Assignments

Video Self-Portrait

Revised: 6/3/2004

Duration: 3 minutes

This assignment is to shoot, edit, and deliver a 3-minute video self-portrait. This project is fairly open-ended in that you will choose how to best present your own personality, beliefs, aspirations, or personal history. You may present a broad overview or focus on one part of your life. It can be serious or funny or a mixture of both. It can include footage of you on camera but it does not have to. Be creative!

I strongly encourage the use of still photos, graphics, text, animations, etc. in addition to the video footage you shoot. You are also welcome to use home videos, though the piece should not simply be a collection of home movies. You may also want to consider layering voiceover, music, and synchronous sound. You do not need to provide releases for the footage used in this assignment. However, you may need to obtain copyright clearances if you plan to distribute the video.

The grading criteria are simple:
How much better does the audience know you after watching the video?
How effectively did you use the medium to convey a lot of information about yourself in a short amount of time?

OUTPUT

Once you have completed the video, you will export it as a DV-format QuickTime Movie (Preset: DV NTSC 48KHz). When you are finished exporting, open the movie in the QuickTime Player and verify that it plays correctly before you import it into iDVD.

You will create a title/background image for the DVD menu in Photoshop. Pay attention to the Title and Picture-Safe overlays in iDVD (you may want to make your own guides in Photoshop). Don’t forget to  leave room for the movie’s thumbnail when you design the DVD background. Your final image should be 640 x 480 for import into iDVD (it is a consumer application that does not use the actual DV/DVD resolution for imported stills).

Open iDVD, create a new project and import DV QuickTime movie that you just created.

Once the DVD interface is complete. Click “Burn DVD”. Then insert a blank DVD (DO NOT INSERT THE BLANK DVD UNTIL AFTER YOU CLICK “BURN DVD”). Then click OK. Verify your DVD by playing it on a standard DVD player and label it with a Sharpie as described below.

Your Name
Video Self Portrait
MM240