English 357, Project 1, Step 1
The Walkabout  

(5 pts.) Due: midnight, Sept. 5

The spirit of Project #1 (and even this whole course) calls for a little exploration, a little wandering around, a little thinking about who you are...in other words, "a walkabout." In some primitive cultures this was a solitary journey taken by a youth on his/her way to adulthood or self-discovery. Your walkabout won't be quite that serious; you'll venture out for at least a couple hours to reflect on where you live, what visual media are in your path every day, and who you feel yourself to be in such a world. This will also prepare you for the first big project.

Note: this is a creative assignment and somewhat open to interpretation. Complete the task as instructed, but don't worry about doing it absolutely correctly. There's no single way to respond.

Instructions

1. What I'd like you to do for this PRELIMINARY assignment is find a camera. Get the best one you can, but if that means a phone camera or a disposable, that might be ok. Just keep in mind that you'll need to transfer your pictures to Blackboard, so a digital camera is quickest. (You can take and print photos with a nondigital cam, then scan them into Blackboard, but that would take a long time!) YOU CAN CHECK OUT DECENT CAMERAS AT NDSU'S HELP DESK and there are probably rentals where you live as well. (This would be a great opportunity to learn about serious cameras, by the way, if you never have before.)
   
2. After you've secured a camera, be sure you know how you'll get photos into your computer system and from there into Blackboard. If you're unfamiliar with handling digital pics, call or visit the Technology and Media Learning Center.
   
3. Ok: camera in hand, head out of your apartment, house, or dorm. Your camera is your survival tool and spirit guide. Start snapping away. Just walk around and SEE your environment. Where are you? What's in your path? What VISUAL MATERIAL is in front of you? What visual material most ATTRACTS you, even if you don't exactly know why? What pictures, screens, gadgets, colors, images, signs, visual messages are in your path every day, every hour, every minute? How does the "visual culture" around you LOOK? (For examples of what "visual media" or "visual culture" may mean, see our introductory Power Point show.)
   
   Wander around for at least 2 hours. Don't worry about feeling dumb. Just do it. TAKE AT LEAST 50 PICS. Snap away. Play with light.
   
   Or, instead of heading outside, wake up tomorrow morning, grab your camera from your nightstand, and actually begin taking shots of your world from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you go to bed that night. Shoot whatever attracts you, don't strain or worry, just WHAT DO YOU SEE?
   
   AND: consider how the world changes when framed in your viewfinder. Consider what the camera is doing when you open the shutter. Pay attention to the mere sensory experience of capturing images.
   
   AND: try to be interesting and varied. Try to see what others are perhaps NOT seeing in any object, event, subject, or landscape in your daily path. Try "framing" these things in odd and interesting ways. Try to defamiliarize what you see everyday.
   
   AND/OR: try to take pics which reflect or feel like "you," "your world."

   AND, finally, feel free to take some pics which literally are you (photos of yourself).
   

4. When done, transfer your pics to a computer file and compress or otherwise format them, if necessary, to keep their sizes appropriately low for web viewing. If you don't know how to do this, call or visit the Technology and Media Learning Center.
   
5. Post the pics in our Blackboard "Drop Box."
   
6. Stay tuned for the next step of the project.

Scoring Criteria

A = 5pts. An "A" means you've taken a minimum of ___ shots, formatted them so that they web-appropriate sizes, and posted them to our Blackboard Drop Box. The photos are varied and interesting, as well as technically proficient enough to be understood and identified. That is, while there may be obvious intentional effects such as creative blurring, the photos should not, by and large, be inadvertently and badly under- or over-exposed, unbalanced, fuzzy, etc.

B = 4pts. A "B" means you've taken a minimum of ___ shots, formatted them so that they web-appropriate sizes, and posted them to our Blackboard Drop Box. The photos are technically proficient enough to be understood and identified, though not especially varied or interesting.

C = 3pts. A "C" means that you've posted photos to our Blackboard Drop Box, but have taken a bit less than the ___minimum, and/or failed to size some of them appropriately. The photos are technically proficient enough to be understood and identified, but may be noticably repetitious and rather dull, or technically flawed

D = 2 pts. A "D" means that you've posted photos to our Blackboard Drop Box, but have taken less than the ___ minimum, and/or failed to size many of them appropriately. The photos are confusing, possibly repetitious and dull, technically flawed, and otherwise troublesome.

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