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In various fields, students can build composition skills and acquire a critical understanding of video media by creating their own videos.  The process may include (and assess) research, writing, editing, image and audio analysis skills, together with practical technology literacy.  Now more than ever, tools for making video and spaces for housing and presenting it via the internet are cheap and easy to use.  

A simple video assignment can require students to create a short video documentary that involves (mainly) still images and narrative voiceover.  More complex variations on this may have animations, live-action video (of students themselves or footage recorded by a third party), music, and so on.  Students may find still images from a variety of sources, but bear in mind that most of your students now carry phones that include high quality cameras, and that are capable of photography and video recording. 

However you choose to create a video assignment, we strongly suggest you go through each step and create your own video, to best understand exactly what you're asking your students to do. 

Basic Considerations 

 Is this a group project?  Or is each student completing her or his own video?

A single video, under fifteen minutes in length, is a reasonable project for undergraduate students at all levels.  Students may work together to produce videos.  If this is done by having each student contribute a smaller video clip, students should be sure to use similar video formats (for example, .mp4 files.)

How long is the video to be?  

Or, how much of the students' efforts and grade in the course will be occupied by this video project?  Small video pieces, such as book trailer assignments or blog posts, may be around five minutes.  A fifteen minute video might take the place of a term paper, since the writing, image discover and editing, and final production jobs could be substantial.  Generally fifteen minutes is probably the maximum length for an undergraduate video project that is not the central assessment of a methods course.  

Outline, Script, or Storyboard

Students should prepare content before recording and editing video.  At the very least, an outline should guide a small, less-formal video production.  Ideally a student should compose a script about a subject, a process involving critical analysis of a source or sources, and possibly research in depth on a topic.  This can take various forms; one option is something closely akin to a traditional research paper, including source citation and a bibliography.  Or students may complete a storyboard, linking portions of narration (text) to specific images that will appear on screen.  

Fifteen minutes should be allowed for roughly 1200 words of script.  A draft of a script or storyboard, handed in several weeks before the finished video, can be a separate assessment that provides student with feedback before recording.

Technical Options

Video creation tools offer a variety of options beyond just displaying static images with a narration.  As a requirement or optionally, your students may include:

• Video clips, either from a third party (for example, historical sources) or of the student(s) themselves.  
• Dramatic transitions between images or clips.
• A musical score or soundtrack
• Captions, including image source citation.
• Title pages, an on-screen bibliography or works cited page.