Final Projects -- Rules and Guidelines

Here is some information related to your final projects. Please let Tim, Megan, Jeff or I know if you have questions.

1) Final projects may be between one and four minutes in length, depending on your story. Talk to us if your piece is heading toward the four or five-minute range.

2) Consider your final project proposals as an ongoing effort you will refine as you do related assignments and clarify your ideas.

3) To date, no student has done an audio-only final project. We are open to this idea, but it must be discussed and approved in advance.

4) We have written in the syllabus that is is OK for students to use previously shot material if it makes sense for their final projects. Again, this is something that must be discussed with instructors and approved in advance.

5) You can use upcoming assignments to work toward final projects. For example, Section 2 students who just finished the video slice (and are beginning the photo slice) might want to shoot stills of a topic they are considering for their final, even if they have covered similar material during a previous video assignment. The goal is NOT to recycle old assignments. The goal is to use upcoming assignments as opportunities to work toward your final projects and help you decide which approach will work best.

6) Avoid focusing on yourself, roommates, friends or family for final projects. Such topics (and the approaches to such topics) must be approved by us in advance if they are to be used at all.

7) The use of music in final projects is OK if music is a natural part of the story you are covering (for example, if your piece is about a musician and the type of music played by that musician; or, if you're covering a sports-related topic and a band is playing at one of the sports events). Using unrelated music tracks as a soundtrack is not permitted for the purposes of these final projects. In addition, you should not, as a general rule, plan to allow an entire piece of music to run throughout your piece. Talk to us first about your plans to incorporate music.

8) Sources must be identified with names and titles.

9) Final projects must be posted on the blog by by 10 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2009, which is the end of the designated final exam time outlined by the university's exam schedule. Your presence in the lab during exam time is optional and is based on your own computer and equipment needs. Final projects may be posted anytime during finals week but the deadline for posting is 10 a.m. on Dec. 18. Points will be deducted from projects that are posted past the final exam deadline. Contact us immediately by phone or email if you are having technical issues. You may post to an outside site, such as youtube.com or vimeo.com, and provide links to final projects if you are having technical difficulties while attempting to post to the class blog.

10) As discussed during the course of the semester, interviews, audio, photos, and videos may not be staged, coerced, falsified or manipulated. These actions will result in a failing grade on the final project and students will be referred to the dean.