Course Content

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The To Do List for this activity is quite lengthy. As such, the specifications have been posted to the bottom of this screen.

Change story is a follow-on to our conversations about narrative. As you should know by now, we have defined the term ‘story’ as one that follows the four elements as defined by Branigan. Among the four is the concept of cause and effect. So, in effect, all stories involve change/transformation (or not.. sometimes the main character refuses to change, which is the cause of the tension built into the story.. an analysis of the ‘effect’ of refusal to change). For our purposes we are dealing with a person’s ‘story’ in that we are analyzing what was it in that person’s life that caused him or her to change the direction they were taking, or the result of a decision they did not make (good or bad). The change may actually be the cause.. and the effect is/are the decision(s) that person make(s) as a result. John Lennon once wrote “like is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans”.

This activity involves you making a short video about a person (yourself, one you pick, or you select from the list below) that demonstrates this idea of change (which may be the cause or the effect based on the premise you select). The video must include evidence of the  four elements of story , as explained in the lesson on the story creation process. In short, the story line must demonstrate:

• What change or event caused this person to do what they did (like becoming a leader for the confederate union (Jefferson Davis)), a civil rights leader (Martin Luther King), a proponent for education (Horace Mann). The essence is to present the  why/because  principle.To say it another way.. what was the epiphany/moment of truth in this person’s life that caused them to recognize and make a judgment that they needed to make a change ?what was the transformation that took place?
• Alternatively, you MAY decide to play off of the plot in stories like The Lake House , or the TV show First Edition, or the movie Back to the Future in which a character intercedes (or tries to do so) to change history… you will need to specify what that interruption to history might be and how it would/could change history… for example, what if Adolph Hitler’s early art work was a hit? would he have become a wonderful content artist? To stimulate your thinking, here is a cute video that about Isaac Newton that plays off this concept. It is a short ‘diddie’ that suggests what would have happened if someone had interfered with fate and that famous apple never hit the ground.

Here are a few change stories that were submitted in previously to give you some idea as to what is expected:

 

Here are the specs for this project:

For the main character, you may select one from this list, pick yourself, or pick your own:

Science/Math	Social Studies	Language Arts
Luis Pasteur	Adolph Hitler	F. Scott Fitzgerald
Wright Brothers	Clara Barton	Mark Twain
Grace Hopper	George Washington	Yogi Berra
Pythagoris	George S Patton	Merriam Webster

Naming and posting instructions

• Upload the video using the uploader below
• The max file size for this project is  300 megs . Your editor will indicate the file size when you render/export it. If it is too large, you can reduce the file size by lowering the quality (from Best to Good), and changing the aspect ratio to a smaller size.
• Name your file  'lastname-changestory' .
• be sure to enter your name and check the box indicating that you have followed the naming and file size requirements.
• Like with all our project activities, you need to confirm on Canvas that the upload was successful.
• The output file format for the change story video MUST be  .mp4 . Points will be deducted for files uploaded in any other format.

 

For now all we are doing is introducing you to the concept of book trailers in order to provide guidance to the end game. All you need to do at this point is to review this set of readings. we will be providing more information about the project as the semester progresses. Come back here during the cycle when the selection is due to click the link below and make your selection.

Click here to find resources to help you make your book trailer selection