Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Junior Project Reflection

NMA Sooniors

Now that your Catalyst for Change project is complete, it's time to have a postmortem. We'll be doing this in several parts, starting with today's assignment.

  • Click here to read a blog entry from filmmaker.com on student films, why they suck, and some specific tropes that are commonly seen in the films by novice filmmakers.
  • Create a document in your Video Assignments folder titled Catalyst Reflection Part 2.
  • In the document, list the student film tropes that are present in the project you just completed. For each trope in your movie, explain how and why it was used in your project. Also, speculate on why those specific tropes are so common in student films.
  • Bonus topic: What was your favorite part of making the movie?
This is due at the end of class today (Tue. Jun 7).


Friday, March 4, 2016


NMA Seniors

Create a document in your Video Assignments folder on Google Drive titled "Physical Project Reflection."

In 250-350 words, write a reflection on your experience creating the video portion of your physical project. Use MLA format. Use the prompts below to guide you. Tell a story rather than making a list of answers.

  • What did you learn from this project, both technically and academically?
  • What was the greatest challenge of the project?
  • How will the experience of working on this project influence how you approach team projects in the future?
  • What piece of advice would you give a student starting this same project?
  • What would you change, if anything, before placing this project in a showreel or portfolio?

This assignment is due on Friday, March 4, 2016 at 11:30am.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Unified American Experience Documentary Reflection

NMA Juniors

Create a document in your Video Assignments folder on Google Drive titled "UAE Doc Reflection."

In 500 words, write a reflection essay on your experience creating the Unified American Experience Documentary Project. Use the prompts below to guide you. MLA formatting is required and its proper use is factored into the assignment's score.

Note: This assignment is about you, your experience, and your performance. It is not a platform to express criticism or gripes about your classmates.

  • What did you learn from this project, both technically and academically?
  • What was the greatest challenge of the project?
  • How will the experience of working on this project influence how you approach team projects in the future?
  • What piece of advice would you give a student starting this same project?
  • What would you change, if anything, before placing this project in a showreel or portfolio?

This assignment is due on Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 11:59 p.m.


Thursday, December 3, 2015

NMA Logo Video

NMA Students

Select the link below to download the NMA Logo bumper for the beginning of all your NMA video projects.

NMA Logo



Monday, November 16, 2015

NMA Juniors

Refer to the spreadsheet below for availability of space to conduct your last-minute interviews.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Additional Footage for Documentaries

NMA Juniors

In addition to your interviews and B-Roll, you will need to find footage that is historically relevant to your demographic and story. Below are some resources you will most definitely want to use to legally acquire footage for your docs.

First, watch this animation on Copyright Law and Fair Use to protect yourself, me, the school, and the school district in your choices of footage. This is not optional.



Next, here are two sources of Public Domain or Royalty-Free footage you can use freely without attribution.



For copyrighted photos and video you use under Fair Use argument, here is a best practices guide to attribution. Also not optional. You MUST attribute the author and source of all copyrighted material used in your documentary.



For downloading from YouTube:




Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Business Card Ideas

NMA Seniors

Click here to see some really creative business card designs to inspire you in your business card design.


Wednesday, July 1, 2015