ARTH3

Stage 2 July 23 – Research sources listed per MLA guidelines and submitted to assignment folder by 11:59 p.m. EDT, Sunday, July 23. Submissions after this time will incur a 20-point per day deduction. Use the Research Template located in the Stage Two folder for the basic format of your document. Additional formatting criteria are located below. This completes your research on the final project. At this point, the only thing you’ll have remaining is assembly of the PowerPoint presentation and editing your Slide Notes. Stage 2 must be approved before you can advance to Stage 3.

Stage 3 Aug. 6 - PowerPoint™ Presentation & Word™ document with slide notes must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 6. Failure to submit by this time (for any reason) will result in a 20-point deduction per item per day beginning at 12:01 a.m., Monday, August 7. No Stage 3 will be accepted without having submitted and received approval for Stages 1 & 2.

Concept: You will submit a PowerPoint™ presentation and slide notes on a Word™ document, which highlight significant contributions of the subject to the film industry. This is not simply a report on the subject; you must prove significance. That means you will look for evidence outside of the subject itself. You will choose one topic only from the FIP Selection List (updated as approved under Content>Week 1>Film Industry presentation module), which includes the following categories: (a) a critical film, (b) a film studio (c) a film director, (d) a cinematographer, (e) a film editor, (f) a screenwriter or (g) a film process or equipment (sound effects, film editing, lighting styles, etc.)

1. You must email your selection from the list to seek confirmation. No topic or subject may be repeated by another student.

2. You will make the case that your subject has made a significant contribution to the film industry.

3. Do not write about why you chose this subject. That doesn’t prove significance.

4. Listing history will not be enough.

5. Listing awards will not make your case.

6. Listing box office numbers will not always prove significance.

7. Do not write about story or themes. They are in the script and off topic.

8. Do not write about cultural or societal influences on the subject.

9. Do not write about cultural or societal influences created by the subject. This is solely about the film industry.

10. You have to prove your case and not just state your opinion or observations as though they were fact.

11. If your topic is a person, you will not deal with his/her personal life. Your focus will solely be on the film industry and why that person, company, process or equipment has made a significant contribution to it.

Length: 12 slides minimum—15 slides maximum. Your presentation may include video and/or audio; however if you decide to include those, make sure that you understand how to embed the files. More than half of all submissions don’t work and are thus penalized.

Project Selection: All subjects must be approved. No subsequent stage will be accepted without approval of the previous stage. That means Stage 2 won’t be accepted without a prior submission and approval for Stage 1; Stage 3 won’t be accepted without a prior submission of Stage 2. Do not begin this assignment until it is approved! Once your topic is selected and approved, it may not be used as a subject by any other student. Subjects will have made a significant contribution to the film industry. Be aware that an Academy Award does not necessarily qualify as a significant contribution. As in your papers, you have to make your case with evidence. That evidence will be found in other films, filmmakers and the industry in general.

Usage: Your PowerPoint presentations and notes will be used for Week 8’s online discussion and therefore viewable by everyone. Your work will be identified for this project.

Grade Value: 30% of final grade

Criteria:

· Your PowerPoint™ presentation should be manageable by LEO, though it could easily exceed the limit of your email. Do not wait until the last minute to determine that need. Your materials should go to your assignment folder, but again do not wait until the last minute because issues at that time tend to be insurmountable. Large files will take time to upload. Late submissions for any reason will incur penalty point deductions.

· You may include audio or video in your presentation. Make sure it is properly embedded to play on a different computer than your own. You should send it to someone else to make sure any video and/or audio plays before submitting it for grading. Each semester, several come through that aren’t successfully embedded.

· Your first slide will include your name, date, course and the subject of your presentation with image(s) establishing the topic. This slide is included in the total count requirement and is subject to the same formatting requirements as the other slides.

· You will incur a pro-rata point deduction for a slide total less than 12 (this total includes your title slide). You will also be penalized for over 15 slides (even if they are buried behind other slides).

· Your corresponding slide notes on the Word™ document will carry the bulk of your textual information. Though each slide must have some PowerPoint text highlighting key words or ideas, your slide notes will form what would otherwise be the oral element of your assignment were this a live presentation. Consider the slide notes as an argument for significance. They must be in sentence/paragraph form. Don’t simply repeat material that’s on each slide. The slide is the visual highlight of your textual presentation. Expand on that information in your slides to make your case about the significance of your topic to the film industry. Your slide notes must be a minimum of 1200 words and a maximum of 1500 words. This does not count citations. It only refers to the body of your notes. Over or under will result in a maximum possible score of 70 on the slide notes portion of Stage 3.

· Research sources for Stage 2 (minimum 6 different published sources – no blogspots; no Wikipedia) cited (per MLA format/12 pt. Times New Roman Font) –You do not need to provide a citation for any image file you’ve used. Just cite your significant research sources on a Word™ document to submit as Stage Two. Do not include citations on a slide. Home pages and search engines do not count as proper sources. Use the MLA Style Guide found under Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources.

· Know your subject and do the scholarly research necessary to make a meaningful contribution to the class. You are not writing a simple report about your topic. You are proving significance. That means you have to investigate sources outside of your topic. You’ll research other films, filmmakers and studios. Do not reply on the opinions of other film reviewers or essays on film criticism. Those are still opinions and not evidence. Go to the sources. Go to the films, filmmakers and studios. Get quotes. Use internal citations for your facts. Also remember that cultural, societal or filmic influences on your subject are off task. This is not about influences on the subject; this is solely about the significance of your subject on the film industry.

· No more than 25% of your total notes content may be quoted. Slides notes will be submitted to Turnitin for a similarity index rating. Material exceeding that number or material that is not adequately attributed with quotations, internal citations and complete end note citations, will receive a zero for the Slide Notes portion of this assignment. Accidental omission is still omission and will be scored a zero.

PowerPoint™ Guidelines:

1. No sentences (regardless of the absence of punctuation) – Use phrases and brief terms.

2. 60 pt. minimum text. Ideally, it should be large enough to fill the space. If I can make it larger, than 60 pt. then it is too small. Fill the space.

3. No vertical text. That is words that are spelled vertically on the slide.

4. No broken words (i.e. syllables carrying over to the next line).

5. All slides should be graphic rather than text intensive though each slide must display both image file(s) and independent PowerPoint™ text. This means the majority of the slide area should be graphic (image or drawings) space. Text preexisting on an image or text placed on an image outside of PowerPoint will not satisfy this requirement. The text must be available on the slide to readily check for size.

6. Maximize content and minimize empty space. Fill the slide with visual information. The majority of the slide canvas should be image.

7. Check your spelling and grammar.

8. Strong contrast – Don’t let the background colors or templates conflict with the readability of your text. Text over image is usually a problem. A template may be visually attractive but it is still empty space.

9. If you use an image that includes embedded text – that also has to meet the 60 pt. minimum; otherwise select another image.

10. Image files must be at least 300kb (uncompressed) and must not be pixelated if enlarged in your slides. This usually appears around the edges of an object in the image. That means if you meet the minimum file size and it’s still pixilated, the image will be penalized. Images must also appear sharp, so even if you meet the minimum file size with an apparent low resolution, it will be penalized. Also, each image will be individually assessed. Ganging pictures together to make the minimum won’t work.

11. No watermarks on any images.

12. Do not alter the aspect ratio of your images. No stretch distortion. For instance, people shouldn’t appear skinnier or fatter than they naturally are. The last sample slide will show evidence of this. Even if you didn’t stretch the images, they may not exhibit any stretch distortion. You have to correct it.

13. All slides must be content relevant to your topic. No slides indicating “Introduction,” “The End,” “Conclusion,” “Questions,” etc.

14. No borders or templates serving as a border. Exposed templates equate with empty space.

15. No repeated slides or images (this includes image types

16. All images must be foreground and may not simply serve as a background for text. PowerPoint text can be placed on an image provided the image isn’t blocked and there is sufficient contrast between the text and image.

17. All images must be relevant to the subject. No generic images or clipart.

18. No slides with citations.

“Form follows function” – Your slides have to communicate. Artistic value will never compensate for a failure to communicate.

Sample PowerPoint™ slides with audio critique are posted under Content>Week One>Film Industry Presentation.

Formatting Criteria for Research Template Stage 2:

· 1” margins top, bottom, left and right.

· Number your pages in the lower right corner

· 12 pt. Times New Roman font (normal, not expanded or condensed).

· Do not place anything in headers or footers (aside from page numbers)

· Upper right corner – Your name, course & date on three lines single-spaced (0 pts. before and 0 pts. after, under paragraph formatting in Word) first page only.

· Skip one line

· Subject (centered)

· Skip one line

· Begin your Resources Double-spaced (0 pts. before and 0 pts. after, under paragraph formatting in Word)

· You may not use Wikipedia, Wikihow or wiki anything as a resource. You also may not use a blog.

· Cite all sources per the MLA standards posted under Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources. Do this manually and do not employ services to automatically format the citation. Do not use a citation block provided in Word. Citations must be manually entered. Citations copied and pasted that prevent Word comment isolation will be disallowed and penalized.

· In addition to the MLA citation, include the complete URL (not just the home page) of any Internet sources. This URL should follow your MLA citation. It is not a part of it in this style sheet.

· Spelling checked with www.m-w.com

Formatting Criteria for Slide Notes on a Word document:

· No title pages

· 1” margins top, bottom, left and right.

· Number your pages in the lower right corner

· 12 pt. Times New Roman font (normal, not expanded or condensed).

· Do not place anything in headers or footers (aside from page numbers)

· Upper right corner – Your name, course & date single-spaced (0 pts. before and 0 pts. after, under paragraph formatting in Word) fist page only.

· Skip one line

· Subject (centered)

· Skip one line

· Begin your Slide Notes Double-spaced (0 pts. before and 0 pts. after, under paragraph formatting in Word)

· Begin slide detail numbered. For example, print “Slide 1:” at the 1” left-hand margin followed by your notes relevant to that slide.

· Skip a line and print “Slide 2:” and repeat for all slides.

· Cite all sources per the MLA standards posted under Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources. Do this manually and do not employ services to automatically format the citation. Do not use a citation block provided in Word. Citations must be manually entered. Citations copied and pasted that prevent Word comment isolation will be disallowed and penalized.

· In addition to the MLA citation, include the complete URL (not just the home page) of any Internet sources. This URL should follow your MLA citation. It is not a part of it in this style sheet.

· Spelling checked with www.m-w.com

Writing Notes:

· Review the Writing Notes pdf under Content>Course Resources>Writing Resources.

· Proof your work aloud. You will catch grammar issues that a silent read will miss.

· Spell-check will not catch misused words that are spelled correctly (e.g. then v. than).

· Double-check the formatting requirements before submitting your paper for grading.

· Film titles are italicized.

· Film references are written in the present tense.

· Employ active voice rather than passive voice.

· Maintain subject-verb agreement.

· Keep your sentences to the point. Communicate. At these margins settings, if your sentence extends to three lines, think about revising it. If it extends to four lines, revise it.

Ask Questions Early – If you are unsure of any element, do not assume.

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