1. PERSONAL: What inspired your topic or subject matter? (How) does it reflect a personal interest, belief, concern, or question? What is your relationship to this subject?
The subject is on nerd culture and how it isn’t actually more awkward than the social norm. While those that aren’t able to relate to nerds will view it as different and weird, others who are able to relate understand the nuances of nerd culture perfectly. Just like there naturally are varying social nuances for differing cultures, the ways nerds are able to relate to each other reflect these differences. When we travel abroad, we encounter varying opinions and paradigms, and while nerds reside in the same countries as the rest of us, they have unique perspectives on many things. It’s very interesting because while we as a society are very accepting of differing cultures and customs, when it comes to nerd culture, it is universally mocked and derided. I’m a nerd :-)
2. WORKING STATEMENT/HYPOTHESIS: What is your personal persuasion about your topic? Is there a statement you wish to make? Try writing a hypothesis statement that uses wording such as, “In my life I believe … my video will show this action by … the main conflict is between ___ and ___ … ultimately I want the audience to feel (or understand)…”.
In my life I believe that nerds are normal people with different cultural ways of relating people, my video will show this action by the interactions of different nerds and the translations or explanations of why they say the things they say. Ultimately, I want the audience to understand that nerds come from a different cultural background and that is why they are different than “normal” people in our society.
4. ANXIETIES: What are your hesitations and anxieties about this project? What are the challenges? Potential obstacles? Is your idea realistic and doable? Can you complete this in the allotted time?
Some of my hesitations about this project is making it interesting and real at the same time. It’s very tempting to poke fun of nerds even in this video, which isn’t the purpose. The translations can easily be seen as mocking or sleighting in some cases. I don’t know how realistic my idea is, nor if I can complete it in time. But that has never held me back before.
5. TOPIC: Can you write a concise paragraph about the subject of your video? If you had to write a press release, an abstract for a grant proposal, or a newspaper review for your piece, what would be a clear but brief description?
This video is about presenting nerds and their social interactions as how they are to them, normal and communicative, rather than as how the rest of society sees it; weird and socially awkward.
9. STRUCTURE: What are the action sequences? Can you describe the structure? How will it begin, what is the opening sequence? Will there be a culminating moment? How will you handle the progression of time, can you describe how the piece will unfold?
What comes to my mind is somewhat like a Steve Irwin esque intro and cuts to various situations. However, I’m a little wary of this as it is usually parodied and used for humor.
12. AUDIENCE: Who is your audience? What are their views and/or biases on this topic? Will your piece support or challenge their views?
My audience is I guess the general public. From television and popular culture, nerds are traditionally viewed a certain way. While some T.V. shows in recent years have tried to portray nerds as more normal people, the stereotypical view is still fairly prevalent. My piece will hopefully challenge their views? I think.
Bring me Java, Bring me Joy 