5. The Interview

Lewis and Clark.mov

These will be due on Thursday

Over the next couple of meetings you will be put together interviews with someone from the Lewis and Clark expedition. In the following information, I'm going to give you the requirements, and some ideas for how to make the interview interesting, and appealing to the eye.

Assume that this is an interview that is being done for the evening news, or some network news show, like Dateline or 60 Minutes

You should make it a focused interview. Pick one or two aspects of the trip to talk about, then research it. For example, maybe you are curious about how they got food. Before you record anything you should do research to find out how the Corps of Discovery (as Lewis and Clark's crew is known) fed themselves. This means use the links below, and feel free to use Google. This process should take some time (it may take an entire class period or even more).

Once you have done enough research to give full answers to your questions, then you write a script. Your interview should include an introduction of the guest you are interviewing, asking the questions and getting the answers (answers should probably be more than one or two sentences long), and a proper closing.

REMEMBER!!!! Your answers should be based on research, meaning you need to have a source to prove that what you are saying is true. You should spend all of day one researching. I have provided links below.

Possible topics you could ask about.

-Were you scared when you saw new animals that you'd never seen before?

-Relationships with the Native Americans

-How do you get food and water while out exploring?

-Did anyone die? How?

-How did you get up the river against the current?

-Was it hard to get along with the other people on the crew?

Requirements-

You are working in your table groups. If you have three people, one is the camera person, one is the interviewer, and one is the person being interviewed. If you have four people, one is the camera person, one is the interviewer, and TWO will be interviewed, so you need two characters.

You must have someone from the Lewis & Clark Expedition as your subject to be interviewed. It can be Lewis, Clark, Sacajawea, or any of the crew members. You must use their real name, and it must be a legit member of the Expedition.

You must use at least two different camera angles.

There is no required time, only the instruction that they need to be "long enough". Again, this about an interview for the news, or other media outlet. How many questions or what length of time do they usually go? 30 seconds will not be "enough". 5 minutes will be too long. You should plan for around two minutes.

You may not leave the room to work without EXPRESS CONSENT FROM MR. RUDE. or the substitute.

You'll need a short bibliography of the sources you used. You should alphabetize the list, and the entry should include author, book name or website name, copyright date (on websites they can be found on the bottom of the page), and URL. If there is no author, list the title first. Please create this in a Google Doc and be prepared to turn it in.

What will we be graded on?

10 points Creativity- How much are you able to come up with something that is entertaining and fun?

10 points Accuracy- Is the stuff that you talk about accurate and plausible? You must have good information that is true.

10 points Production Value- Can we hear you? Can we see you? Did you use multiple camera angles? Is it interesting?

10 points Bibliograph- Did you list all of the sources you used? Did you include the URL? Did you include the author or publisher? Did you include the title of the article or page? Did you include the date accessed? Is it in alphabetical order?

Suggestions-

-Use different camera angles to make your interview more interesting and appealing to the eye. Having a still camera, with someone simply asking questions, while another answers, is REALLY BORING. To get different angles you will have to stop the camera, move, then turn the camera back on.

-You don't always have to "shoot" the camera from "head on". You can film someone talking from the side, or from an angle.

-Be mindful of background noise. If you are filming in the hallway and people are walking though, stop filming. We won't be able to hear you anyway through the noise. If you use a microphone it will help.

-Try to have some type of solid, or interesting background. Using lockers for a background is boring. Find something else. Even a long hallway background is better than lockers. I will have ONE green screen available for use. Please work with each other to allow each other to record in silence.

-Do not ask for props or equipment until you are 100% ready to film every scene/shot. We don't have enough equipment for everyone to have their own, so you must share. If you are making decisions about what to film, you are not only using your own time, but wasting other groups' time because they are waiting on your equipment.

Suggested topics to cover (This does not mean required)-

-What it was like going into an unexplored land

-What it was like trying to move 32 people up a river.

-What it was like to have a baby while on the expedition (Sacajawea).

-How did you not go crazy being out there that long?

-What was it like trying to work with Lewis, Clark, Sacajawea, etc?

-How did you travel?

-What was the most difficult thing you did?

-Funny Stories that happened.

READ THIS LINK

This is a list of ALL members of the Corps of Discovery. START BY LOOKING AT THIS

https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/louisiana-lewis-clark/