| Until recently, the technology pertaining to video production dictated that the process follow a linear fashion. Despite technological advances that allow for video compositions to be created in a similar manner as manipulating text on a word-processor, little has been researched regarding both its processes and potential. The traditional model for video production is still being framed in linear terms and its status for classroom use is relegated to the curious fringes of the language arts curriculum.; Using written composition and media literacy studies as the informing fields, this study sought to create a model that would define the processes and terms of video composition. This model was framed in the context of student peer groups, reflecting the complex and recursive nature of video production.; This ethnographic participant-observer study used Graves' Pyramid as the research design to document two case studies (one of high-achieving females, n = 3; the other of low-achieving males, n = 4) during their video composition group processes. I detailed the brainstorming, videography and editing processes of those case study groups, quantifying the ways in which they spent their time and qualifying their video composition processes in the context of a larger video production program (n = 82).; The case studies in this research demonstrated sophisticated reading and writing behaviors in their video composition processes. The results of this study suggest that video composition may have a valuable place in the language arts classroom, particularly among lower-achieving students. |
