Interview Prep with Brad Pitt (And James Lipton, of Course!)

We'll be doing an interview-based activity using this Inside the Actor's Studio interview of Brad Pitt.  Keep an eye/ear out for which questions (that Lipton asks) elicit the best/deepest responses.

Brad Pitt on Inside the Actor's Studio with James Lipton

After reviewing the draft of your interview questions, I think that, collective, you did an excellent job.  If this assignment/project is still tripping anybody up, here are some foundation questions that can guide your interviews:

• What writing-based role(s) does this person play within the organization?  To whom do they communicate with?  (Who is their audience -- and, always, for which genres?)  Why?
• What genres does this person typically create?  (If they respond, "Well, I write emails," try to get them to dig deeper.  Emails about what?  To whom?
• What's "good writing" in their field/position and/or at this specific organization?  Why?
• What does writing do in this organization?  What does it accomplish?  How does it accomplish that?
• What are some of the major buzzwords used amongst the participants in the organization?  What words/phrases might an "outsider" not be familiar with?  How are these explained to an external/outside audience?
• What does this person's writing process like?  Do they ever share their in-progress (ie, not completely finished) work with others?  If so, who, and why?  What kind of feedback do they get?
• Do they have any writing-related pet peeves?
• Do they have any writing-/communication-related tips for someone who is considering entering the field?
• What kind of attitude/mindset does or thinking aptitude is required to succeed in this job?

Extra tips:

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Scheduling Our Upcoming 1-on-1 Conferences

On August 26th, during our week 8 class, we'll be meeting 1-on-1 to make sure you're on a solid path going forth.  Click this link to sign up for a time that works for you.  If none of these work, let me know and we'll figure it out!

"Moves!"

I.  Can't.  Wait.  To.  Teach.  This.  Lesson.
#omfg
#truestory

Whether you realized it or not -- and whether I, the writer, realized it or not -- I made some "moves" right there.  I tapped into my pop culture resources and used some informal conventions of the modern "millenial" generation to (1) reach you, my target audience, by writing a somewhat unusual teacher-to-student "hook" in the beginning (2) let you know that I'm honestly juiced up to teach this lesson... perhaps my enthusiasm for this will be contagious, and (3) let my hair down for a change.

Some other moves I made right there?

• put the key buzzword in boldface for added emphasis
• #'d that list so you realized that there were only a few things you had to get through
• #'d that list so that my punctuation (commas) would come across more clearly -- the #s allowed me to separate each "thing" without using commas.  By using #s, I can save my commas within each item/thing so you (probably) wouldn't confuse them as an additional unit/thing
• used the "rule of 3" (a cheap trick that most readers seem to enjoy)
• finished the list with a joke.  If I started that list with my "long hair joke," would it have been as effective?  Probably not -- punchlines usually work best at the end.

OK, so your paper/project is coming up, and you can base part of your argument and analysis on your informant's textual (written) moves -- what they're doing, how they're doing it, and whether you believe that it was effective.

By studying this, my hope is that you'll be able to detect writers' moves more clearly and, in doing so, consider adapting what you find to be effective.  Think of this as a way to open up your tool kit.

Ever hear of two musicians "jamming out"?  Well, this is essentially what you're doing as a (good) reader.  You're listening to what the writer/musician is trying to communicate, and if you like what they've done, feel free to "borrow that lick."  (But remember: if you're borrowing their ideas/research, you need to attribute that work to them in a citation!)

Blah blah blah.  Here are some videos that can help us start thinking about "moves."

#thisissocool

In-Class Notes

Each week I'll take notes of our in-class conversations, so don't feel the need to jot everything down -- I'd rather have your in-the-moment undivided attention.  You can find all of our notes throughout the quarter right here.

Horror Movies: More Practice with Genre and Conventions

Scenario: all of a sudden, you're sitting in the middle of a movie theater, watching a horror movie.  How do you know you're watching a horror movie?  What about this movie make it a horror movie? Put another way: what are the ingredients, features, or patterns of horror movies?

 After you jot down your predictions, we'll put our hypotheses to the test!

The Shining

Psycho

"Welcome!" Video

The video quality seems to have gotten reduced in its translation from Photo Booth to Blogger... :(

Upload Your Blog Addresses

Once you get your blog up'n'running, please click this link and upload the necessary information -- your blog address (ie, this one/mine is ausb310summer15.blogspost.com) and your Antioch email address.  (I like to have them all in one spot.)