Research Project: Video Analysis

The "first exam" will be a content analysis and essay that offers a close reading of an Internet video. This video must re-mix audio, video, and/or still images from the (broadly defined) historical civil rights movement.

The research will be completed and the essay will be written outside of class. You will have two weeks to complete this assignment (including spring break). The essay will be evaluated using the CSU Writing Guidelines.

Video Content Analysis

Your work on this assignment will consist of several steps.

  1. Choose a video other than those that we have studied in class on YouTube or another online site.
  2. Send a note to our class's email list that includes both the title and the URL of your chosen video. (Note that everyone must analyze a different video, so check other's postings before you choose yours.) Your email message's subject line must be "CMS 4800: My Video."
  3. Analyze and code your video using the form provided.
  4. Use this analysis as the basis for the essay, discussed below.

Essay Content

Your essay's thesis should address the question, "How does this video frame and interpret the meaning(s) of the historic events portrayed?" The essay should analyze the video's separate elements in concrete terms, compare it to others we have seen in class, and discuss its particular framing of the historical movement.

You also will likely find it useful to compare the video's messages to those of other examples presented in class, e.g. Eyes on the Prize, official memorials and museums, the Vibe fashion spread, Panther as analyzed by Dimitriadis, etc.

There is no minimum word count, but the essay should demonstrate the following characteristics:

  • a clear thesis that specifically addresses the topic;
  • specific illustrations or examples drawn from the video and our text(s);
  • a clear and effective pattern of organization.

Essay Format and Submission

You essay should follow the formatting standards developed by the Modern Language Association (MLA). Along with other requirements, this means that your essay must be double spaced. I strongly urge you to refer to a recent writer's handbook that details MLA formatting standards. If you do not, you will lose points needlessly.

Citations: You should use in-text parenthetical citations to document all material that you take from our class texts. You may not use any material from any other source.

To be considered on time, you must complete the following before midnight on the date listed on our Schedule.

  1. Complete the content analysis form and save the file as "YourLastName 4800 Video Analysis.xls"
  2. Draft the essay in Microsoft Word or any other word processor that generates either .doc or .rtf files. Save this file as "YourLastName 4800 Exam 1."
  3. On the first page, include your name, my name, "CMS 4800" and the date at the top of the page, in keeping with MLA standards.
  4. Send both the essay file and the Excel content analysis form as email attachments to <sspence@clayton.edu>. Both files should be attached to a single message. Include "4800 Exam 1" in this message's subject line.
  5. Send the files by midnight on the deadline date. Late essays will be reduced one letter grade for each day that they are late.