MASS COMMUNICATIONS 310

Video production

Instructor: Dr. Keller

Spring 2004

 

Tentative course outline: requirements are subject to change.

 

OBJECTIVES

To study methods of production for electronic media with laboratory training in producing, reporting, writing, and editing. The course will emphasize research, writing, production and video editing. Study is in a context of examining issues and concerns in contemporary broadcasting.  Your work also takes place with a look toward converging media.

 

*Note. The class is designed for those who want to gain the most possible advantage from the opportunities presented. By this point in your college career, you should be defining how you plan to market yourself upon graduation and developing credentials toward that goal. This class serves those who plan careers in television, public relations, or advertising as well as those who will be active citizen consumers of media.

 

 

COURSE MATERIALS

2002. Keller, T. D. and Hawkins, S.  Television News: A handbook for writing, reporting, shooting and editing.  Holcomb Hathaway:  Scottsdale, Arizona.

S-VHS videotapes for class work:  a shoot tape is mandatory and a personal edit tape is advised.  You will also want a high quality VHS tape for personal dubs of your work for use on standard VCRs.  High quality VHS tapes are available through the college book service.

 

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS       

News packages.  Reports on a newsworthy subject including a sound bite are to be prepared in packaged form. The stories should be typed in proper broadcasting style with all appropriate supers and should include an introduction that would be read by a news anchor before as a lead in to your package. Turn in your script with your videotape.  Be sure your tape is appropriately labeled both inside and outside the case and cued up. 

 

            Facts in the news packages.  Reporters report facts!  In the midst of video production, reporters often concentrate on “getting a soundbite”  and ,getting the B-roll,” but remember that the basis of your work is to present factual information.  To achieve that goal, you will need to confirm information with more than one source.  In addition, you are strongly advised to seek information from the Internet  -- with a concentration on mainstream sources and a caution about web pages.  Citing the source is always helpful to the listener.

 

Helping converge efforts.  So that your good work might have a larger audience, please forward your scripts to

 HYPERLINK "mailto:ehcnewsline@yahoo.com"

ehcnewsline@yahoo.com

 for possible use on ehcwired or as the basis for a story in The Whitetopper.  When your video packages are ready for the web, you’ll need to write a headline and two short intros.  See attached example.

 

Major project.  The major project is to be approved by the instructor.  It can be a two

minute feature, a news package, or something else -- with the exception of a music video.

 

Journal articles.  Turn in a one to two page typed summary and reaction for a full-length article from Columbia Journalism Review, or American Journalism Review.  In the introduction, include the name of the article, name and date of the magazine, and the number of pages in the article.  Give a short summary and conclude with your analysis/reaction.

 

General reading assignments and test.  Expect a test on each chapter on the day the reading is due in lieu of tests or a written final exam.  The tests will comprise the major part of your daily grade.

 

Resume tape.  Work from this class should be compiled onto a tape that you could use as a resume tape if called for in a job application process.  At a minimum, make a dub of each of your stories onto a personal VHS tape. The resume tape is not a requirement for a grade class, but is mentioned as a helpful reminder that the skills you learn in this class contribute to your marketability and you will need to be able to demonstrate your abilities to potential employers.

 

LATE ASSIGNMENTS.

Late assignments or unfulfilled responsibilities cannot be tolerated in a field where deadlines are all important.  Studen

nts failing to meet an assignment on time can expect to receive a Ò50Ó, but, depending on circumstances, will receive no higher grade than a 60. 

 

GENERAL MISSION

Remember that the College Mission Statement includes the motto, AIncrease in Excellence.@  Please strive to employ the motto in your academic and personal endeavors.  We would like to be a special community where each person is committed to service to others as well as to intellectual achievement.  Imagine the kind of world you=d like to live in 湡⁤牣慥

and create it -- beginning with this class.       

 

 

DEPOSIT

            You will be required to bring a $25.00 refundable deposit before you get access to a camera.  If all the equipment is accounted for at the end of the semester, this money will be refunded.  Because you will be sharing cameras, you are each responsible for everyone else’s deposit. 

 

 

EQUIPMENT: Responsibilities, protocol, and incentives

Believe it or not, there are some students who occasionally pass through Emory & Henry who are not considerate of others, and once in a rare, rare while those students show up in Mass Communications classes.  Surely, there will be no one like that in this class.  However, just to encourage responsible use of equipment, some consequences will be established for ignoring established protocol.  Simply put, there are more students than equipment in this class, which means that everyone will have to make a special effort to return equipment promptly.  The procedure for signing out equipment is very simple:

 

When you take equipment, put your name on the board on the date you take it.

Put the time you take it and the time you will return it.

 

Those who do not follow procedure or who keep equipment in their rooms or cars overnight are subject to a grade penalty.  Grade on the news package assigned will be lowered by one letter for both partners when equipment is not returned after the shoot or is not signed out properly.  These procedures are established to make our working together easy.  The goal is not to make your life difficult.  Therefore, if you have special circumstances and need special arrangements, please discuss the situation with the professor.  In addition, you are not permitted to allow anyone outside the class to have access to the equipment.  Anyone with a legitimate need for it can consult with the instructor.

 

GRADES

    Final grade will be an average of grades on projects and consideration of class attendance, preparation and participation.

News packages and projects                60%

Daily grade                                           40%

*Daily grade includes attendance, punctuality, quizzes, and class participation and possible extra credit grades. 5 points will be deducted from the daily grade after two absences.  2 points will be deducted from the daily grade each time you are late.