So You’re Making a Comm Studies 160

Political Ad

Handy Tips and Rules for

Making Your Commercial

the Best!

Tim Groeling, UCLA Communication Studies 160: Political Communication

• You can’t lie. • You must use my footage of the politician featured in each ad speaking

audibly in his/her own words for at least eight seconds of that ad. (Note: you technically do not need to see the candidate while he’s speaking... just hear him. Repeating or slowing down their voice is allowed).

• You are welcome to use any special effect, feature, voiceover, or other tool you desire to enhance your video. People from outside your group can also appear or be heard in your video.

• No one other than your group members and UCLA technical support personnel can do ANY of the editing of your commercials for you.

• Because these commercials are 30 seconds each and are for a nonprofit educational purpose, you can make fair use of copyrighted material for your ad.

• Avoid using any large blocks of pre-edited material (montages, existing commercials, music videos, etc.): you can use raw, unedited material from other sources for your video, not pre-packaged material. You are also not allowed to use material from commercials used for or against either candidate in actual election campaigns.

The Rules

To edit their projects, students may…• use your own computer, if it is capable.

Moving video files from one computer to another is a pain, so this is generally the best option. Note that I won’t be able to provide much tech support for programs other than iMovie 11, especially regarding how to import the required footage into the program and exporting the finished ads.

• check out Macbook Pro laptops from the CLICC (see http://www.clicc.ucla.edu/tiki-index.php?page=Borrow+a+Laptop for details and availability).

• reserve an upstairs CLICC multimedia station by calling 5-8208 • use the iMacs in my CS Rolfe computer lab during my office hours (or by

appointment)Remember to BACK UP YOUR PROJECTS FREQUENTLY! I have a few external hard drives available to be loaned out to groups. A flash drive might be sufficient for backing up your project.

Commercial Project, CS160

Resources to help with your commercials

Step 1: Form a THREE-PERSON group: Due 1/23.Register your group by e-mailing noahgrand@gmail.com (CC every member of your new group & groeling@ucla.edu). We will then e-mail you all back with your two-digit group number, which you will use to identify your group for the remainder of the quarter. If you don’t register as a group by 7 p.m. on 1/23 we will randomly assign you to a group. Note: 1 I will allow 1-person groups, but ONLY in documented, exceptional cases of geographic or scheduling constraints.

Background Info about Commercials•http://www.livingroomcandidate.org (see especially sample

commercials and http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/files/pdf/LESSON_01.pdf )

•http://www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate/from_idea_to_ad/•http://www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate/tricks_of_the_trade/ •http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/comm/groeling/web/

CommercialProject.html

VidAnt: Video analysis toolkit

Accessed at https://classes.sscnet.ucla.edu/course/view/commst160-media •Watch the footage in our custom player•Use custom codes to mark start and stop of key

passages•Add detailed comments on top of your codes•Export your work and share with your group

Commercial Project, CS160

Instructions

Step 2: Start Researching the Candidates: Chris Christie & Tim KaineYour group should begin deciding what key themes, issues, evidence, etc. you will be using in your commercials. The required footage (see below) will be hosted online at https://classes.sscnet.ucla.edu/course/view/commst160-media so you can study it and learn what raw material you have available for your ads. We will also be using the VidAnT toolkit to help you process the video most effectively (see info on next page).

iMovie ’11 TrainingBecause this class fulfills the Comm Studies Practicum requirement, every student must demonstrate proficiency in video editing. •Everyone must complete an online video editing

software tutorial at Lynda.com. You’ll login to Lynda.com through www.learnit.ucla.edu and complete a tutorial before week 3: http://www.lynda.com/iMovie-11-tutorials/essential-training/77957-2.html

•Everyone will attend in-class training on iMovie 11 during Class 10 (note that you can then use whatever software you prefer to edit your final project)

Step 3: Storyboard or First Draft: Due 2/4, 5 points.It’s fine if your final commercials are very different from your storyboards: These are drafts of your project in paper or electronic form intended to bring me up to date on the progress of your project, and to identify potential problem areas as early in the process as possible. The storyboards will be graded on their persuasiveness and the viability of each proposed commercial. Each group will sign up in class as a group to meet with the professor to get verbal feedback regarding your storyboards. Every member of your group must attend this feedback meeting or every member will be penalized. Some groups will be assigned follow-up appointments, as well.

Step 4: Audience Survey (optional): Due 2/13.Because a large portion of your grade will be based on the evaluations of your peers, I will allow you to test your themes on the rest of the class by posing no more than four questions on an audience research survey. Your group should submit the exact wording of your questions to me (cc all members of your group) by e-mail NO LATER than 7 p.m. on 2/13. Students will then complete the survey from 2/15-2/18. We will send you summaries of the audience’s response to your questions no later than 7 p.m. on 2/20.

Step 5: Final commercials due 3/11. 30 points.Projects will be turned in online through the course website by no later than 5 p.m. on 3/11. Commercials will be viewed in class on 3/13, and peer evaluations will be due no later than 8 p.m. on 3/14. Awards will be given in class on the last day of class (3/15).

Awards

We will award prizes for best soundtrack, most technically proficient, most creative, funniest, best negative, best positive, and most persuasive. Award winners get 1 point added to their scores; 2nd place gets half a point, and third place gets .25 points. Unlike the main grade for the video project, where the peer evaluation disproportionately weighs the professor’s scores, the awards are based mostly on the students’ peer evaluations.

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