This is prerequisite course designed for Communication majors in the Digital Motion Picture Production track. The course covers the digital motion picture production industry in a number of environments including commercial, corporate, Internet, documentary and feature production.
This course includes historical overview of the development of the medium and a critical analysis of affects. Uses discussion, outside reading, viewing and research, and a text to progress students’ understanding of this powerful medium.
To this end, if you attend regularly, listen and contribute to discussion, and achieve the accomplish the activities involved in this course's curriculum, you will be able to;
- Understand the digital production process and its future,
- Critique feature, short and documentary media on production quality,
- Understand acquisition mechanisms in both film and digital video,
- Relate to the demands of the Pre-production domain,
- Understand the protocols of the Production domain,
- Discern between film and digital frame rates and resolutions,
- Understand the purposes of production departments,
- Identify roles within production departments,
- Distinguish post-production protocols and procedures,
- Identify career opportunities commercial, corporate, Internet, documentary and feature production,
- Understand philosophies of light and sound acquisition,
- Progress to upper-division courses in this track.
Item Pool
These research activities are designed to get you discovering different aspects of digital production and come to a working knowledge of general and specific protocols.
Pre-production
Review the various pre-production roles, executive producer, producer, unit production manager (UPM), screenwriter, location manager and select one to research. The DSC library has the video collection, Behind the Camera that you can review to increase your understanding of these roles. Find a real-world role model preferably in documentary production, such as producer Ken Burns (Baseball, The Civil War), and research their work involved in a specific production. These role models do not necessarily need to be celebrity, the more personal access you have to this individual, the better. Document your research online on your blog, using links to your sources within the body of your writing, indicating how your role model developed concepts, communication objectives, coordinated and managed personnel and resources or any other specific tasks directly related to their work in pre-production. Your research should be stratified using bibliography (including periodicals and biographies), personal interview (e-mail and phone cards are handy for this), the Internet, and production media.
Production
Select a production department that interests you such as directing, photography, gaffing, gripping, sound, art direction, digital/special effects, etc. Research this department’s roles and duties based on a specific production. Should you decide to research a specific technology such as Steadicam or motion control, include the technology’s development and utilization in the production. Document your research online on your blog, using links to your sources within the body of your writing. Stratify your research using bibliography (including periodicals and biographies), personal interview, the Internet, and production media.
Post Production
Choose a post-production technique that interests you such as non-linear editing (NLE), compositing, computer-generated effects (CGE), and research that technology’s development and application in a specific feature film. Document your research online on your blog, using links to your sources within the body of your writing. Stratify your research using bibliography (including periodicals and biographies), personal interview, the Internet, and production media.
Assessments
All assessments are designed to give me an idea of how you’re doing in understanding and applying the objectives of this course, and how I’m doing in teaching them. Assessments may be a combination of multiple choice, true/false fill-in-the-blank, and short answer. You will be accountable for and assessed on principles discussed in class and in the book.
Policies and Resources
Qualification
As a core class for the Digital Motion Picture track, you need to achieve a C+ or higher as the grade outcome of this class for it to count towards your degree requirements.
Final Exam
The final exam for this class is May 1st at 8:00 a.m.
Missing Class
Show up. It's the first secret to achievement. Every semester students will let me know that they'll be missing class to go on a cruise, or for a wedding, or to go snowboarding, and I say, "Cool, have fun." You, or somebody else, have paid to be here. It's your stewardship and my expectation. To account for this, over the course of this semester I'll give those in attendance a secret word which they will email back to me before 5:00p that day to indicate they were there. I will do this five times during the semester on the days of lowest attendance. If at the end of the semester you have emailed five secret words, your grade remains in tact. If you've submitted only three secret words, your evaluation drops a whole letter grade. If you've sent none, you fail the course.
Plagiarism and Cheating
Plagiarism is the use of another source’s words, ideas or statistics without their permission and/or proper citation. Anyone who plagiarizes material in my class will receive a grade of zero on that assignment. Anyone found cheating on term assessments will fail the test, though I also reserve the right to assign you an “F” for the course and/or refer you to our chair for further sanctions. If you submit a falsified electronic document that I cannot open, you will fail the assignment. Please keep in mind that one can be expelled from the college for academic dishonesty.
Electronic Devices
Please observe cell phone etiquette here. First interruption infraction and you're buying everyone pizza and sodas the next meeting. Second infraction and you're buying everyone lunch at Cafe Rio. Lap tops are encouraged for use in class discussion and research.
Submission of Assignments
Any work for this class that is to be submitted by means other than online will be submitted via email as a PDF document. This ensures I can open your document and verify contents regardless of platform. No other format will be accepted. Format your submissions in the subject line with the course number, assignment, and your name. If I were submitting the first assignment for COMM2660, my subject line would read:
COMM2660, Assignment 1, Young.
Likewise, if you email me a link to your work on your blog, please format the subject line in the same manner.
Assignments are due the date indicated on the course schedule on this web site. I don't accept late work nor do I accept technical excuses like a crashed computer or an email glitch. Papers are due by the beginning of class. Work containing typographical and grammatical errors will be returned without evaluation. Proof your work. The college provides a free service for students desiring additional assistance with their writing assignments. The Writing Center is located in the Browning Building. Call Barbara Turnbow at 652-7743 for information.
Email Communication
Important class and college information will be sent to your D-mail account. All DSC students are automatically assigned a D-mail email account. Click and select D-mail for complete instructions. You will be held accountable for information sent to your D-mail, so please check it often.
Hostility
I reserve the right to remove any student from this class and/or program based on documentable breech of citizenship such as sexual harassment, hostile environment, discrimination based on race, religion, gender and/or sexuality, as well as plagiarism, misrepresentation, and/or malicious gossip.
Withdrawal and Drop Deadlines
Please consult the semester schedule for withdrawal and reimbursement deadlines. You will be charged a $10 fee for dropping this class.
Late Work and Missing Tests
Should you miss an assessment due to medical reasons, you must provide documentation that states you were otherwise occupied at the time or in the general vicinity of class time. All excused absences must be presented right after the absence, and will be verified. I will determine what is excused. Any missed exams will only be made up with appropriate excused documentation.
Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a medical, psychological or a learning difference and requesting reasonable academic accommodations due to this disability, you must provide an official request of accommodation to your professor(s) from the Disability Resource Center within the first two weeks of the beginning of classes. Students are to contact the center on the main campus to follow through with, and receive assistance in the documentation process to determine the appropriate accommodations related to their disability.
You may call (435) 652-7516 for an appointment and further information regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 per Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The office is located in the Student Services Center, Room #201 of the Edith Whitehead Building.
Library and Literacy Contacts
Dianne Hirning is the librarian over Communication resources. She is your resource and guide for research within this discipline. You can reach her at hirning@dixie.edu and by phone at 652-7720.
Resources:
* Library - http://library.dixie.edu
* Writing Center - http://new.dixie.edu/english/dsc_writing_center.php
* Testing Center - http://new.dixie.edu/testing
* Tutoring Center - http://dsc.dixie.edu/tutoring/
