Option Overview

This option will ask students to remix 2010 Superbowl commercials to make a critical statement about society. The choice is up to you. They can (and, perhaps, should) be informed by some of the cultural criticisms leveled at the Superbowl commercials (such as “Why Superbowl Ads Are So Sexist, Racist, and Homophobic?” “The Critics On The Super Bowl Ads: Boring, Misogynistic,” “Misogynistic Super Bowl Ads,” and “The Super Bowl: Madison Avenue Misogyny“).

This should not be thought of as the “easy option.” Rather, the Superbowl ads, as the criticism of them states, reinforces/depicts many disturbing ideas about gender, race, masculinity, femininity, and so on, especially when located within the context of the sport of football (a sport closely associated with images of war). Your remixes will need to be subtle yet brutal statements, criticisms, and/or commentary about contemporary culture.

The nuts and bolts:

• must incorporate at least 3 communication modes (moving/still images, non-native audio, oral discourse, text, etc.)
• must be 120 to 300 seconds in length
• must include credits and sources (including separate, complete work cited [following the APA citation guidelines])
• must include at least one advanced editing technique, such as staccato repetition, multi-audio-track overlay, slow motion, speed up, reverse video, and so on.

To see the YouTube ads in a way that will be easily converted by Zamzar and downloaded to your computer, see the Superbowl AdBlits on YouTube. To view all the ads, click on View All Commercials.

If you’d like, you can incorporate footage, images, and/or audio from older Superbowl and banned Superbowl ads:

• You can find older Superbowl ads by going to 38 years of Super Bowl Commercials (note, you will will to use the Firefox Download helper and Zamzar to convert these videos).
• To see 2010 Superbowl ads that were rejected by the NFL and/or NBC, see Top BANNED Super Bowl Commercials. You may also be able to find more by doing a search for banned Superbowl ads.

In addition to the video production, students will also be required to complete 2 shorter Critical Reflection Papers:

• The first (250-500 words in length), should focus on the medium, on the experience of working in/with/across digital video and how that experience relates to traditional writing.
• The second (250-500 words in length), should focus on the message, on the attempted rhetorical moves, on the editing techniques themselves and why various edits, cuts, mashups, etc. were done (what was their intended effect).

Specifics when Uploading the Video to YouTube

• Upload the video to the course YouTube channel
• Place the complete title of your video in the form field when uploading the video. The title you choose should be meaningful and should include some version of the work “remix” or “mashup.”
• In the Description form field, add the following text:
  • start with a one-two sentence description of the the video, and describing its purpose
  • state that the project was completed by you for Writing, Research, and Technology, Spring 2010, Rowan University, taught by Dr. Bill Wolff. If you don’t want to include your full name, use your first name and last initial (this will also ensure that I know who completed the video). The video is [specify how you have copyrighted the video (choose a Creative Commons license that is consistent with any Creative Commons texts you have chosen)]. Include a statement with URLs that points the viewer to information about the course (https://williamwolff.orgcourses/wrt-spring-2010/) and assignment (TBA). Also mention the software you used to complete the remix.
  • include credits and sources (including separate, complete work cited [following the APA citation guidelines])
  • Please use paragraphs and complete sentences
• Add at least the following tags: remix, mashup, wrts10, rowan, rowan university, as well as multiple tags relating to your topic (these tags will increase the likelihood that the video will be found when searching that subject matter).
• For the category, select Education (it could fall under “Entertainment” but Education suits our purposes).
• Make the video public and allow embedding and comments
• After upload, please the video in the Remix Unit 2 playlist

Due Dates

3/29: 1 – 3 minute synopsis video uploaded to course YouTube channel
3/31: 1 – 3 minute rough draft due on course YouTube channel by class time
4/9: 2 – 5 minute final draft due on course YouTube Channel and required essays emailed to BW in one document by 11:00pm