Proposals
For each of your major projects, you will write a proposal that outlines your topic, approach, and preliminary plans. The goal of this part of the project is to help you articulate your ideas for each project early on, and get feedback from me as your instructor, but your ideas will likely change and evolve throughout the course of composition. Focus on developing the connections and identifying the materials and technology that are most helpful for you.
My main expectation for the proposal is that you answer each section fully, and outline your goals and approach as specifically as you can for the stage of the project that you’re at. The more detail you provide here, the more feedback I’ll be able to give, and the better start you’ll have on your project. You’re encouraged to draw on what you’ve written here in your Statement of Goals and Choices, so consider how you can set yourself up to write that text down the road. As I want this piece of the project to be most useful for you, let me know if you find that this structure constrains your own process, and we can discuss switching out, combining, or repurposing sections of the prompt. Otherwise, you should break your proposal down into the following sections.
Topic and Theory
In the first part of the proposal, explain the topic (or topics) that you’re considering focusing on for the project, along with your reason for focusing on these topic(s). Then begin to outline the connections between your approach to the project and the theory from the course. In other words, how do you see your topic and approach to the project in conversation with and grounded in the theoretical readings that we’ve explored so far? You’re only required to discuss one of the readings for the proposal, but are welcome to discuss multiple influences, particularly as you’ll be asked to cover at least two readings in your Statement of Goals and Choices later on.
In this section, you can choose to focus in on one idea if your plan is locked in, or to explore multiple possibilities if you have different potential directions. One of those directions could end up being a Plan B if your first choice doesn’t work out, or could be fodder for the question in your Statement of Goals and Choices that asks you why you ended up pursuing your final plan as opposed to the others you came up with.
For example, the first project asks you to compose a nonlinear project that gives the audience space to make choices about how to interact with your work. For this project, you could speak here to an idea for a story you want to tell, and explain the central choices that you want the audience to make regarding that story. Will you start out with a traditional fairy tale and get the audience to choose how to flip it on its head? How will you lean into or resist the illusion of choice? In what ways will you approach old issues using new formats?
Media, Technology and Materials
In this section, discuss the media, technology or materials that you’re considering drawing on to tell your story, articulate your argument, or explore your theme. I recommend that you choose the combination of technology and materials that will best help you realize your goals, rather than letting your goals be dictated by the constraints of the platforms.
Remember that you can and will draw on multiple sets of resources throughout the semester, so your whole project doesn’t need to be created through one platform or technology alone. For instance, in the first project you could plan your story out using Twine, and then host it on your own webpage or printed book.
Part of this section could be just a list of potential technology and materials, but spend some time here working through why you’re considering this set of resources, and how you’ll account for the major constraints and affordances of your approach. For instance, Twine is a primarily text-based platform which doesn’t accommodate music and sound effects as effectively. If you plan on using Twine, you could explain why it works for your project to background the aural mode, or discuss how you’re drawing on Twine guides to help account for that constraint.
Preliminary Schedule
Finally, for the last part of the project, sketch out a schedule for when you want to work on and complete each phase of your project. The reason I added this section is because, as DePalma and Alexander state, one of the primary challenges of creating multimodal projects is the timing. Making sure that you’ve left enough time after recording for editing and processing, and accounting for potential technology failures and time spent learning new platforms can be difficult, but it’s also a skill that you’ll likely draw on in future work in the workplace or beyond. As you develop these sections of your proposal, consider how it will translate to your ability to answer a question from a supervisor asking you about your projected timeline for a project, or to respond to an email response to a client who doesn’t understand the amount of time it takes to complete a complex design (see Clients from Hell for some vindication on this point).
Your response in this section may range from a bulleted list of projected dates to a detailed calendar. Focus on the method of planning and scheduling that is most effective for you, and consider how you might shape that method to work more effectively over the course of these three projects. The primary goal for this project is to give you a chance to plan ahead and set goals for yourself. Just like it’s easier to make it to the gym in the morning if you set out your clothes in advance, or to read a certain number of books in a year if you tell everyone that you’re doing it, it’s easier to meet your goals for a project if you put some time into outlining them in advance. I’m also happy to hold you to your scheduled goals and check in on your projected dates if you want, so feel free to add a note in this section if there are particular stages in the process where you want me to check in beyond our class deadlines.
Collaboration (Optional)
As I mentioned in the syllabus, if you want to work together with your classmates on a project, pooling resources and areas of expertise, I require that you add an additional section to each of your proposals. You’re welcome to work together to articulate your ideas as a team, but each of your proposals should be your own, particularly in the areas where you explain the rationale behind your topic choice and approach. If you are collaborating, your proposal should focus mainly on your section of the project, as your Statement of Goals and Choices also will later on.
In this collaboration section, you should first outline your reasons for collaborating on the project. For instance, you might speak to how having a larger team allows you to create a bigger piece or a more technologically in-depth project, or how your topic relates to collaboration. Perhaps you’re taking a performative approach that requires collaboration between actors. Whatever the reason, explain what you hope to gain by collaborating with your peers.
Second, break down how you plan to divide the responsibilities for the project up between members of the team. Who will do what, and how will you work together to balance the workload? Speak to your plans for communicating about progress in the project as well. Will you start a group Slack and ask people to share updates regularly? How often will you meet as a team? Will you use a collaborative to-do list tool like Trello?
Share your responses to this section of your proposal with your team members, both to help in setting your plans in motion and to make sure that everyone is one the same page. I will likely reach out to your team (either over email or through a meeting) to check in and make sure that everyone feels that the workload remains fairly balanced, but also feel free to use the schedule section of the proposal to request a time that you want me to check in with you all and make sure everything is on track.