Scoop or spot news

Scoop or Spot News: one printed 8x10 color or black and white with caption (typed, paper clipped or in portfolio sleeve) due March 12

If you happen upon some spot news -- an accident, fire, crime scene, cat being rescued in tree -- anything unpredictable an "on the scene" as it happens or right afterward, your task is to cover the scene as a photojournalist. Get lots of photos. Get enough information from the police or whoever else is on the scene to write your captions. Sometimes you'll need to ask who is in charge. Sometimes you'll have to follow up and find the publicly available police report to get names of those involved.

If you happen to cover more than one spot news event, use your best one for this assignment and anything else you can use for your "weekly" assignment.

Since coming across a piece of spot news isn't guaranteed, you'll have the option to create a photo illustration of a major "scoop" -- a an exclusive photo of a newsworthy scene.

For the scoop alternative:

Your newspaper is doing a story about the birthday of a celebrity. Actually, a dead celebrity. Your task is to illustrate their last birthday. You'll want to recreate the scene as it might look in your head and what would make sense to the reader; it doesn't have to be historically accurate.

You could use a celebrity or politician/leader from any era, but you'll want to pick one that people will immediately recognize based on what props you include in the scene. Maybe the person has a memorable silhouette you could try to recreate on a wall.
Some ideas:
Charlie Chaplin
Marilyn Monroe
James Dean
Jimi Hendrix
Marlon Brando
Princess Di
Napoleon
Elvis
Einstein
Lincoln
Shakespeare
Mr. Rogers

You don't have to include someone in the shot, but if you do, use lighting, framing, or selective focus to obscure the person's face. Since it's a photo illustration, you can use whatever effects you need to in photoshop. Using the studio is optional, but you need to reserve an hour for it if you do.