next »

[octoprof]

Yes octoprof, good points.  I'm already worried about not having enough time to really get my main points across and this may make that worse. 
I have found a way to make it 4 minutes (or even 3) and to focus more on two themes instead of three connected to the clip.  Do you think this would work better and wouldn't look like I'm using it as a crutch? 

One of my colleagues thought the film idea was great, she thought 5 minutes would be ok out of 50 min. total (no one said how long the talk should be, the time alloted is 75 min.). 

I thought you said earlier it was 45 minutes?

A very short clip in a 75 minute presentation isn't as bad as a 6 minute clip in a 45 presentation.

Anyhow consider:

What are you going to do if the technology doesn't work at your presentation and you've built your presentation around this clip?

Plan your presentation accordingly and then see if it isn't fine without the clip.

[dogville]

Well the total time alloted is 75 minutes, but we need to leave time for questions/discussion and I didn't think it was appropriate to go over 50 minutes - that's what I meant. I've been at job talks and I (and colleagues) tend to think that presenting more than 45 minutes is too long especially at a SLAC where students never sit and listen to someone lecture for that long.  So perhaps in light of this, 4 minutes or so out of the total would be appropriate.

Great point about the technology; as so many have said here, make sure and have double backups, so I will do that.  Tech people will be there at the beginning to set it up so we can test it out.  I'm making sure that the talk is not so dependent upon the film clip that all is lost without it if there is a problem.

[dogvomit]

Hey there,
   As usual, we tend to obsess about the little things of our interviews, since you never know what might be read wrongly by the SC....
so here I am now preparing my talk (mix of research/teaching talk).  I am planning to show a 6 minute clip of a dark comedy from the country in which I am presenting on.  I also teach courses on film so this is one way to highlight how I use film in the classroom.  The film makes an important parody on the topic I am presenting.  The film includes briefly a town mayor saying to someone 'F*** the Americans, F**** the Arabs..."  Not in a mean way, there is no fight going on, but in a matter of fact way to another leader he is talking with.  This is not in English so the audience will just read this in the subtitles.....
    To me, this is NO big deal, we are all adult and have seen/read bad language, but I'm concerned that in a job talk setting with students, some may firstly think that the whole "comedy" clip is inappropriate, but even worse, the language is.  What if I prefaced it by apologizing in advance for some "inappropriate language?"   
   I think the film does a great job of illustrating my arguments and it is a good break in the talk.
  Any thoughts??? 

this is a kin to using Hustler to demonstrate art.  Is what is inside Hustler art?  that is subject to debate among experts in that area, however, I wouldn't start flashing centerfolds at a job talk.  Likewise, I would avoid showing clips of profanity.  The only exception might be if your dissertation (or research area) was directly and obviously exactly what you are doing research on.  If so, you should very clearly indicate to the audience that they are very likely to find it offensive, but the offensive nature is what you are studying and it requires demonstration to deliver the point.  this would be no different than a biology candidate showing pictures of naked bodies to demonstrate variation in external sex organ morphometry. 

However, sometimes its better to just not go there!

[katherineparr]

dogville, it's great that you've found a way to remove the language. I think that's important.

But you misread my comment above. It was not I who said people would be bored. What I said, and what Octoprof reiterated, is that your job talk is your chance to show how brilliant you are. A film clip may or may not do that, but surrendering more than 10% of your talk to anyone else seems questionable to me.

4 minutes is better, and in the end it's your choice. Plenty of people who give job talks without film clips bomb. It's not about the clip, per se. It's about showcasing your talents. If you think this is the best way to do it, that's fine. But be sure you're focusing on the reason for the talk, not on the reason you like the clip.

[dogville]

Thank you katherineparr, I think you and octoprof hit it on the head; it has been very helpful to debate this issues with forumites instead of me just being in my head thinking how great an idea this is.  I did a mock talk last night in front of my spouse and we both realized the clip didn't work.  It did take up too much time because I was rushing to finish at the end.  I realized that it didn't add as much as I had assumed (looks different on paper compared to when you actually perform it).  It also gave the talk an air of informality after a good formal lead up.
   So I'm dropping it and working on strengthening the text itself. Plus I have a power point more for some visuals and statistics (but not as a lead for the talk).
  Thanks again and I'll let you know how it goes,
DV

[dr_crankypants]

Well the total time alloted is 75 minutes, but we need to leave time for questions/discussion and I didn't think it was appropriate to go over 50 minutes - that's what I meant.

This isn't necessarily the advice that you were looking for, but it's always a good idea to find out what length they want you to talk, and not just the total.  Personally, I would read 75 total minutes as meaning a 45-minute job talk, though it might well be a 50-minute one.  That's a difference worth knowing, because each extra minute beyond what their expecting is a minute they're squirming.

Good luck.