Video re-submission: Developing an approach

Developing an approach

“An effective presentation relies as much or more on design elements as it does on the text.”

-Troy Hicks (2013, p. 64)

This course began with a series of introductory assignments to familiarize us with the organization and expectations. Then came the first creative assignment, the introduction video. I read the directions, studied the rubric, then begin. I wrote down some key points for my self-introduction, set up my chair in our dimly lit home office, angled it  just right to avoid the clutter, positioned my cell phone with some books, and commenced my monologue.

https://giphy.com/gifs/fallontonight-jimmy-fallon-tonight-show-l0Hlwv3WgJu63RT1u/download

After the fifth take, I reviewed my work. My voice was still just as irritating as it was the first attempt, but I had resolved some of the awkwardness of the previous versions, so I figured it was as good as it was going to get and published.

I never considered another form of video for the assignment; based on my classmates submissions, it appears that they did not either. It’s interesting to consider that we were all of the same mind when we read the assignment, and how different our new submissions will be. The knowledge gained from this course and the text has truly enhanced my understanding of digital text and what I can do with it.

The biggest impact that the studies done in this course has had on me is my understanding of the craft of digital writing. The content and purpose of both my original video and the re-submission is the same, but the technique is drastically different (Hicks, 2013, p. 107). The original video served the assigned purpose, but did not highlight any creativity and relied completely on the text of the script to relay information. The format was not engaging, and I did not employ any of the “ideas related to composition” that Hicks outlines in the writing process for digital texts (p. 115). The lighting was not a consideration. The sound quality was what my cell phone offered. The camera angle was determined by my makeshift tripod, a stack of books that my phone was leaning against; there was no variety in camera angles. These are all qualities of digital text that I did not consider when creating my original video, elements that I now recognize as important to composition.

The second attempt at this assignment began much differently than the first. I started by reviewing my original video, reflecting on ideas to enhance the delivery, and scripting what needed to be conveyed. I decided to be consistent with the content of my first video, as the assignment is dual-natured in terms of mode. The genre is narrative in that it tells my story and informational in the details it provides. I did include a few elements of my life that I felt out of the original, and excluded a few that were previously mentioned. According to Hicks, “the most difficult part of crafting a video/mentor text- as with crafting a print-based text- is knowing not only what to put in, but what to leave out” (p. 110).

For the form of media, I chose to create a video using Windows Live Movie Maker, displaying images to represent the information to the audience. I decided that this would have more visual impact than just speaking about the details of my life, and be more appealing to the audience.

Another impactful change between the two versions of the video would be the audio. The content of the first video is disseminated purely by narration. For the second video, I chose written text as the means to convey information, and used music to attract the attention of the audience. Surprisingly, the text of the second video demanded more scripting than the monologue of the first. Although the situation in which both versions of the introduction video was the same, the outcome was drastically different.

The amount of deliberation that went into the creation of the re-submission is the factor that determines the difference in the product. Because of Hicks’s focus on the importance of crafting, I was able to direct my approach to the second video. The mentor videos that Hicks (2013)  and Werderich, Manderino, and Godinez (2017) provide assist in reflection on the elements of effective digital composition. Due to the guidance, I knew to commence with pre-writing, scripting, and collecting images. I then assembled the video, added the text to the images, and imported an audio track from YouTube. There are skills associated with some elements in the second video that I hope to become more prolific in. Ideally, the text would be more legible at times, and the animations appear more sophisticated; however, I am proud of my growth to this point.

References

Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media

           and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Werderich, D. E., Manderino, M., & Godinez, G. (2017). Leveraging Digital Mentor Texts to Write

Like a Digital Writer. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 60(5), 537-546.