Photo by geralt (pixabay.com)
You are collaborating with a team to create a video that highlights and analyzes a dimension of inequality.
This inaugural event aims to for students to:
a) connect with other students from different countries,
b) understand an economic issue both globally and locally, and through a comparative perspective,
c) propose viable solutions to a specific problem,
d) present findings through sharing student-created videos, and
e) reflect upon the product, process, and newly formed relationships
REMEMBER: Represent the Best Possible Sources!
Reference - for background and context (Encyclopedias, Almanacs, Dictionaries, etc. are all Tertiary Sources)
Books - for depth (Secondary Sources)
Primary sources - for evidence
Scholarly Articles - for analysis (Secondary Sources)
What are we creating?
An online shared workspace (see requirements from Mr. Rosenfels)
An Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography is a list of your sources, along with a paragraph that analyzes, or at least, describes the contents of EACH source. Your group will create one annotated bibliography with all of your sources and annotations together. Put this in your group’s Google folder. Here is a sample bibliography.
Annotated bibliography requirements:
a) 3 sources per student cited in MLA format
b) valid and appropriate sources that suit each student’s specific purpose
c) a short paragraph (4-6 sentences) after each source that indicates the three most important ideas in the source and explains why the source is valid. Indicate each main point with a number.
A Storyboard
A storyboard is used to plan and organize the production of a video. It is important so that the editor is not just piecing clips together haphazardly. It can also be called a script, yet a storyboard can also include images. An easy way to produce the storyboard is to use a Google slides presentation so that you can seamlessly insert images and text together and add, delete, modify, and move slides to enhance the clarity of your message. Here is a template example. For your group, it should be easy to work simultaneously on your storyboard using google slides. (Keep track of your sources in your storyboard!)
The Documentary
Your instructors believe it’s important to create a structure for the video you will produce. However, we also are very open to hearing your ideas. The important thing to keep in mind is that your team is working together to tell a story to your audience. A story has a beginning, middle, and an end, and also usually contains these essentials:
Provoke - Why should we care? Create a desire to learn more...
Inform - Teach the audience something important. What stats/data do you have to support your ideas?
Point of decision - What will happen next? What should we do?
Resolution - The end, a sense of closure or maybe not?
Touch the head as well as the heart - if the audience doesn’t feel anything then you may have missed the mark.
Your documentary should be laid out generally according to this format and last approximately 8-10 minutes. No video should be shorter than 8 minutes nor should any exceed 15 minutes.
1 min: Provocation, define the problem, and explicitly link it to the theme (inequality)
Include maps, key facts, data, quotes, powerful images
How does the issue manifest on a global scale?
2 min: Local problem
How does the problem manifest in Las Vegas and/or Nevada? How does it manifest in Buenos Aires city and/or province? Consider citing local news sources and finding personal stories for this section.
2 min: 2 real-life approaches to reducing the inequality. Note: Both approaches need to be included in this section.
Approach #1. What is either the local, state/provincial, and/or the national government already doing to solve this problem?
Approach #2: What is a local NGO (non-governmental organization) currently doing to reduce this inequality?
***Each group (not each student) must have at least one member conduct an interview with someone who is trying to positively impact the problem. Note: It is possible to interview someone who is negatively affected by the inequality, but the interview must happen after teacher approval as there are important consequences of this type of interview to consider. Here are some interview tips:
Find someone who you do not already know. Use authors of articles, contact links from websites, government offices, NGO’s
Reach out to your potential interview subject via email or phone. Be professional, identify yourself, the purpose of your inquiry, and that you hope to ask them a few questions
Once contact is made, tell them that this will be an interview to be used in a school video.
Decide whether the interview will be online or in person (safely).
Set up a date and time and include all necessary materials.
Online: ask if the room can be lit (a light in front of their face helps), if their computer camera can be near eye level, and avoid shadows. HIT RECORD.
In person: sit 6 feet apart and wear a face mask. Set up your camera to position their face in the proper thirds (ask us about this). They can wear a lavalier mic that feeds into your camera.
Ask them about the issue, appropriate responses, evaluation questions, and don’t forget to ask them what it FEELS like to be them, to walk in their shoes, and the struggle to solve the issue. We want to learn AND feel.
1 min: Conclusion and C.T.A
Wrap up with a sense of urgency yet hope
Offer the viewer a Call To Action: 3 ways that individuals can be a part of the solution, not the problem
10 seconds: Works Cited Page
Alphabetical Order by author or source
Allow it to clearly sit on the screen in periods of 5 seconds for each page needed
3-5 minutes: Group discussion
Hold an online discussion with your group for approximately 30 minutes (could be as short as 25, could be as long as you want!) as your group talks about the process, an evaluation of the approaches’ findings, where you succeeded as a group, along with areas of growth. Record that call.
Either as (a) a singular segment or (b) various parts edited together, after the works cited part of the video, attach the best 2-5 minutes of that conversation onto the end of the video. Call it “Reflection” using a title. It is perfectly acceptable to choose (a).
5) The Film Festival
On the Saturday of the film festival, 4 groups at a time will meet together on a group video call to share their documentaries.
A 1.5 hour block will be carved out for each group of 4 documentaries. Each group will introduce their documentary before screening it (sharing it with the audience). 15 minutes will be allowed after each screening for discussion involving Q/A and feedback.
Other students, family members, teachers, and members of our communities will be invited to join any of the 4 sessions.
6) The Written Reflection
Students will type a 2 page, double-spaced, reflection from a personal perspective. Use the questions provided.
Qi Huang, E-Resources Librarian at The Harker School