Collaborate

In class when you are in your groups, open up your work on your Posterous post from the overview checkpoint on your Macbook. Sitting in a circle, pass your Macbooks to the left (clockwise) so that one of your group members can view your character ideas and read your summary (the group member is not allowed to go to anywhere on your Macbook except for the overview Posterous post). After a few minutes, pass the Macbooks to the right again so the next group member can read it. Then pass them right one more time so that you have your original Macbook. Then move on to the next set of directions below:

Your film target time will be 3-4 minutes and it will either be narrated or background music with sound effects. There will be conversations and dialog but it will be narrated or explained instead of using the actual audio from the cameras.

Have someone in the group nominate a leader for the group...one who is usually responsible & reliable (e.g. you can choose your group leader by the oldest, highest grade last quarter, etc.).

    • Have him or her open a new Google Doc
    • Name the doc Superhero Film by classID, classID, & classID (these are the group members)
    • Make it public while giving edit rights to their group members and mouseflip@gmail.com as collaborators after you name the doc
    • Have everyone open the doc and help the leader fill out the info when asked/needed.

Have the leader take a quick informal fun group photo on their Macbook of all the group members in the photo and insert it at the top of the Doc's page.

Note: the group leader will need to finish and post this checkpoint to Posterous in the evening on the day they have class so that the other group members can proceed to finish this checkpoint.

Then the leader should facilitate the discussion of the three ideas and either help to choose one idea or combine ideas. The most important thing about your main superhero storyline is that it has to be random and creative while being humorous.

Later you will film and use the following Master Shot categories and watch the student video tutorials to learn how to shoot them. Each member will have to incorporate some of the Master Shots in one of the categories below for their act so plan ahead in your storyline to make sure it can include the types of moods you want: mastershots.mouseflip.com

    • Fighting Scene
    • Chasing Scene
    • Suspense, Shock, Fear
    • Revelation & Discovery
    • Argument, Conflict
    • Dialog Scene

Have the leader write a one paragraph summary of your group's chosen storyline and write in parentheses when each Master Shot will come out. Make sure that the storyline is creative, unpredictable, makes sense, and humorous. Next, have the leader write the characters in the film and who will act as them after you read the next paragraph.

Discuss and choose roles that will be played. If you need additional characters, you can have one person play more than one role by dressing up differently. Remember, group members take turns filming when they are not acting on scenes. Have someone fill out a description for each key character (minimum of three).

Note: Your character cannot depict a famous character (e.g. superman) and you cannot have a minor character who is "normal" (e.g. a normal student)

Character #1

Name:

Type:

Age:

Description:

Personality:

Background:

Role in story:

(Student) Actor's Name:

Insert a creative title that best describes your storyline below the group photo at the top of the doc

Reminder: the group leader will need to finish and post this checkpoint to Posterous in the evening on the day they have class so that the other group members can proceed to finish this checkpoint.

The leader should attach the group photo as an attachment and insert the Google Doc link to the email to Posterous along to the other group member's emails. When the other members receive the email they should complete the following within the checkpoint due date or within 24-hours when they receive the email from the leader:

The other two should write a few suggestions on how to improve any part of it in the Google Doc using a different color text. Then one should write Act I and the other should write Act II and III of the storyline of the superhero film storyline at the bottom of the same Google Doc. Make sure to label Act I, Act II, and Act III...also label the twist. You are not writing the script right now...you are only writing short small paragraphs explaining the storyline.

For the two members, they should forward the email the leader sent and write in a couple of phrases what edits and suggested they made to improve it. Also they should take a screenshot of the script part they wrote and post it to the same Posterous email and send it to their Posterous and the link to the spreadsheet.

If your group does not finish then have the leader finish it on divide up the work and email it to the group on the same day they started. If you are missing a member of your group, then simply assign them their role.