Pick something about yourself that you want to share and make a little documentary about it. Whether it’s the sport you play, your favorite place to go on vacation, or the great book you just read, give us some background, tell us the story, and try to have some video footage that goes along with it.
Create a video that artistically presents a single number in artful ways- show how it is represented in the world or nature. Add a relevant musical track, no narration, let the number and the visuals stell the story.
See Darren Kuropatwa’s Number 9
Create a five second video of one archetype from five different movies cutting together one second of each. Examples could include: Prisoners, Thieves, Beauty Queens, Kings, Robin Hoods, James Bonds, Bank Robbers, Assassins, Bad Boys, Kung Fu Masters, Femme Fatales, Sports Heroes, High School Bullies, Rogue Police Officers, Brainiacs, Pregnancies, Principals, Mean Teachers, InspirationalTeachers, Gunslingers, Gangsters, Monsters, Bartenders, Warrior Princesses, Swordsman, Knights, Mad Scientists, Nerd Girls, Obstructive Bureaucrats, Sidekicks, Wise Old Men, Hardboiled Detectives, Tough Coaches, Swooning Ladies. Check out an example here: http://www.michaelbransonsmith.net/blog/2012/03/26/dollhouse-of-nerd-girls/
Things always look super weird when you play them in reverse, don’t they? So take a video of something in your life–someone running, the toilet flushing, the sink dripping, someone spitting, whatever–and reverse it! Check out an example here: http://youtu.be/sTef_w2ZZhk
Sometimes pictures can say much more than words. A diagram can provide the “aha” effect to help the readers better understand the written text. However, a video can be the happy medium to combine the two. For this assignment, find a written explanation of a concept and a simple illustration/diagram that further clarifies that concept. Then make a movie combining the two.
Here’s an example: http://blog.neverthesameriver.com/?p=1212
Without using lies, impugn the reputation of someone usually seen as a major hero. You can do this through statistics, quotes taken out of context, inflammatory questions etc. Easy route is a quote with a picture but it could run the gambit up to a full fledged attack ad style video. George Washington magazine style example is here.
For this assignment, select scenes from 3-5 movies. These scenes should represent scenes that changed your life or made some sort of dramatic, traumatic, lasting, or emotional impact on you. When you have selected those scenes, create a video that shows the scenes and includes audio/video of you describing what it is about the scene that made a significant impact on you, what you are fond of about the scenes, what scares you, what you remember thinking when you were a child, etc. Feel free to be liberal in your interpretation of the instructions. Keep in mind, however, that the primary point is to recall 3-5 movie scenes that have made a lasting impact on you (whatever the reason for that impact may be.) When you are finished, upload the video to your blog, and, If you are inspired, expand on the reasons why you connect with the specific scenes in your video. Check out an example here: http://blog.rossannamarie.me/movie-scenes/
Take 2 or more pictures and combine them to show us a funny story.
For this assignment you need to select several scenes from your favorite film (or one of your favorites), and edit them together and comment on some of the filmic elements of the scenes? Why do you like these scenes? What strikes you about them? What makes them good cinema? Is there a subtext at work in this film? In short, construct an essayistic commentary on the scenes as a narrator explaining to your audience what you find important about the scene, and why. What’s more, what do the details you have pinpointed say about the film more generally. For an excellent example, see Rob Ager’s analysis of space in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sUIxXCCFWw
The concept comes from “Be Kind, Rewind”, a 2008 comedy movie where two clerks in a video store accidently erase their inventory and attempt to recreate the movies themselves. To swede, choose a scene (or two or three) from a film and recreate it! Use your friends, family, or strangers to stand in for characters. Be creative finding or making props. Don’t be shy in taking artistic license with dialog.
Check out a sweded version of Jurassic Park
