University of
Northern Iowa
Reference: (Reserved in the Multimedia Service) Zettl, H. (2000). Television production handbook (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Course Objectives: As the title suggests, the main objective of this course is to produce a 30-minute UNI-TV program every week. It will provide students with hands-on experience in a real production situation. The whole class will work together as a production team, and everyone will share the responsibility for all positions. Timing, accuracy, and good preparation will be the important disciplines for this class. Creative and critical thinking ideas are encouraged. Since this is a combination class of Video Production and Video Practicum, students' background of production skills are different. In addition, there are a variety of learning interests and future job expectations, such as writers, anchors, reporters, producers, directors, PR practitioners, account executives, etc. Therefore, those students who are enrolled in Video Practicum will take more responsibilities for producing UNI-TV in the early weeks of this semester. They are also encouraged to refine their individual performance in front of cameras, or to write proposals for producing variety shows later in the semester. Those students in Video Production will learn to make news packages and live casting at the beginning of the semester, and gradually participate in the preparation as a director or producer. Interests in writing, performing, and reporting will be justified and accommodated with the progress of weekly production. "The University of Northern Iowa is an Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Institution. Students with disabilities and other special needs should feel free to contact the professor privately if there are services or adaptations which can be made to accommodate specific needs." By the end of the semester, every student should be able to:
Assignments: In order to be consistent with the UNI-TV shows in previous semesters, the format and structure will remain the same. It is a 30-minute weekly live show at 12:30pm on Wednesday. The segments will include news, issues, student life, sports, entertainment, and two PSA breaks. The producer will be responsible for organizing his/her own show. For each show, there will be two news anchors, one special reporter of current issues, one sports reporter, and one entertainment reporter. These positions will be rotated to ensure that everyone will be an anchor at least once and special reporters for several times during the semester. Other crew positions will be assigned by each week’s producer. a. Producing, Directing, or Special program (15%) According to a rotation table each student will be assigned as Producer, Director, or Special producer/director for 2-3 times during the semester. The rotation schedule will be discussed in class, and the responsibilities will be described in handouts. b. Weekly assignment (25%): The producer for the week will discuss weekly assignments with each student on the preceding Wednesday after the show. There will be about thirteen shows in a semester, including about 160 packages (news, sports, special, entertainment, etc.). Each student needs to edit, at least, 9-10 packages with or without other students’ help (no package can be counted as an individual package simultaneously by two students). In the middle of the semester, I will discuss your production skills with you individually. c. Sending a copy to Cedar Falls Cable Commission and making a Realvideo for the Department Webpage (10%) The producer and director are responsible for making a copy of the show (doing some off-line editing if it is necessary) and bring the tape to Cedar Falls Cable Commission for weekly display via cable educational channel, and converting the show to a Realvideo version for online display. d. News analysis and Announcing practice (10%): This exercise will help you understand the structure, camera shots, narratives, and audio/visual relationship of a news story. e. News package (5%): This assignment helps you prepare for weekly production. f. Individual final project (15%): Each student will produce a special project with the help of other students. You are required to complete the project during the semester and encouraged to show it in the weekly programs if you would finish it early. However, you will have time to re-edit it and turn in by the end of the semester. Grading: The grades will be weighted by the percentages shown below and combined to result in your final course grade. According to the university policy, every piece of work you turn in must be your own creation. Grading items will be as follows:
Attendance & Performance: Since UNI-TV is a weekly program produced live in the studio, attendance and performance will be necessarily taken into account for your final grade to ensure the quality of production. Further, you may also use these productions to make your resume tape for internship or job applications. The production cycle will be: Monday -- Review/critique co-organized by the producer and director (12:00-12:45), Wednesday – Setting up (12:00-12:30), Studio production (12:30-1:00), No absence is allowed on the studio production day when you are assigned as an anchor, director, producer, TD, or audio director. Without a legitimate reason, any absence will result in a half of a letter grade lower for your final grade. Please notify me a week in advance if you have an excused reason for your absence because we need time to adjust the production arrangement. Midterm review/critique: This is a written evaluation of the shows we have done for the class. I’ll have an individual meeting with everyone in order to improve individual’s production skills, as well as the quality of UNI-TV shows. Final Exam: The final will be a take-home exam with essay questions. The purpose is to summarize your knowledge and experience about TV news production gained from this class. Supplies: The materials you need to prepare for the news production are:
Tentative Schedule Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 1/24 (W) Producing and Directing Week 4 1/31 (W) Setting up the studio Week 5 (2/5,7) Production #1 Week 6 (2/12,14) Production #2 Week 7 (2/19,21) Production #3 Week 8 (2/26, 28) Production #4 Week 9 (3/5, 7) Production #5 Week 10 (3/12, 14) Spring Break—No Class Week 11 (3/19, 21) Production #6 4/2 Final Project Proposal Due Week 12 (3/26, 28) Production #7 Week 13 (4/2, 4) Production #8 Week 14 (4/9, 11) Production #9 Week 15 (4/16, 18) Production #10 Week 16 (4/23, 25) Production #11 Finals Week |