TVR11500-04 Intro to Field Production Syllabus

Course description:

This course is designed to teach the basic principles of video production.  It offers a conceptual introduction and practical experience on how to shoot video that is steady, in focus, well framed and, most importantly, tells a story.  By taking this course you will learn how to operate camcorders in field situations making use of available and supplemental light.  You will master the conceptual and technical fundamentals of nonlinear digital editing.  You also will have the opportunity to explore electronic news gathering/interview techniques, shoot, produce and edit a public service announcement, as well as script, shoot and edit a final project. While the course requires that you develop competencies in A/V equipment operation and computer-based editing, the focus of the course is on understanding and effectively communicating audio/visual messages through the generally accepted production norms associated with journalism, advertising/public relations, entertainment, as well as other creative genres you may wish to explore as part of your final project.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the conceptual process of effective communication via video technology
• To competently operate audio/visual equipment neccessary to communication a visual message
• To understand the basic techniques (conceptual and applied) associated with shooting a well-framed, properly focused, effectively communicated visual message.
• To effectively use digital editing technology to actualize creative goals
• To understand the basic production norms associated with narrative and nonfiction genres.
• To recognize the complexities, creative opportunities and organizational challenges associated with the teamwork that is typical in these kinds of professional creative endeavors.
• To insure that you will never watch TV or a movie the same way again:)

Required materials: 

• Medoff, Norman J. & Tanquary, Tom (2007).  Portable video, 5th ed., Boston, MA: Focal Press.
• Mini DV tapes as needed
• DVDs for submitting assignments.

Recommended materials:

• Final Cut Pro Express or Final Cut Studio 2 installed on your laptop
• External hard drive strongly recommended (7200 rpm with firewire or USB 2.0 connection)

Course Requirements:

• Attendance is required in this class. However state required and college DOCUMENTED excused absences (religious observances, family emergencies, serious medical illness) will not be penalized unless frequent enough to raise concerns about a student's ability to meet the course objectives (in which case a withdrawal may be recommended). Undocumented or insufficiently documented absences of any kind count as an absence.  If you arrive after attendance is taken, it counts as an absence. Twenty points will be deducted for each undocumented absence (plus any penalties for missing assignment deadlines).
• No exam make-ups unless resulting from a serious and documented emergency and cleared with me ahead of time.
• Many of our meetings will involve coordinating group work and viewing projects or covering conceptual material important to successful EFP and ENG work. It is expected that you will be actively involved in these activities.  I will assign a professionalism grade that includes a variety of criteria including, but not limited to: attitude, evidence of completing course readings, participation in the constructive written critiques of students’ work, cooperative efforts in group work (based on peer evaluations), showing up for your production meetings, care of equipment and timely delivery of completed assignments (see below).
• It should come as no surprise to you that deadlines are crucial in the mass media profession.  Likewise in this class. It is essential that you meet your deadlines. Work that is not turned in at the beginning of class on the due date will be substantially penalized (10 percent deduction for every 24 hour block that the assignment is late, including weekends.
• All scripts and written work submitted for projects should be typed.
• All video work must be shot with course-assigned equipment during the semester of enrollment unless you make other arrangements with me ahead of time.
• New video must be shot for each assignment. If you want to use archival video, or re-use video from an earlier assignment or for another course, you must clear it with me first.
• Check your Ithaca email address regularly for announcements from me regarding changes to the course, assignments, or due dates. Your IC email and this course website are the official forms of communication for the course.

All assignments will be turned in packaged professionally (neat, in a logical order and secured in some kind of folder) that includes (links will take you to a .pdf version of the form that you should use or a .doc version if you would rather type in information): 

• Treatment, if required
• Storyboard (4:3) or (16:9), if required
• Script, (.pdf)  (.doc) if required
• Production Schedule, if required
• Talent release form
• Shot Log (.pdf) (.doc)
• Final Edit Log (.pdf) (.doc)
• Self-evaluation
• Peer evaluation, if group work

**The order of this list also should reflect the order of the forms appear in your in your production package**

Important Unsolicited Advice:

• This course will be a challenge because you are learning new technology and software while exploring the concepts, theories and aesthetics of video production. Be careful not to underestimate the number of hours it will take to become comfortable/competent intitially with the equipment & editing systems if you are not already familiar with nonlinear editing, in general, and Final Cut, in particular.  Learning the software will require study and practice on your own time.  We will use class time for workshops on specifics techniques of production and post production as well as aesthetic, compositional, and conceptual principles behind video production as well as for class critiques of projects.

Final Examination:

There will be no written final examination. Everyone is required to attend the final exam period - no exceptions. We will be screening final projects during that time.  Failure to show for the final exam period will result in a zero for your final project grade. Do not schedule travel plans that conflict with the final examination period for this class.

Academic honesty:

• I take violations of academic dishonest very seriously. Therefore, if a case of academic dishonesty arises, I will appropriate steps as outlined in the student code of conduct.
• I encourage all students to carefully review the College's published policies on academic dishonesty, but below is a quote from college policy:
  • "Academic honesty is a cornerstone of the mission of the College. Unless it is otherwise stipulated, students may submit for evaluation only that work that is their own and that is submitted originally for a specific course. According to traditions of higher education, forms of conduct that will be considered evidence of academic misconduct include but are not limited to the following: conversations between students during an examination; reviewing, without authorization, material during an examination (e.g., personal notes, another student's exam); unauthorized collaboration; submission of a paper also submitted for credit in another course; reference to written material related to the course brought into an examination room during a closed-book, written examination; and submission without proper acknowledgment of work that is based partially or entirely on the ideas or writings of others. Only when a faculty member gives prior approval for such actions can they be acceptable. "
• And here is quoted the college policy on Plagiarism (As amended by the Ithaca College Board of Trustees May 18, 2001).
• Whether intended or not, plagiarism is a serious offense against academic honesty. Under any circumstances, it is deceitful to represent as one's own work, writing or ideas that belong to another person. Students should be aware of how this offense is defined. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's published or unpublished ideas, whether this use consists of directly quoted material or paraphrased ideas.
• Although various disciplines follow styles of documentation that differ in some details, all forms of documentation make the following demands:
• * That each quotation or paraphrase be acknowledged with a footnote or in-text citation;
  * That direct quotations be enclosed in quotation marks and be absolutely faithful to the wording of the source;
  * That paraphrased ideas be stated in language entirely different from the language of the source;
  * That a sequence of ideas identical to that of a source be attributed to that source;
  * That sources of reprinted charts or graphs be cited in the text;
  * That all the sources the writer has drawn from in paraphrase or direct quotation or a combination of paraphrase and quotation be listed at the end of the paper under "Bibliography," "References," or "Works Cited," whichever heading the particular style of documentation requires.
• A student is guilty of plagiarism if the student fails, intentionally or not, to follow any of these standard requirements of documentation.
• In a collaborative project, all students in a group may be held responsible for academic misconduct if they engage in plagiarism or are aware of plagiarism by others in their group and fail to report it. Students who participate in a collaborative project in which plagiarism has occurred will not be held accountable if they were not knowledgeable of the plagiarism.
• What, then, do students not have to document? They need not cite their own ideas, or references to their own experiences, or information that falls in the category of uncontroversial common knowledge (what a person reasonably well-informed about a subject might be expected to know). They should acknowledge anything else.
• Here are examples of Other Forms of Academic Dishonesty as quoted from Ithaca College Policy:
• Other violations of academic honesty include, but are not limited to, the following behaviors:
• * Handing in to a class a paper written by someone else;
  * Handing in as an original work for a class a paper one has already submitted to another course;
  * Handing in the same paper simultaneously to two courses without the full knowledge and explicit consent of all the faculty members involved;
  * Having someone else rewrite or clean up a rough draft and submitting those revisions as one's own work.
• These offenses violate the atmosphere of trust and mutual respect necessary the process of learning.
• Note: Students who would like help in learning how to paraphrase or document sources properly should feel free to come and see me for assistance
• If after reviewing the above, you remain in doubt as to what constitutes a violation of academic honesty, please see me in person.
• Be careful and realize that ignorance of what constitutes a violation of academic honesty or of the repercussions of violating the policy is not an excuse.

Disability Statement:

• In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation will be provided to students with documented disabilities on a case-by-case basis. Students must register with the Office of Academic Support Services and provide appropriate documentation to the College before any academic adjustment will be provided

• You must respond to and report conditions and actions that may jeopardize your safety, or that of other people and/or equipment. Report to the responsible College employee. During class sessions that person would be your instructor or lab assistant. Outside of class the person might be your instructor, lab supervisor, co-curricular manager, equipment and facilities manager, or one of the engineering support staff. You must be aware that misuse of equipment or use of damaged equipment can create the risk of serious injury, infectious contamination, and expensive damage. You may be liable for damage or injury resulting from such use. Unsupervised use of facilities puts you at risk. Failure to be alert to safety problems, or to report them, may have serious consequences for you or others.

• I want to be clear about what a particular grade means. In an era of rampant grade inflation, I will adhere strictly to the description of grades as described in your course bulletin. Here is what it states:

• Please keep these descriptions in mind. I might add that in the end, I don't give you a grade, I simply record the grade you earned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Semester Schedule
(subject to change with notice)

Contact:Dr.C
URL-http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/ncornwell/115/115syllabus.html
Revised-Jan. 5, 2010