Listening Post Exercise
This assignment has been redesigned this semester in a partnership Southern Spaces, an interdisciplinary online journal about regions, places and cultures of the U.S. South. It is an exercise to teach you to use all five senses and an iPad to tell a visual story about a place, space or tradition in or around Atlanta.
Your goal is to find a unique space or tradition and portray it visually without any narration. You are required to go off campus beyond your usual experience—a place you have never been where you will encounter people or traditions outside the realm of your regular interactions. Stretch your comfort zone--safely of course. The best projects may be published on Southern Spaces. Go with an open mind and open heart. Use all your senses. When appropriate, shoot video of the scene with your iPad. Be sure to capture ambient sound as you are shooting. You may also take some still pictures. You will be telling this story visually without any narration so think about what you will need to give this story a beginning, middle and end. Resist the temptation to interview people; let the pictures tell the story with you simply capturing the scene and dialogue as a silent observer. Be sure to get a release form signed from anyone profiled in the video.
During this experience, make some notes for yourself using the Evernote app on the iPad. These will be useful for the short critical writing component (250-300 words) that will accompany your essay. After your shoot, edit your video and photos into a two-minute story that captures what you saw and heard. Think about the questions below as you write your essay. Finally, load your video and essay onto your domain and the class website before the start of class Nov. 21. Turn in a hard copy of your essay as well. We will review the listening posts in class Nov. 26, and you will have until Dec. 3 to make revisions.
Questions to consider as you write your essay:
1. Describe the scene using all your senses. Paint a vivid picture. Be specific.
2. What did you learn about this place, community or people?
3. What surprised you, shocked you, moved you, amused you, scared you? Relate at least one anecdote.
4. What kind of perspectives can you draw from this place, space or tradition?
Please take a look at the following links for examples of the multimedia scholarship on Southern Spaces.
http://southernspaces.org
http://southernspaces.org/browse/short-videos
http://southernspaces.org/2013/searcy-county-livestock-auction
http://southernspaces.org/2009/oakland-cemetery
This assignment has been redesigned this semester in a partnership Southern Spaces, an interdisciplinary online journal about regions, places and cultures of the U.S. South. It is an exercise to teach you to use all five senses and an iPad to tell a visual story about a place, space or tradition in or around Atlanta.
Your goal is to find a unique space or tradition and portray it visually without any narration. You are required to go off campus beyond your usual experience—a place you have never been where you will encounter people or traditions outside the realm of your regular interactions. Stretch your comfort zone--safely of course. The best projects may be published on Southern Spaces. Go with an open mind and open heart. Use all your senses. When appropriate, shoot video of the scene with your iPad. Be sure to capture ambient sound as you are shooting. You may also take some still pictures. You will be telling this story visually without any narration so think about what you will need to give this story a beginning, middle and end. Resist the temptation to interview people; let the pictures tell the story with you simply capturing the scene and dialogue as a silent observer. Be sure to get a release form signed from anyone profiled in the video.
During this experience, make some notes for yourself using the Evernote app on the iPad. These will be useful for the short critical writing component (250-300 words) that will accompany your essay. After your shoot, edit your video and photos into a two-minute story that captures what you saw and heard. Think about the questions below as you write your essay. Finally, load your video and essay onto your domain and the class website before the start of class Nov. 21. Turn in a hard copy of your essay as well. We will review the listening posts in class Nov. 26, and you will have until Dec. 3 to make revisions.
Questions to consider as you write your essay:
1. Describe the scene using all your senses. Paint a vivid picture. Be specific.
2. What did you learn about this place, community or people?
3. What surprised you, shocked you, moved you, amused you, scared you? Relate at least one anecdote.
4. What kind of perspectives can you draw from this place, space or tradition?
Please take a look at the following links for examples of the multimedia scholarship on Southern Spaces.
http://southernspaces.org
http://southernspaces.org/browse/short-videos
http://southernspaces.org/2013/searcy-county-livestock-auction
http://southernspaces.org/2009/oakland-cemetery
