2014-2015 Course Syllabus Newark High School course 076
Television Studio Production Techniques
Program Instructor: Mr. Gregory Ardrey SBE Certified Broadcast Technologist
Newark High School Building K – Room 266 314 Granville Street Newark Ohio 43055 740-670-7400 x2873 [email protected]
Mr. Ardrey’s Schedule:
Period 1: 076 Television Studio Room K-266 (7:35 – 8:20) Production Techniques Period 2: 077 Advanced Television Room K-266 (8:25 - 9:10) Production Projects Period 3: Intervention Room K-266 (9:15 - 9:45) Period 4: 075 Single Camera ENG/EFP Room K-266 (9:50 - 10:35) Techniques Periods 5-9: Special Projects (10:40 - 2:45)
Welcome back to school for the 2014 – 2015 school year. This class is the second in a sequence of 3 courses in Media Technology and was formerly called Television Media Arts – Level 2. As the new instructor this year, I wanted to change the name slightly to give you a better understanding of what this class was all about.
This course builds on your experience doing single camera field production by moving to our 2 camera television studio and control room to introduce students to studio and control room operations. Here you will work a variety of positions in production crews and have the opportunity to serve as a camera operator, video operator, audio operator, CG operator, teleprompter operator, on-air talent, and director for various school announcement style projects which may be aired on the building’s closed circuit TV system or streaming website.
The first part of the class will be spent getting familiar with the studio and control room and the calls used by a director during a live production. We’ll also get some practice with being on camera and using a teleprompter.
Once everyone has a good foundation on how to use the equipment, we’ll begin creating morning announcements that will run on the high school’s closed circuit TV system and be posted on the streaming video website. We will also use instructional video design techniques to propose additional projects. When your projects are finished, the final video will be compared with your analysis to see how well it met your planned goals.
If the projects turn out well, they will be aired on the closed circuit channel, posted on the school’s streaming video site, and possibly entered into regional competitions (more on that later).
I think most of you will find this to be a fun course, but like most things, your success will depend on your own initiative. I am hoping most of you taking this class have a genuine interest in this as a possible career. My own career started with a high school TV production class, so this could be the first step for something big for you as well.
Materials you’ll need
1. Pen and/or Pencil (any color except red) 2. Three-ring binder and notebook paper (probably 2 “ thick)
Materials you’ll probably want
1. A flash-drive or thumb-drive, at least 16 GB for copies of your finished videos 2. A folder or clipboard to use while out on projects
Daily Routine – our preproduction meeting
In order for me to learn everyone’s names and get attendance, we will have assigned seating. When you come to class, I will have something of interest up on the projector. I get a number of broadcast industry newsletters, and we’ll start each day looking at what’s going on in the real world. I’ll take attendance, we’ll talk about status of each other’s projects, then we’ll start working on projects.
Editing Lab & Studio Policies
By now you may have noticed my background is not in teaching, it is in broadcasting. Consequently, I tend to run my classes more like a small production company, so my rules are more like something you’d find in a new job. My company policies are posted in our lab, studio, and equipment room:
(In addition, all NHS school wide and district wide policies are enforced in my classroom.)
First Offense will involve a verbal warning. Second Offense will involve teacher assigned detention and parental contact. Third Offense will involve school administration and parental contact. Forth Offense will be referred to the administration for ISS or OSS and parental contact. (Hopefully everyone will follow the rules so we won’t need any of these!)
Cell Phone Policies
As with most things, I try to follow the same guidelines you would see in a real job working in the media business. Cell Phones should be on silent and should remain in your pocket or purse. This would be the expectation if you were working in a studio. You can’t have a phone ringing in the middle of a live broadcast and if you’re looking at your phone, you might miss something happening on camera.
As for charging your phone in the classroom, because our work may be in any of the 4 rooms that make up the media technology labs, there is a security risk from leaving your phone unsupervised (We don’t want it to “grow legs and walk away”). Because of this, Please don’t plan to charge your phone while in class.
Social Media
I am on several social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube. All of them are open to public viewing except for Facebook, which is only for my family. You are welcome to view the public facing content, however it is my policy not to friend, follow, or respond to private messages on these platforms. Please don’t take that personal, it is not only my policy, it is a district policy.
Grading Criteria
Course grades will be assigned based on the Newark City Schools adopted grading scale:
90% or more A 80% to 89% B 70% to 79% C 60% to 69% D Below 59% F
Your grades will be based on the following types of assignments:
50% Projects
This course is about gaining hands-on experience so most of the grade will be based on you using the project analysis template to design your own project, then completing the project in a way that meets the criteria you set in your design and on-time.
15% Homework and Written Assignments
We will be completing a limited number of written assignments based on learning the fundamentals. To work in any field, you have to learn the terminology. To use a piece of equipment, you have to read the documentation.
Late Homework: With the exception of excused absences as defined in the student handbook, late assignments will be graded, then 20% will be deducted from the score you received.
It is the student’s responsibility to discuss with me any classwork that is missed due to absences. The time allowed to make up the work will be handled in accordance with school policies listed in the student handbook.
If you have any special needs or requirements as part of an IEP or other individualized instruction plan, please see me privately so I can obtain the appropriate information to meet your educational needs in a timely manner.
15% Tests and Quizzes
Nobody likes tests and quizzes, but the only way to prove that you understand is by some form of test. Some of these maybe written, others may require you to set-up and operate a piece of equipment to prove you’re ready to go out into the field.
10% Quarterly Assessment
At the end of each Quarter, Newark High School will engage in a process of testing students in each class to measure the level of subject knowledge attained to that point in the class. Per School Policy, the grade on this assignment will comprise 10% of the quarterly grade.
10% Participation
We are a production team, you’ll need to help others complete their projects and you’ll need them to help you complete yours. Your willingness to do so and participation in class discussions are part of your grade. Remember, when you’re working as someone else’s crew, they’re your boss. They may have input as to how well you did your job.
Scheduled Topics: August Getting Acquainted Hands-on with Control Room Pre-Production: Basic Shots Pre-Production: Camera Blocking September Production: Practice Rotation through Positions Pre-Production: Project Analysis Pre-Production: Scripting Wildcat News October Wildcat News Student Project November Wildcat News Student Project December Wildcat News Student Project January Wildcat News Student Project February Wildcat News Student Project March Wildcat News Student Project April Wildcat News Student Project May Wildcat News Student Project