Week 6 Blog Post (EDUC 5333)
NARRATION
Working Title: Changing the Game
Logline:
The story of how football became the most popular form of entertainment in America; how the world’s greatest sports agent, Leigh Steinberg, helped make it happen; and how Leigh has been instrumental in raising what will soon be more than a billion dollars for the many charitable causes he supports. This is Leigh Steinberg’s life story.
Genre: Drama
Themes: Teamwork, Community, Helping Others/Charity/Giving Back
Target Audience:
4 Quadrant—young adult, older adults, male, female (appropriate for all ages)
Format:
- TV Series
- 10-12 episodes per season
- 1 hour per episode
Recipe for each episode:
Timeline (for Season 1)—
- Very brief opening narration by Leigh summarizing a life experience or lesson or introducing an important event. This could be elaborate or as simple as stating the title of the episode.
- 2-3 min opening teaser—near present-day—cameo celebrity appearances as themselves highlighting a charity or cause
- 15-20 min youth experiences/memories/life lessons, 1949-1967
- 15-20 min college experiences/memories/life lessons, 1967-1975
- 15-20 min agency experiences/memories/life lessons, 1975-2012
- 2-3 min tragic or down experience, 2010-2012
- A super, before closing credits, with some details about the celebrity and cause featured in the opening scene, with thanks for guest appearances
Additional content and structure—
- Each part (youth, college, agency) will end with a hook for the next episode, usually as a cliffhanger. This means multiple hooks/cliffhangers will be incorporated into each episode.
- Each episode will also feature at least one sports play which will usually be an important highlight significant to the outcome of a game and will also be used metaphorically to represent some life lesson.
- The season timeline will interconnect like a spiral staircase so that the end-of-season youth section shows Leigh’s physical and psychological/spiritual growth that approximates the beginning of the season college section. The end-of-season college days will tie into the beginning of the agency days at the season start.
- Educational content will be woven into the narrative so that audience members of all backgrounds will gain greater knowledge of professional football in terms of game rules, strategy, positions, plays, game season, championships, agency, contracts, draft season, etc.
Role of music—
Music is often selected in the postproduction process, but sometimes it is integral to a story. We will seek intellectual property rights for musical performances in conjunction with the appearance of famous musicians that are significant to various parts of the story. For example, when including characters such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Jimmy Hendrix, or Jim Morrison, it will be vital to include their music.
TV series bible (initial ideas)—
The role of people, places, and objects will be tracked through multiple series as each, and the relationships between them, become dynamic embodiments of multiple concepts and emotions that the audience will experience. Character change is their arc, but places and objects also change. And encounters with them add layers of meaning to a story. For example, how many ways could a guitar signed by Elvis Presley be brought into the narrative? How many different emotions and memories can the audience share with one simple object? What if this or similar objects were lost, stolen, sold in desperation, destroyed in anger, or given away in a charity raffle? The same applies to the many locations, such as sports venues that are essential to the story. What happens over time to the LA River, Dodger Stadium, or the East Los Angeles Interchange? Story opportunities abound.
Here’s an example of how a simple, token gift could become a charged object used throughout the story to layer its emotional and spiritual depth: In an embellished piece, Warren Moon gives Leigh a “World’s Greatest Dad” coffee mug as an expression of appreciation after signing his Houston contract. Leigh is not married and has no kids, but Warren uses a marker to ex out the Dad and writes in Agent. “World’s Greatest Agent”. Leigh displays it on a shelf where it may reappear in scenes several times combined with new, emotionally significant events, like getting married and having children. At some point, a housekeeper decides to wash the mug, but it erases Warren’s modification so that it is almost invisible. Later Leigh struggles with his father’s death who is the world’s greatest dad to Leigh. Leigh also struggles with self-doubt as a father, and this fuels his tendency to use alcohol as an escape. The concept provides a bittersweet backdrop to the final episode of the season, The World’s Greatest Agent, as Leigh deeply desires to also live up to the fatherly title.
Leigh’s eventual struggle with alcohol will be an integral part of the series story engine. He is unaware of his propensity for alcoholism, as are most of those around him for many years. The audience has the advantage of seeing into his future, and this creates a dramatic tension fueling questions by the audience that need to be answered. This tension remains unresolved throughout the first season. The audience will even be kept guessing as to whether the story ends tragically. Because sobriety in this case requires a lifelong commitment to maintain, the dramatic tension from this can carry forward into many future seasons, even if they explore the later years of Leigh’s life.
Example of first season:
Season 1 (Big idea: How to Change the World)
Ep.1—The Biggest Game (Concept: Viewing life as the Biggest Game.)
- Introduction—brief narration: Logline in Leigh’s words
- Youth era (Lesson: You is they.)
- Steinberg brothers at OK Corral
- Muttonhead Club Meeting
- First baseball game
- Urgent family matter (cliffhanger #1)
- College era (Lesson: Take ownership of the challenge.)
- Vietnam War protest/arrest/parent support
- Elected student body president
- Sightseeing with Jimmy Hendrix
- Debating Ronald Reagan (hook)
- Agency era (Lesson: Life/The “Biggest Game” is about negotiation.)
- Cameron Crowe learns from Leigh on the road
- 1996 Super Bowl: The Cowboys face the Steelers
- Jerry Maguire success: Show me the money! (hook)
- Tragic era (Lesson: Take action. Negative example.)
- The passing of Leigh’s father
- Drinking
- Conclusion—brief narration: “It’s going to get much, much worse.” (cliffhanger #2)
Ep.2—For the Love of the Game
Ep.3—Offsides
Ep.4—Out of Time
Ep.5—Out of Bounds
Ep.6—Out of Luck
Ep.7— By the Playbook
Ep.8—Game Day
Ep.9—How the Game Was Won
Ep.10—Gamechanger
Ep.11—Champions
Ep.12—The World’s Greatest Agent
EDUC 5333 DST RUBRIC
Group Members:
Randall Anderson
James Eric Tallent
Purpose: This rubric will be used to assess final projects for EDUC 5333. This template is collaboratively developed within a peer feedback group and will be personalized by each student to focus evaluation to address the specific goal(s) of each student.
Personal DST Goal: To make a professional story presentation/pitch as the basis for developing the story to become a TV series.
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Superior | Good | Fair | Needs Work | |
| 5 points | 3 points | 1 point | 0 points | |
| The Use of Technology, and Media Tools | Video and audio quality are clean for the duration of the presentation. Fluid transitions throughout the presentation. Any music, visuals and special effects play a pivotal role in the narration. | 75-90% The video and audio quality are clean for most of the duration of the presentation. Fluid transitions throughout the presentation. Any music, visuals, and special effects aid in the narration. | 50-75% The video and audio quality are sometimes clean for parts of the presentation. The transitions are not fluid throughout. There are no special effects to help with the narration. | 0-50% The video and audio quality are unacceptable or nonexistent. There are not any transitions or special effects to accompany this story. |
| Story Structure | The digital story is written with a clear plot, beginning, middle and end. The story has relevance and stays on topic. | 75-90% The digital story has a clear plot but could be misinterpreted. The story is relevant and stays on topic. | 50-75% The digital story does not have a clear plot and could be misinterpreted. The story needed to be edited. There was no clear beginning, middle and end. The story is not relevant and does not stay on topic. | 0-50% The digital story does not have a clear plot and will be up for misinterpretation. The story needed to be edited. There was no clear beginning, middle and end. The story is not relevant and does not stay on topic. Too wordy. |
| Research | Story content demonstrates the project has been researched thoroughly | 75-90% The story content is researched, but it is not thorough | 50-75% The story content demonstrates some research, but it is inadequate | 0-50% The story lacks proper research needed for credibility and coherence |
| Originality, voice, creativity | The story shows creativity, original sense of voice, and fresh perspective | 75-90% The story shows some creativity, original sense of voice, and fresh perspective | 50-75% The story shows very minimal creativity, original sense of voice, and fresh perspective | 0-50% The story does not show creativity, original sense of voice, or a fresh perspective |
| Citations | The digital story has an almost complete work cited page that is formatted using APA structure. | 75-90% The digital story has an almost complete work cited page that is formatted using APA structure. | 50-75% The digital story contained some citations. There was not a clearly labeled work cited page | 0-50% The digital story lacked citations for the information presented. |
| Personal Goal: Compelling Story as a Foundation for a TV Series | The presentation is an effective story pitch for a TV series. It visualizes how the story can be further adapted for a TV audience. It is very persuasive and compelling. | 75-90% The presentation is somewhat effective as a story pitch for a TV series. It partially visualizes how the story can be adapted for a TV audience. It is somewhat persuasive and compelling. | 50-75% The presentation is only slightly effective as a story pitch for a TV series. It minimally visualizes how the story can be further adapted for a TV audience. It is only moderately persuasive and compelling. | 0-50% The presentation is not an effective story pitch for a TV series. It does not visualize how the story can be further adapted for a TV audience. It is not persuasive or compelling. |
ITSE Standards: Educators
2.3 Citizen
Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world. Educators:
2.3.a
Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and community.
