Proj 1 proposal guidelines

TIME-BASED COMMUNICATION 2
YSDN 3013 (S) Winter Term I Academic Year 2008/2009

Creative Project One
Proposal Guidelines

Due dates:
Post to blog by midnight on Thursday, February 5
Bring hard copy to start of Friday, February 6 class.

Length: 250-750 words (1 page or less per group member).

Create one project proposal per group. The group’s project proposal should include:

1) A Cover Page, listing:
• Course number and name
• Instructor’s name (Mary Daniel)
• Date (of the proposal)
• The names of each team member involved
• The title of each project
• The specific (on or off campus) locations where you plan to shoot each piece
• A brief summary of how you plan to work together on the overall project

2) And, for each individual piece:

I) The title

ii) The text fragment you are using as a starting point.

iii) A synopsis of the proposed work (the ‘what’) 1 paragraph
Describe WHAT you envision: what we will see happening, as though the work is already made and we are seeing it happening now. If your video tells a story tell it here, in visual terms, as you imagine it unfolding on screen. “A spider dangles at the end of its thread. A single raindrop splatters across a bright green leaf. A yellow worm inches up along the stem.” Try to use the present tense for this section: ‘the raindrop splatters’ instead of ‘the raindrop will splatter’.

iv) A description of your approach (the ‘how’) 1 paragraph
Describe HOW you will go about creating this work, with an emphasis on formal and aesthetic strategies. Include notes on the look, sound and style of the project. Do you have a particular aesthetic or formal strategy in mind? To shoot a long hand-held moving shot? A static long take? You need not detail every choice you intend to make, just enough to fill out our sense of the look, sound, or feel of the work, and to inspire confidence in your ability to pull it off.

v) A brief rationale (the ‘why’) 1 sentence — 1 paragraph
Tell me WHY you want to make this work. For this assignment I am most interested to know what you hope to discover or to learn about the principles of time based media. If the work is important to you for other (personal, political, etc) reasons, feel free to mention these here.

vi) Statement of theme 1-2 sentences
Identify the main idea you will be exploring through the piece, or the underlying message you hope to communicate.

YSDN 3013 Project Proposal
Guidelines cont’d.

AIM FOR:

Clarity. Is the document readable, easy to follow, engaging? Can the reader see what you imagine making, understand what you are planning to do?

Completeness. Does it give the reader a sense of the whole project? Are your ideas coherent, well developed, thought through?

Conciseness: Have you managed to get your ideas across in a few well-chosen words? Have you edited out long-winded, less relevant, or repetitive passages?

Originality. Is your idea interesting? Does it feel like your own idea rather than a copy of something you’ve seen? Have you taken a unique approach instead of falling back on clichés? Are you proposing something unlike anything I’ve seen before, or would have thought to make myself?

Viability. Can the piece be made within the available time and technical resources? Are your logistical, shooting and editing needs reasonable? Will it work as a 1-minute video?

Learning & Discovery. Are you likely to learn something making this piece? Are you proposing to try something new to you?

Playfulness/ Experimentation: Are you open to exploring the expressive potential of the medium? Is your idea intriguing; does it sound like fun?

Heart/Guts/Soul/Insight Does the proposal feel honest, thoughtful, or heartfelt? Are you proposing to say something that is important for you to say? Are you offering any insights?