ES.333 | Spring 2015 | Undergraduate

Producing Educational Videos

Assignments

Lie Video

Create a 30–second long educational video that purposefully miscommunicates a truth by lying. You will present as “truth” a plausible misconception related to the subject of your final video. Dispel this misunderstanding by teaching it as if it were gospel for ~25 seconds; then make clear the error—or at least make clear that an error has occurred. The audience is the same audience as you intend for your final video.

The video will be due in three parts:

Lie Video Script, First Draft – Due Week 7

  1. Choose a component from your chosen final video topic about which:
    • You think there can easily be common misconceptions about; and
    • you can do a quick exposition about in 30 seconds.
      A round of ideation and winnowing may be in order. A small dose of educational literature is encouraged—is the misconception you have chosen widely recognized as problematic?2. Identify the misconception and create your video as though this misconception were in fact “the truth.”
  2. Create a short script for your video (a long paragraph can take 30 seconds to read – time yourself!). Make sure the script and the accompanying video will “tell a story.” What evidence will the viewer be able to use to discover the truth? What story arc does this video take?
  3. Create a short series of storyboards for your video.

Be sure to include:

  • Introductory footage in which you tell the viewer that you are about to lie (in the title and via the script at the very beginning of your video – within about five seconds).
  • Video footage or animation that illuminates your lie and its unmasking. Although it is acceptable to include hairy arm and still image elements as you have done in your life-stream and hairy arm videos, you are encouraged to move beyond these techniques for this lie video. The footage should lead to a clear and potent “punch line” to close your video (about 5 seconds at the very end of your video). This punch line should expose your 25 seconds of perjury and oust the misconception from the mind of the viewer, leaving a searing truth in its stead.
  • Consider including several panels that are text only (the text can be a verbatim duplication of your dialogue).
  • Your video may include you as a talking head, but shun more than a few seconds of this at a time. It should not be one continuous shot of you talking to the camera, although you might shoot a continuous take of you reading the script to provide the audio track. Limit your use of the talking head to signposting, structure, overview / summary elements only (such as the introduction to your lies or the punch line at the end).
  • Pick music or other soundscape to be a part of the video; the soundscape must be available via Creative Commons licensing, in the public domain, or your own work.

Lie Video Script, Expert Review – Due Week 8

When you submit your script draft, also send an email to your content expert with a copy of your script and a request for its technical review. The technical correctness of the script is the primary focus of this review.

Ask your content expert to respond by email by the beginning of Week 8 so you can be confident that your future work will be productive. Ask “Is this script technically correct, both regarding its underlying facts and contentions as well as the language used in their exposition?” If the answer is “yes,” you have the green line to proceed with the production of the video. If the answer is “no,” what aspects need to be addressed before the light turns green?

Also solicit general feedback. Ask “What are the major strengths of this script?” Target further feedback to questions you have about your video that an external expert in the field could tell you about the script and the resulting video.

Please forward a copy of your email and the response from your technical expert to the instructors.

Lie Video, Draft – Due Week 10

Produce the lie video you have scripted and storyboarded in the previous assignments. Remember that the video should only be around 30 seconds long, and should primarily focus on the misconception related to your semester project before making the error clear. Upload the video to YouTube and submit the URL.

Lie Video, Revised – Due Week 13

Based on the feedback you received, revise your lie video. Re-upload the video to YouTube and submit the URL.

Course Info

As Taught In
Spring 2015
Learning Resource Types
Projects with Examples
Written Assignments
Media Assignments