Syllabus
Television Production II
2009-2010
Gary Hawke, Instructor
Expectations: It is important each student realize the opportunity they have been offered as a
result of their enrollment at Monroe Technology Center and Video Production, specifically. The
taxpayers of Loudoun County have invested a great deal of money and interest in providing a
unique learning experience, designed to give you a genuine advantage in later employment and
lifetime achievement. You have been selected for this privilege, in competition with all other
Loudoun County Public Schools students. It’s important that you make the best of this
opportunity. The Television Production program requires hard work, reliability, dedication and
team cooperation. MTC is not a “time out” from school, nor is it an escape from academic rigor.
In order to do well, you will have to work very hard. The program will offer you great skills and
quality contacts in the industry but your success will be directly related to your efforts. You are
expected to perform at the highest level and to behave in an adult, professional manner at all
times.
Client related production: Second year students will participate in the production of several
professional projects which are paid for by a client (some may be no-charge internal projects).
There will be opportunities for internship pay for students for work done outside of class time.
This may require you to attend production sessions at night or on the weekends, supplying your
own transportation. These will all be volunteer assignments. If you wish to participate you may
be paid an internship wage for this work. If you choose not to participate, there will be no
negative effect on your grade.
Students will be expected to learn: Creation of a program proposal, production budgeting
and scheduling, teleprompting and studio production elements, professional conduct, advanced
news producing, proper use of recording, advanced writing and interviewing techniques, set
design and construction, remote broadcasts, trouble shooting technical problems, multimedia
uses of video production, creation of motion graphics, advanced storytelling, advanced editing
concepts and production of various program elements, production management, plus community
issues and budget planning. Students will be required to continue their understanding of the
financial factors relating to the business, including labor and basic media law.
Time is basic to video production: Time is a major controlling factor in all forms of video
production. Students must be prepared to be on time to class and meet periodic deadlines for
class projects. Failure to meet deadlines will have significant negative influence on grades.
“Good and on time is better than great and late”.
Professional performance: This course is designed to prepare you for employment in the
video production industry. You will be taught proper methods of handling equipment, working as
a team, time constraints, and quality of production. It is important to understand the
professional standards that will be required to succeed in the class.
Team performance: The video production industry exists through team efforts. It is important
to learn how to participate in a team, encourage and respect all team members input, be
responsible to the team, be able to react to unforeseen circumstances, and to evaluate your
performance. All students will have individual and team assignments. Sometimes team make up
may be challenging but each student must deal it with. All students on a team will be
responsible for team performance; however, the instructor may choose to reward certain
individuals on a team over other team members for obvious non-performance of a team member.
Evaluation: There are two means of evaluation for both Production I and II. The
Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Education has listed a series of Competency-Based
Task that all students must learn to successfully complete the courses. You must qualify with
a rating of 1 or 2 in each task in order to successfully complete the course. Each
student will have his/her personal competency notebook, which will contain all the competencies
required for their particular class. The instructor will sign off on each competency successfully
demonstrated. All students should expect to pass all competencies listed for their class by the
end of the school year. It is each student’s responsibility to obtain the instructors “sign-off” of
these competencies and maintain the integrity of their Competency Notebook.
In addition to the above, a letter grade will be given each student as his or her earned
achievement for the class. The grade will be determined by a total of 1000 possible points for
the course. Letter grades will reflect the standard grading scale for Loudoun County Public
Schools based on a 0-100 scale.
Class participation: Participating in class discussions and evaluations are a critical part of your
success in this course. Each student will be responsible to join in class discussions, present the
results of various homework assignments, work as crewmembers for other classmates and
evaluate the performance of other students.
Projects
Several Minor Projects (Team). As a crew you will be required to work many different projects
during the semester. The instructor will approve these.
Points 200
Various Major Projects. Each student will be designated the Producer for at least two projects.
You will be responsible for successful completion of the project but will have other class members
as your crew. This must be re-approved by the instructor. These may be projects done at
Monroe or outside projects our class accepts as production projects.
Points 300
Quizzes
Quizzes will reflect lecture presentations, the text and lab assignments
Points 50
Professionalism
All class members will begin with 100 Professionalism points and points will be deducted for
unprofessional behavior. These include, but are not limited to, punctuality, accountability,
teamwork, respect for equipment, respect for classmates and faculty, etc. In addition, class
members will be required to select one company to follow as a business exercise. You will also
be required to prepare daily current event and production information searches.
Points 200
Class Participation
It’s important that we hear from you in class. We will critique many projects and ask for your
input on many topics. You will help teach others and make presentations to the class.
Points 200
Expertise
Students may earn a bonus of 50 points if they exhibit an expertise in one or more skills (i.e.
editing, lighting, audio, camera, directing, or writing)
Points 50
Total 1000 Points
Schedule: (Proposed)
Week # 1
Review of Prod I
Safety issues
Goals
The business of video
Week # 2
Newest technologies
Projects in progress
Storytelling
Basic writing
Week # 3
Student ideas for projects
Audio review
The studio
The remote production
Week # 4
Control room remodel
Week # 5
Evaluation of camera recording project
Mid-term test
Week # 6
Advanced Editing
Week# 7
Job readiness
Week # 8
News project
Week # 9
Evaluate news production
Review
Term final