Sample Proposal for the Stretch Project.

Please answer the following questions in as much detail as possible.  Doing so will help you think through your project and give you a sense of direction.  The answers provided here are written from the perspective of my alter-ego: defining a project that I will be working on at the same time you are working on your strech projects. 

What finished product are you going to work towards?

I want to work on a "video-essay" called "Tripping Over Burroughs."  I am not sure how far I will get, but I envision a video-essay produced in Flash that might take about 5 minutes to run. 

How is this project a stretch for you?  Why do you want to do this particular project—or, how does it relate to defining "MyNewLiteracy"?

This project is a stretch for me because I have only done one simple thing in Flash before.  I want to do it because I think there is going to be a lot of interest in these kinds of videoessays—online productions that combine words and pictures, something isn't quite a rock video or a slide show, something that isn't quite a traditional print essay or a photoessay.  I am also hoping to teach a new class in the near future, "Visual Culture and Language," and want to have an assignment that would include asking students to produce a videoessay.

How are you going to do it?  Explain as best you can what you think you need to do.

I have written some notes for the project, which I will need to incorporate into the videoessay, but I think the first really important thing for me to do is gather some images of William S. Burroughs, and collect music that is relevant to him and this project. 

I will also take the Flash tutorial, and try to get a handle on some basic things before I start bringing in texts and images. 

What is your schedule? Include a breakdown of who is doing what if this is going to be a collaborative project. 

Collecting images and MP3 files.  1 hr.  I will use Metacrawler's Image search and MP3 search options, or the same options on other search engines.

Additional sources: 1 hr.  I might just buy Laurie Anderson's CD that has William S. Burroughs "singing" Sharky's night.  I should also check out the biography of him that includes spoken word performances on CD. 

Storyboard text and images: 3-5 hrs. 

Begin working with Flash: 10 + hours.  Images and texts first, soundtrack will be my final addition, if I even get that far.  I will probably seek out help from a handful of people I know who are good with Flash. 

Grading Criteria, or Tell me what you want me to consider.

I would like to be graded primarily on my storyboard (my concept), and secondarily on the work that I get done in Flash.  My storyboard should be able to map out the whole project, but I  am not confident that I will get very far with the Flash.  I should be able to develop a good collection of images and some MP3 files, so that will show my work there, and I should be able to complete the story board.  If I get 3 frames done in Flash, that will probably be a reasonable start.