Digital Newsgathering

Due by the start of the Dec. 12 class meeting

1. Read:

Sequencing: the foundation of video storytelling (Colin Mulvany)

The unpaid internship for credit must end (Malcolm Harris)

NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide (Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani)

2. Come up with at least 1 question about any of the readings and be prepared to discuss the question(s) in class.

3. Review this video on shooting sequences and read the grading rubric. Then, plan, shoot and edit a 1-2 minute video sequence that compresses the time it takes to show someone doing something. You can use the footage you gathered in class or you can shoot more. Here’s an example. Here’s another example.

Don’t stage anything. Instead, be there when something interesting is happening.

For a 1-2 minute video sequence you’ll need about 2 dozen different shots, each about 3 seconds long (after they’re edited).

You can add music to your sequence as long as the song is Creative Commons licensed or if you have the necessary permissions to use it. Remember to credit the artist.

Publish the video on your Tumblr. Or, if you prefer, bring it to class on your USB drive.

The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.

The records feed a vast database that stores information about the locations of at least hundreds of millions of devices, according to the officials and the documents, which were provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. New projects created to analyze that data have provided the intelligence community with what amounts to a mass surveillance tool.

Due by the start of the Dec. 10 class meeting

1. Read:

Sequencing: the foundation of video storytelling (Colin Mulvany)

The unpaid internship for credit must end (Malcolm Harris)

NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide (Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani) - added 12/4

2. Come up with at least 1 question about either of the readings and be prepared to discuss the question(s) in class.

3. Review this video on shooting sequences and read the grading rubric. Then, plan, shoot and edit a 1-2 minute video sequence that compresses the time it takes to show someone doing something. You can use the footage you gathered in class or you can shoot more. Here’s an example. Here’s another example.

Don’t stage anything. Instead, be there when something interesting is happening.

For a 1-2 minute video sequence you’ll need about 2 dozen different shots, each about 3 seconds long (after they’re edited).

You can add music to your sequence as long as the song is Creative Commons licensed or if you have the necessary permissions to use it. Remember to credit the artist.

Publish the video on your Tumblr. Or, if you prefer, bring it to class on your USB drive.

Due by the start of the Dec. 5 class meeting

1. Read:

Grading rubric for the person-on-the-street video

Edit your video with iMovie or Windows Movie Maker (by Mindy McAdams, and which is useful for learning not just iMovie and WMM but any video editing tool)

2. Edit your 1-2 minute person-on-the-street video using Adobe Premiere, Final Cut, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or another program of your choice. Publish your edited video in a Tumblr post; or, if you prefer, bring it to class on your USB drive. Here’s an example.

3. Ustream assignment. Before you do this, see my email from Sept. 21 for detailed instructions.

Due by the start of the Dec. 3 class meeting

1. Read:

Grading rubric for the person-on-the-street video

Edit your video with iMovie or Windows Movie Maker (by Mindy McAdams, and which is useful for learning not just iMovie and WMM but any video editing tool)

2. Edit your 1-2 minute person-on-the-street video using Adobe Premiere, Final Cut, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or another program of your choice. Publish your edited video in a Tumblr post; or, if you prefer, bring it to class on your USB drive. Here’s an example.

3. Ustream assignment. Before you do this, see my email from Sept. 18 for detailed instructions.

Due by the start of the Nov. 21 class meeting

1. If you made any changes to your webpage, copy and paste all of your new code into an email to me.

2. Bring the series of video interviews that you conducted in class with you. (If you weren’t there, check the slides.)

3. Read:

Who killed Michael Hastings? (Benjamin Wallace)

Twitter joins the 1 percent (Andrew Leonard)

4. Come up with at least 1 question about either of the readings and be prepared to discuss the question(s) in class.

5. Keep reading the tweets in your feed daily, and tweet at least once a day, on average. Click on links and hashtags that interest you. Seek out and follow new people as you go (aka the usual Twitter assignment).

Due by the start of the Nov. 19 class meeting

1. If you made any changes to your webpage, copy and paste all of your new code into an email to me.

2. Bring the series of video interviews that you conducted in class with you. (If you weren't there, check the slides.)

3. Read:

Who killed Michael Hastings? (Benjamin Wallace)

Twitter joins the 1 percent (Andrew Leonard)

4. Come up with at least 1 question about either of the readings and be prepared to discuss the question(s) in class.

Due by the start of the Nov. 14 class meeting

1. Finish watching and following along with this video about making a webpage from scratch. Then, create a webpage using only HTML (and CSS if you want). You can build on and modify any code you’ve already written. Here’s an interactive tutorial that you might find helpful. Your webpage should have at least:

100 words (written by you about anything that’s true)

5 hyperlinks (use proper linking style plz)

3 original photos

2. Highlight, then copy and paste all of your code into an email to me, and attach the photos.

3. Read:

The people formerly known as the audience

Julian Assange and the new wave

Encryption works (optional)

4. Come up with at least 1 question about any of the readings and be prepared to discuss the question(s) in class.