SCALES – PHOTOGRAPHY/CINEMATOGRAPHY SYLLABUS
Class Time: 2nd Period 9:26-10:26
Building 5, Room E
I’d like to welcome you and your child to Photography and Cinematography Class. This is a semester long
course with a mixture of 7th and 8th grade students. The course will be divided into 2 main studies,
photography first followed cinematography and videography. The Chapters we will be covering are:
PHOTOGRAPHY:
The first quarter will start with building foundations of photography
 Photo Composition
 Portraits
 Photo Editing
 Camera Basics
 History of Photography
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The second quarter will shift to a study of film and video creation
 History of Film
 Film Study
 Process of creating videos
 Video Editing
 Script Writing
The students will be doing in class projects, homework, and test/quizzes. In addition to the classwork, each
quarter students will have an independent project they will work on outside of class. Some class time will be
provided, but the majority of the work will be done on their own time. Rubrics and description of each project
will be handed out in class.
1st Quarter: Photography Portfolio
2nd Quarter: Individual Documentary
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will explore various facets of photography and cinematography. Students will be exploring the
techniques, uses, editing, history, and composition of photography in addition to the study of famous
photographers from different cultures and periods of time. Students will then apply their photography
knowledge to cinematography including the history of film, creation and editing of video, how films are
created, and more. Over the semester students will create a portfolio of work demonstrating their
understanding of the course work.
POLICIES OF CLASS:
EQUIPMENT IN CLASS:
I currently do have to require students to have their own cameras; I am hoping to change this in the future
with camera donations and more funding for this course. I would like to stress that the student is responsible
for their own camera. I will not be accountable for their property outside of class. I will give warning to the
class when cameras are needed so they do not have to bring it each day.
Due to the nature of the class, students will be handling technology equipment on a very regular basis. Prior
to this students must have an Acceptable Use Policy on file with the school; these will be distributed
through their homeroom.
TEST CORRECTION:
All students have the option to complete test corrections to get back half of the points originally taken off.
The students will have to answer the incorrect question with the correct answer and explain why that is the
correct answer. Students will only have 24 hours to do this and it is completely voluntary. Test corrections
will need to be turned into their grade bin.
LATE WORK:
Any late work will have 10 points deducted for each day late. Students will fill out the Late Work form and
staple this to the front of their paper when turning in. If this is not done, student will loose further points.
Zero-hour is an opportunity to allow students to complete assignments that they would otherwise receive a zero
on due to lack of completion. It will be held each Friday afternoon from 3:30-4:30 with Mr. Holloman in the
Media Center in Building 4, Room 162.
ABSENCES:
Students will have 5 days to make up any late work, including tests. I will not be flexible on this, all
assignments, tests, and project dates are clearly laid out for the entire quarter, and it is the student’s
responsibility to stay accountable for their work. This is the School Policy.
PASSES:
Each Quarter students will be given 4 passes to use as they see fit for bathroom, lockers, etc…If you have
either used all of your passes or do not have yours you will not be allowed to leave the room. You may
borrow from a classmate if needed, however at the end of the quarter I will collect the pass sheet and you
will receive 2 bonus points for each unused pass. Lost passes will not be replaced.
TARDIES:
Students have 3 minutes between every class to switch classes. When a student is late for my class, which is
anytime after the bell rings, they will be considered Tardy.
1st Tardy: Warning
2nd Tardy: 2nd Warning
3rd Tardy: Lunch Detention
4th Tardy: Lunch Detention and a Call Home
GRADING:
The grading scale is the following:
Classwork: 20%
Homework: 15%
Projects: 35%
Tests/Quizzes: 25%
Participation: 5%
All grading will be done using Engrade; your child’s login information will come home with this letter. If
you do not receive this, please feel free to contact me. Engrade can be found at http://www.engrade.com/
this website will allow you to monitor your child’s grades and upcoming assignments as well. I will require
all students to have an Engrade account, there will be quizzes and discussion question posts on Engrade
every student will need to be able to access at school and at home.
My Engrade access code: ___________________________________________________
CLASS WEBSITE:
I encourage you to use the class website in order to stay as up to date as possible on what is happening in
class. Included are all the notes, homework assignments, and project rubrics. Also, I post all due dates and
other resources that I believe will benefit the students if used. The class website is accessible through the
East Wake Academy website via the middle school page or at:
www.eastwakeacademy.org/Scales.htm
Due to past problems with flash drives and computer viruses, these will not be allowed in the computer labs
in the Middle School. However, students may need to be able to transport their work back and forth. If your
child has an email account, then they will be able to email their work to themselves thus being able to
access their work from any computer. If your child does not have an email, I would recommend
establishing them an account. I would recommend Gmail. Google offers Google Docs which allows
students to upload files to the Google Cloud and access these anywhere. If this is something you do not feel
comfortable with, please feel free to contact me to discuss the issue.
SUPPLY LIST:
Ear buds/headphones
Digital Camera with a minimum of a 1GB memory card, this is to be brought to class regularly (cameras
will not be supplied)
3 ring binder with dividers
Notebook paper
Colored pens for corrections
WISH LIST:
Earbuds/Headphones
SD Memory Cards
Memory Card Readers
Digital Cameras (used would be awesome)
Video Cameras (again, beggars can’t be
choosers!)
Tripods
Flash Drives
Computer Speakers
Microphones for the computer
Small dry erase boards
Colorful Dry Erase Expo Markers
Dry Board Erasers
Markers/Crayons/Color Pencils
Tissues
Clorox wipes
AA and AAA batteries
Individually wrapped candy
Terry cloth fabric that can be used as keyboard
covers
Velcro strips
Legos and action figures
Books and/or Movies about
Computers/Technology/Design/Photography/Film
ATTACHED IS THE ELECTIVE INFORMATION SHEET, PLEASE FILL IT OUT AND RETURN TO MS. SCALES!
Thank you so much!
Emily K Scales
escales@eastwakeacademy.org
Building 5, Room E
ext. 1018