COURSE DESCRIPTION
“Veterans’ Video Portrait Project” is a collaborative studio course that fosters one-on-one relationships between students and Veterans with the goal of creating video portraits based on the past and current life of the American Veteran. Through a variety of activities, readings, research, and screenings, students will gain a personal understanding of military service and the return home, as well as the historical, cultural and political contexts of different wars. Students will develop two videos based on their research: one for the Library of Congress' (through the American Folklife Center) "Veterans History Project," a National Archive which is currently seeking material for its database, and one short, experimental video documentary. The class will culminate in a public reception and screening of the resultant videos. The length of the resultant videos can range from 5 - 30 minutes.


Course purpose and issues: Each veteran returning home from deployment abroad has unique experiences and perspectives from their military experience and their adjustment to civilian life back home. More often than not, the general public and college students know every little about the lives of those who have sacrificed life and limb. This class offers the student the unique experience to meet, learn about, and document living veterans’ lives. What does it mean to “serve our country?” What is contemporary warfare? What is it like to return home to civilian life? How has the veteran experience changed over the years? What are the political and philosophical views of those who have served in the military and/or fought in a war? How are they different from or similar to your own? For students, the interaction with the veteran forms the core of their project and a productive relationship with him or her is extremely important.

For the veteran, this class offers a chance to document his/her story and have it permanently archived in the Library of Congress. The veteran can share his/her life experience and views about the military with those who are eager to learn about it.
For both the student and veteran, this class is a chance to forge a unique and lasting friendship.

Veteran Participation and Class Structure: Veterans’ stories and lives are the content of the work done in this class. In addition to being interviewed, a veteran might also want to contribute visual materials that will enrich the video, such as: photos, letters, drawings, audio or visual recordings, personal objects, etc. He/she might also want the student to document a current event or gathering occurring in his/her life right now.
Each participating veteran will be paired with one student (sometimes two, if that is appropriate) for the semester. The veteran and the student will schedule at least four to five one-hour taping sessions (more is always better, of course!) during September and October. These should occur at times mutually agreed upon by both student and veteran (this may include evenings and/or weekends). The student will be responsible for all the technical aspects of the interview including the camerawork and recording (mini-DV tape), lighting, and microphones. The structure and content of the recorded sessions will initially follow the guidelines of the Veterans History Project/Library of Congress, and then branch off into various directions/topics as dictated by the veteran. Both the veteran and the student should discuss and mutually decide what topics to cover, with the understanding that it is completely up the veteran to decide what he/she wants to address in the video. The student will then edit the materials he/she has gathered and produce a draft of the video portrait for the Library of Congress. Subsequent meetings between student and veteran in November and December will be used to review the drafts of the video, brainstorm, and make suggestions for changes. The final product is due December 12, 2006. A public screening will take place shortly after, TBA.
For more information see: http://www.loc.gov/vets/vets-home.html

TECHNICAL/SOFTWARE ISSUES
Projects will be completed using mini-DV cameras (3CCD) and tripods loaned from the School of Art and Design. If you have access to your own equipment, you are welcome to use it, but it should be of the highest quality possible. Lights and microphones can be borrowed from the Digital Media Commons in the Duderstadt Center on North Campus. We will edit video using Apple's Final Cut Pro software. Additional image and audio tools might also be useful in the creation of your piece, including Photoshop, Sound Studio, and Garage Band. The class will cover video editing basics, as well as DVD creation. If you desire further tutoring in digital imaging, there are plenty of workshops available through the Digital Media Commons.
We will use the Lab Fee for this course to purchase external, portable harddrives for each student for storage of your projects. This drive is yours to keep.


ASSIGNMENTS/GRADING
This class is primarily focused on the production of two video works based on the student's interviews with their chosen veteran. Thus, completion of these is required to pass the course. You must also complete several research assignments meant to increase your knowledge about military conflicts, historical events and the cultural milieu of each war. Each student is required to post to the course BLOG ("Veterans Video" on Blogger) once a week in order to share his/her experiences about the class.