Curriculum for teaching video production at a high school level

[Mike Cavanaugh]

A friend has been asked to teach some basic video production at a high school. Although he has shot some video and done some basic editing in I-Movie, he has no real technical training in video so he has to get smart in a short time (before next September).

Any recommendations I can pass along on:

1) Sample curriculums/lesson plans/training materials and hand-outs?

2) Some real "basic training" materials to help him get up to speed?

Thanks

[Dean Sensui]

Mike...

Get in contact with Candy Suiso at Waianae High School in Hawaii. She created a class in a school that handles kids from what's usually considered an underprivileged part of the community. Every year her class has developed some award-winning video producers.

http://www.waianae.k12.hi.us/

[Pete Wilie]

Mike,

I'm sorry to bring up something negative, but this really concerns me. I've taken classes from a community college where the instructor didn't know his subject material. It was terrible. There's nothing that will turn off students more than this.

And in fact I had a high school physics teacher that was a joke. I made straight A's, but didn't learn a thing. When I got to college, although I was a math wiz, I almost fluked 1st semester physics.

I don't know the context of your class, but there is so much more to shooting video than technical know how. How can your friend inspire and guide his students when all he has done is some home movies?

Would your school ask someone to teach calculus who had only fooled around with algebra? Or English literature who had read a few books? Or geography who had traveled through a couple of states?

Why doesn't the school find someone who knows the subject?

[Glenn Chan]

Some books that I find good are:
AUDIO: Jay Rose's Great Sound for Digital Video. see dplay.com for how to buy it for $30

LIGHTING: John Jackman, Lighting for Digital Video and Television.

Both books are fairly deep and may be more than your friend needs to know. On the audio side, Jay says that an on-camera microphone is the worst place to place a microphone (because it is). For educational purposes, it may be the best place to put the microphone because it's easier to use than a lav or a boom mic. Something like a Rode Videomic is probably the best option for decent audio, price, and ease of use (or a lav). Wired lav or a handheld mic on camera may also be good, albiet more expensive.

As far as lighting goes, the Jackman book is again more information than he needs to know. For education, lights may be a bad idea because of the safety factor (depends on age of children). He can however experiment with flourescents, reflectors, and black foamcore (which can block ambient lighting, or cast shadows). For young kids, it may be ok to do zero lighting depending on what the goal of the course is. Maybe it's not about teaching the students to be professionals in the film/industry. Maybe the goal is to teach kids communication skills for the media, so they understand the language of film and television. If that's the case then they don't need to learn about audio at all (although their videos do need clear enough dialogue) and lighting may not be that important.

2- Expanding on the digression above, if the goal is not about giving them the technical skills for film/television then he needs just enough technical knowledge to make a decent video. That might be something that gets the message across (i.e. clear, intelligible dialogue) without things that distract from the message (shaky camerawork, really nasty looking video [which is hard], jump cuts).

If he has a writing background, that would be a huge asset about a course that looks at the editing of videos (the two are similar crafts if you think about it). Relevant books would be the Walter Murch books.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Thanks to all who responded with good information (and even Pete's comments) I have been passing these to my friend and he greatly appreciates the help. Please keep the comments coming.

Pete, in an ideal world, with unlimited budgets, hiring a teacher for video would be the way to go. Unfortunately, in a small rural school district, teachers wear many hats. My friend teaches art, graphics design, photoshop, web design, technical theater (lighting & sound) as well as serving as the head of the theater club. He has done some amazing things.

In a school where the entire student population is about 400 kids, his musical productions (LesMis, Beauty & the Beast) in the theater have involved over 120 kids - nearly 1/3 of the student body! The success of the arts program has rested solely on his shoulders.

He has some technical training in lighting and sound - just not specific to video. I'm helping guide him as much as I can. The goal of the proposed course is just an exposure for interested kids to some of the concepts of video production. They are not trying to turn out technical wizards who can leave High School and walk into NBC! If this course is successful, it might spark a creative spirit in a young mind who will then either go on to specialized training or, like many on this board, take up video production as a hobby, and advocation or a vocation. But they need a first step.

Again, everyone, please keep the suggestions coming.

[Pete Wilie]

Mike,

I wish the best to your friend, and more importantly, to the kids who he will be teaching. If he already has a lot of rapport with the kids from other classes, then that will help.

Here's a suggestion: Check out the paperback book (8-1/2 x 11) "The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video," by Tom Schroeppel. This book is only about 90 pages, and deals strictly with the basics. It's a great introduction to shooting. If the students can comprehend the info in this book, along with the camera's operator's manual, then they should be able to go out and shoot basic footage that works.

The other suggestion, if the school has a good video projector, is to find some of the good tutorials on DVD or VHS. It will be good for your friend and the kids to see some video of the basic shots being made. Pictures always communicate best with kids, and even adults. :-)

Good luck.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Tom - I just read the Amazon reader reviews on this book - sounds so good I ordered it myself and I'll share with John. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Stephen Schleicher]

Your friend's problem is not a new one. In addition to the numerous articles and tutorials I write each month, I also teach at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas (stalkers take note). Being quite rural there are certainly a large number of schools in the surrounding 2/3rds of the state where an instructor is "forced" into teach video production with little to no experience in the subject matter.

Because of this, I'll be teaching a week long video bootcamp that covers the major basics (composition, knowing every part of the camera, lighting, staging, etc.) of shooting to make the ho hum high school video channels and video yearbooks look much much better.

Each year I give a lecture at a journalism contest for middle and high schools where I give my top 10 ways to improve one's video and each year the high school instructors come up and say "that is exactly what I needed to know!"

If your friend has travel funds and wants to spend a week in hot, dry, dusty western kansas, have him contact me for more information on the workshop.

Cheers!
Stephen Schleicher
www.stephenschleicher.com

[Rob Lohman]

Stephen: would you be interested in sharing those top 10 tips with our
readers here at DVInfo.net? Either through a (new) thread or an article
on the main site?

Thanks for your consideration!

[Stephen Schleicher]

I might be willing to do something after my bootcamp. Don't want to give away all the secrets and lose potential students :D

Cheers
Stephen Schleicher
www.stephenschleicher.com