaking from a position of experience, expertise, and legitimate knowledge, I typically push students to report on topics with which you already have all three of these things. The authority you have now does not compare to the authority you may continue to develop through systematic study over several more years of inquiry, but I hope to at least offer you the opportunity to speak from a position of greater credibility than if you were to report on a topic with which you have no prior knowledge.
During this semester alone in this course, you have consumed a significant amount of informative and instructive video content. Stop for a moment to consider how your own needs & expectations of such documents shape your experiences. Have all of the videos I curated for you served you well? If so, how so? And if not, then how have they fallen short?
Video content has the potential to be a designer's most complete and effective mechanism for sharing content. After all, it can bring together all other media (e.g., text, images, sound) in a dynamic package. However, done poorly, video is no more effective than any other medium of expression. Part of your challenge here is to act strategically to take fullest advantage of all of the power that video offers you as a design medium.
The best way to get a sense of how video works and sounds is to seek out and observe examples that represent similar content, genre, or purpose. There are many videos available on every conceivable topic, and a search using any standard search engine will connect you to a wide variety of videos to sample. I recommend that you examine a handful of TED Talks specifically to see how speakers organize thoughts and suggest that their topics of discussion might be meaningful to audiences. Note, however, that not all TED speakers use visual support. Some of these vids are just people on stages against a backdrop. Your challenge is to produce a screencast that may or may not incorporate video clips like those.
You may be familiar with other online spaces that provide similar collections of expert content. If so, feel free to sample from those venues as well. I provide you with examples through Canvas. Be sure to watch those videos in addition to anything you find for yourself.
So far, I have challenged you to think about images and text in a variety of ways. Images offer us ways of communicating ideas realistically, metaphorically, and everywhere in between. Words and images both are symbols that help us present the concepts and knowledge we attempt to communicate. Now we add audio and video (both forms of dynamic content) to the mix.
When we observe the way that video impacts audiences through the study of TED Talks or any other informative, argumentative content in this medium, we can consider the strategies evident for designing and delivering effective video content. With that in mind, make notes as you watch other creators' videos. How do they use text? How do they use static images? Do they integrate video into their presentation (thus embedding video content inside of video content)? How do they manage sound, whether voice or music or other audio? What qualities and characteristics of their videos project professionalism and authority?
Document types: memo, video treatment, video
Document length: 150 words (memo), 1 page + transcript (Treatment), 5 minutes (Video)
Project value: 250 points (50 for prototype; 200 for final)
Evaluation rubric: _Eval_VideoArticle.pdf
Recommended tool(s): Adobe InDesign for the screening document; Techsmith Capture, CapCut, OBS Studio for video production; Microsoft Word for the video treatment; microphone; headphones
The VA project requires you to record a 5-minute screencast video. The vid is accompanied by an appropriately detailed treatment document that contextualizes the content presented for viewers. You determine the content of the video article. However, the topic you present must be one with which you are familiar enough already to discuss it from a knowledgeable / expert perspective. That is, this is not a library-research project in the traditional, academic sense. It is a showcase of subject matter knowledge that you have already acquired.
A Note about the Prototype and Final Submissions. Your prototype submission only requires you to create the screening document from which you will eventually record your video. You will not record the video itself until the final submission for this project.
This project offers you the opportunity to determine the subject matter and topic for your video article. Select a focus for this project based on your existing knowledge and current interests. I have produced a variety of videos during my career. Most recently, that work has focused primarily on teaching and demonstrating concepts related to technical communication and information design. However, I have also created nature videos, interviews, sports films, and more.
Your purpose with this video article is to present a topic to viewers that will accomplish the following objectives:
Consider what combination on-screen content (e.g., text, images, video) might most effectively convey the message you seek to construct and the outcomes you seek to achieve.
There are many tools and strategies that might result in an effective, appropriate, professional video for this project. There are two distinct but connected design stages for this project: design of the screencasting document; design of the video. Choose your tools appropriately for each phase.
Designing and refining your screening document. During the workshop that required you to record a screencast video, I recommended Adobe InDesign as your medium of expression. It offers you much greater precision and control with on-screen content elements than any other software package or app you could use in this context.
Recording and editing your video. During the workshops that lead you to this moment, I recommended a handful of tools for recording and editing video.
Before you begin designing your own video, watch vids that others have created and shared that parallel the kind you have in mind. I have already recommended TED Talks. Although most of those videos feature speakers & performers on stages, the spirit of the presentations is very much in line with what the Video Article asks you to construct. Apply the strategies from the workshops to date to analyze and reflect upon what makes each video effective (or not), engaging (or not), and authentic (or not). Use that systematic study to establish appropriate design goals for this new venture.
The specifications for this project are relatively simple and straightforward to allow you as much freedom as possible to create. Your video should meet all of the following content and production criteria.
Record your video using a screening document (slide deck) as your screening window. Revisit the guidelines that you followed for developing a screening doc for the preparatory workshop. That is, your on-screen materials should be complete enough to stand alone without your voice-over. You'll bring the content to life through your presentation of it.
Your screening doc should incorporate all of the following content elements.
When you are satisfied that your screening document is complete, prepare to record. The packages I recommend all offer you the ability to designate a specific area of your screen as your recording window. Designate your screening doc as that window, and record.
The 5 minute span for your video should come from your active presentation of content. That is, do not include the title sequence or end credits in your calculations of the length of your video. Your final vid should run 5 minutes plus title sequence and end credits.
A Note About Music. Consider adding a snippet of appropriate theme music to the beginning and end of your video. The screencasts I have produced for you all do this. The music, combined with the title screens & end screens that follow a consistent design pattern are meant to establish a sense of professionalism for the series of videos you encounter during the course.
I have provided an RTF file with links to sources of copyright- and royalty-free music that you can implement into your video. Remember that you cannot use any music from any creator without their specific permission. Draw only from content you create or that you have permission to use (such as those songs from the content I provide).
Once you have completed the recording and editing processes, upload the mp4 file to your Screencast.com account. Use the SHARE link from that post to direct viewers to your video.
Note. That link will appear in your project memo.
Once you have completed the recording and editing processes, prepare a video treatment document. Use the sample doc that I provided through SVSU Canvas as a design and content guide. Your treatment document should meet the following specifications and incorporate all of the following content elements.
Build the treatment as a single document with two parts: the treatment, and the transcript. That is, design the treatment part (everything that appears before the transcript in the list above) to fit on a single page, and begin the transcript part after a page break.
Your memo should be addressed from you to me, and should introduce the accompanying project and files.
Your prototype memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
Your final memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
For additional guidance, consult the supporting content provided for the workshops that have lead to this assignment as well as any content added for this project.
This section offers guidance for how to interpret the project, and for how to proceed with your work on it. Therefore, as you work, consider the following strategies.
Approach this project as a design strategist. Consider how audience needs and expectations for projects of this type ought to impact your design decisions. Consider how all of the design components that go into video production might coordinate and complement one another. Evaluate how your vid does or does not meet the standards of excellence you note in similar designs.
Establish a connection with your audience. Sustain that connection throughout your video content and delivery. Consider what would help you create a connection to a topic or issue, and seek to craft the same through your discussion. Consider the needs and expectations of your audience.
Use the best tools available to you. I have made clear recommendations here in this assignment description. You have had opportunities to work with a variety of tools this semester. Use quality tools so you can achieve higher quality results.
Focus on all of the different kinds of details throughout the project. Make sure your video is of professional quality and that your audio is strong and clear. Review the production, the editing, the on-screen content. Make sure your images are consistent and that your screening doc is well designed. Redo material that does not meet expectations. Make sure you cover all of the target content elements described here. Pay attention to detail in your video treatment. Edit the transcript that results from your vid.
Before you submit your project, test the streaming link you shared in your project Memo. Make sure that it links properly and that the video plays.
Read and attend carefully to these submission guidelines. Failure to do so may result in delays in receiving an evaluation of your project, or in points lost on the evaluation of your work.
Create a project folder inside your shared class folder on Dropbox.com. Remember, I can only view files that you place inside the shared folder. Until you place files in that space, you have not in practice submitted them.
Name the folder Video Article.
Note. Do not share this folder with me. By placing it in your class folder, you have already shared it by default.
Make sure the files listed below are available to me in the project folder by the project deadline. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Make sure the files from your prototype submission and those listed below are available to me in the project folder by the project deadline. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Double check your memo to make sure it includes a functioning hyperlink to your video stream.
Note. Again, do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
This section describes the standards by which your prototype and final submissions will be evaluated.
There are 50 possible points for the prototype stage of this project. You will earn points according to the following standard.
The final project submission is worth 200 possible points. You will earn points according to the standard described on the policies page (see Policies for a description of these categories).
The specific areas of emphasis for the InfoGraphic project are drawn from this description and our discussions of the project (including the supporting teaching materials that I provide to you along the way). Review the project rubric (_Eval_VideoArticle.pdf) for the specific qualities and characteristics emphasized in each evaluation category.
Remember that I will only post the point values for projects on the Grades page in SVSU Canvas. I will provide the supporting details relevant to that evaluation in your class folder in a project-specific file. Look for a Microsoft Word file in your shared class space on Dropbox with a filename that that follows this pattern:
YourLastName_Eval_VideoArticle.docx.
This material has evolved over many years of teaching & research, and is protected by U.S. copyright laws.
If you are here because of random chance, or because this content came up in a search, then please feel free to explore the site. If you are a teacher or other professional in any context who would like to use any of my course content in your work, I grant you permission to do so with the following limitations.