EXPOS20: Animals and Politics

--- tags: ed --- # EXPOS20: Animals and Politics ## Workshop 1 [Access Ed's slides for workshop 1 here.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1stArEyfFoUTTxQR6oTqF6GK4MgLaSJ2e/view?usp=sharing) ### Homework Assignment for Workshop 1 Please watch [this 10min Youtube video created by Ed](https://youtu.be/ml2ZBDuLNXk). As you are watching, brainstorm (informally) answers to the following questions: 1. What did you like about it? 2. Was there anything you didn’t like about it, or anything you would have done differently? 3. What stood out to you? 4. What visual or auditory elements did you pick up on? **No need to turn anything in for this FYI.** ## Workshop 2 [Access Ed's slides for workshop 2 here.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KpJm2hdfNZ7gEuYxmJaSpV9zDhAsHmFm/view?usp=sharing) ### Homework Assignment for Workshop 2 #### Part One: Creating An idea It can be daunting starting a new project and staring at a blank piece of paper or document on your screen and working out where to begin. The same is true when creating a piece of online media as well. In fact, one of the most challenging aspects of the project can be trying to work out what a good topic for a video would be and then embarking on the process of beginning to research it. So to help in you in this initial process, there are a selection of questions that you can ask yourself that can help you decide what a good topic or video idea will be. 1) Is there a common question that people may have that you can answer? For example, when it comes to veganism, a common question can be, ‘why don’t vegans eat honey?’ 2) Is there something topical that you can use? This could include something that’s been in the news recently or something that has been trending on social media. 3) Has someone famous or well known done something recently that has generated a lot of conversation? 4) Can you make a response to a popular content creator? 5) Is there something that interests you but that you wish more people knew about? 6) Is there a topic that you want to know more about but can’t find a video on? If there is, chances are you’re not the only person who has looked for that video. ——————————— Once you have decided on a potential topic, it’s a good idea to then reflect on that topic. A way you could do this is by then asking yourself these questions to further develop on your initial idea. 1) Why is this an interesting subject? 2) How easy will it be to create a compelling story? 3) What sort of reaction do you think that this topic will create in your audience? 4) Are there any considerations, concerns or potential difficulties you could run into with this idea? #### Part Two: Researching Once you have settled on a video topic, the next step is to begin researching the topic and developing a deeper understanding of what it is you are going to be discussing. Here are a list of important considerations for when you begin your research. 1) A great way to start can be to work out what your expectations are for your research. What do you expect to find when you are researching? Do you have any assumptions to begin with? * Make sure that when you are researching you stay open minded, curious and objective. Our research might not align with our initial expectations. For example, when researching a video on how the UK advertising regulator has historically ruled on pro-vegan adverts, my expectation going into the research was that there would be a strong likelihood of an anti-vegan bias within their rulings. This expectation was formed from a prior awareness of rulings that had gone against plant-based companies. However, the research showed that the advertising regulator had ruled in favour of plant-based companies as well, meaning that there was no evidence of a clear bias. Interestingly, though, the research instead showed that there were errors from the advertising regulator when it came to maintaining consistency and also upholding their own guidelines when ruling on huge corporations such as Chevron. This meant that, while the video wouldn’t be fulfilling the early expectations I had for it, there was still an interesting story that could be discussed. 2) When doing your research make sure that you are looking for credible sources. For example, opt for work that is published in highly acclaimed journals as well as information being presented by authoritative organisations such as the UN and the WHO. 3) Can you find review studies and meta-analyses that are discussing the topic that you are researching? A meta-analysis is essentially a study of studies. It overcomes bias from any individual study and evaluates multiple studies to try to understand what the overall body of evidence is showing. 4) Look out for biases and cherry picking and also try and find the origins of specific claims. For example, if an article references a statistic, can you find where that statistic originates from? 5) As well as researching the actual information for the video, it’s also a good idea to look at what footage is available online that you could incorporate into the video. For example, is there good archival footage, news footage, social media footage and stock footage that you could use? ——————————— Now it’s time to delegate researching roles. 1. Begin by creating an online document (I recommend Google Docs). 2. On the document, create a researching section and then delegate which areas of research each person within the group should focus on. 3. Once everyone has added research notes to the document, take some time to read through the notes and all of the different sources and citations. From here you can then begin the process of creating a story outline. (This will be the focus for next week’s session, so you don't need to formalize the story outline yet). 4. I'll ask each team to present their idea and research next time, so keep this in mind and plan to know what you'll say (2-3 minutes, informal!). ## Workshop 3 [Access Ed's slides for workshop 3 here.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gUKJLlyN19flxcbv0G6JJpAxz9t4TIxt/view?usp=sharing) ### Homework Assignment for Workshop 3 Please plan to come to the next workshop with your story outline or script draft (it's OK if it's not completely finalized!). Some questions to think about: Think carefully about the introduction -- what will be grabbing or create an interest in the viewer? Can you link your conclusion back to the introduction so that it can act as a call back? Can you tell a story to illustrate something you are talking about? Can you hold back certain information to keep an element of intrigue? Can you sync up what you're saying with what is being shown visually to create a synergy? This depends on what materials (video, images, documents) you researched and found. Do you know that you have the right videos to work with the script? Can you reference something topical or that you already know people are engaging with? Can you add any humor or acknowledge any absurdities? ## Workshop 4 No slides. ### Homework Assignment for Workshop 4 Please plan to have all your filming and recording (audio and/or visual) completed by the next workshop. If you need editing support, please email Dr. Saha and the Learning Lab. ## Workshop 5 [Access Ed's slides for workshop 5 here.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13D10B58dg9FIdGLfwLuRasCA_82qYxzg/view?usp=sharing) ### Homework Assignment for Workshop 5 Finish up your editing, everyone! Remember, videos are due to Sparsha via email on 10/21 by 12pm EST. Please send the MP4 (or the actual video file) and not a link (unless I can use it to download the actual file).