Emerson College visit Feb. 2011

Several weeks ago I received an email from a representative of Emerson College to attend a high school media instructor workshop. Not a workshop for training, but a workshop that gave 11 high school media instructors tours of the Emerson film, TV, animation and theatre facilities. This tour occurred this past weekend, Friday February 4th - Saturday February 4th.

And let me tell you...it was awesome. Any high school student desiring to become a filmmaker should seriously consider this liberal arts college. It competes equally with the Dodge College of Chapman, NYU, USC, Columbia College, SCAD and Full Sail.

The media infrastructure is staggering. The student cage blew me away.

Not just because it was huge with tons of c-stands, Arri kits and more, but because students can submit equipment orders and the cage crew will deliver the equipment to the student! Crazy!

Editing facilities include several floors of Final Cut Studio 2 and Avid Media Composer rooms, each with more than 20 editing systems running on either iMac or MacPro systems.

Support for tape and solid-state is everywhere.

Hi-end suites for Avid are present and quite a few Pro-Tools suites that work in conjunction with their foley artist training studios.

Check this out - their gym...has a small broadcast center attached to it for broadcasting games live!!

Whoa! And I'm a late 80's reel-to-reel audio editor. I never edited traditional film. Yet at Emerson, film students have to learn how to edit on a Steinbeck.

I should have asked what their engineering/repair budget was like. LOL

Broadcast journalism, aka Convergence Journalism, is incredible as well. Just a tad bit smaller than what Mizzou or the ASU's Walter Cronkite school offers, but it is right there.

The TV studios they have on campus for student learning will BLOW. YOU. AWAY. Period. Actual studios just for learning and several large studios for live student broadcasts. These are also complete with robotic cameras. I'll say it again, "robotic cameras!"

Radio lovers, don't worry I have not forgotten you. Yes! Emerson does have a radio program that is housed is a facility with windows that face the street. So, bystanders and students that walk by can see the student radio personalities as well as hear their broadcast via speakers outside of the building. Call letters are WERS 88.9 FM. And a side note...they have a serious alumni called the Emerson Mafia. Networking should be no problem for an Emerson grad. Jay Leno being one minor grad contact.

In conclusion, I"m definitely going to push Emerson along with all the other film & broadcast journalism schools and for them to invest in all-expense-paid trips for high school media instructors is phenomenal. Of course, as instructors we can't be biased and promote one school, but we should promote programs that offer strong media, journalism, animation and visual arts programs. Emerson's investment in teacher was a definite out-of-the-box strategy for recruitment and a move that left me angry at my alma mater for not having the same level of equipment and staff. Although that was a very long time ago. I'll have to find a way to reach Mr. Dan Rather and see if he'll donate a bit more to the SHSU Dan Rather School of Communications. LOL

For more information on Emerson College go to www.emerson.edu.

Samples of their student work, which is fabulous, can be seen at Emerson Live.

5 tips for video editing beginners

Video Editing tips for Entertaining segments.
by Ted Irving (www.tedtv.tv) tedirving@yahoo.com

Since the mid-1990's, video production and film making have undergone vast changes due to technological improvements in delivery mediums, quality and the size of cameras. Although video has been a very democratic process since the late 1970's and the VHS vs. Beta days, it is really something everyone can do with a cheap Flip camera or their cell phone. But just because all of us have a video camera does not mean we can professionally record events. It is not as easy as it looks and it is a craft that takes years to become proficient at. Especially video editing. Once you record that great video, how do you make it look good and entertaining. Here are a few tips:
1. Always use a tripod. Get off of the tripod when it makes sense to do so. The rave is YouTube like videos that trigger earthquake sensations, but do you really want your audience to vomit or do you want them to laugh, cry or simply enjoy what you have produced? A tripod is made for a reason...steady shots. Let the tripod do it's job. Lock your shot down, pan and tilt when necessary such as following a person. When video editing, this will help you make clean edits. It is hard to edit earthquake footage.

2. When editing, try to use instrumental music for most of the program. That way the lyrics or vocals from the performer don't clash with someone speaking on-camera or even signing. Use vocals for parts of your video where there is no dialogue. And try to edit to the beat of the music. By this I mean, change your shots on each beat or every other.

3. Always make sure you normalize your audio when editing. This means that all of your sound levels should peak in the middle of your audio meter bar. This bar is an area of your video editing software that quickly moves up and down when a video is playing. You don't want audio that is too low or too loud. We call loud audio, "hot."

4. Never, ever, use every single video effect that is provided with your editing software. This is a rookie move and I'm sure you don't want to look like a rookie. Find one or two good transitions and stick with them, but don't use them every second, such as having a page peel occur after all of your family interviews. Agghhh!! Also, use only one or two good filters, which are effects that make the entire screen change or look different, such as turning your video all black & white or sepia. A nice effect is to start your video black & white and let it gradually dissolve to color. If editing a music video, use a few more filters but have them change with the beat of the music.

5. Be patient. Use the manual and definitely use every video editing forum you can find. Forums are great and there are hundreds of people using the exact software you are using. They know the pros and cons of your software and any issues you are having, they have had. Some great forums for help with video editing as well as free, online lessons are; www.creativecown.net, www.lynda.com, www.videoguys.com.

Have fun editing!!

Solid State: Tape is dead

If your media program is still using videotape...then stop! Acquisition with SDHC, P2, SxS and Compact Flash is the latest delivery medium for digital story tellers. When your budget opens, don't look at more tape based cameras, but solid-state based video cameras, such as the Canon Vixia HF200 and others.

Poll: Are your K12 Media Students paid to work on internal & external productions?

Animal News: Animal Planet

Animal News: Animal Planet

Posted using ShareThis

Equipment for K-12

Video Cameras
For schools with large budgets, go with one of the following digital HD formats :
1. JVC = Everio GZHD5, GZHD6
2. Sony = PMW-EX1, HVR-V1U, HVR-Z1U, HVR-Z7U

For schools with small budgets, consider one of the AVCHD or HDV models, but backup final projects to DVD, external hard drives or tape :
1. JVC = Everio GZHD5, GZHD6 $550-$700 (hard drive based)
2. Sony = HVR-A1U,

Video Camera Accessories
1.

Lighting Gear. Fluorescents are the "in" thing.
1.

NAB 2008 Summary by Ted Irving

NAB 2008 was awesome! That doesn't change most years. This year did not disappoint. But how can video instructors on the K-12 level benefit from an organization such as NAB? Were there any components of the conference beneficial to a high school student and their video teacher?

Despite a very large college student and professional job fair, not much would benefit our youth. Employers at the fair would not accept resumes except through email. Mother nature is happy. The exception, high tech gadgets, huge booths with massive flat screens and the sights and sounds of the Vegas strip. Every teenager would fall for those. Forgive my deceptive pessimism. I was excited. There are benefits for school districts seeking to build TV studios, teachers needing to replace old equipment and district network service departments needing to upgrade their infrastructure to laser fiber or wi-fi options. Oh...I can't forget digital signage.

NAB is the trip of a lifetime and most visitors enjoy the trade show. However, several days before the trade show is software training and workshops on the latest hardware and computer programs. They do cost, but they are well worth it. I can see students signing up for courses on After Effects, Photoshop, Maya and others. To get hands on training from industry professionals is worth it's wait in gold. But what of the future of K-12 broadcasting and how can Gods of NAB recognize this already massive media production and revenue generating market?

We need to continue networking through the National Student Television Network, Broadcast Educators Association, School Tube, Teacher Tube and other groups to get our voice heard. What I would like to see at NAB is more attention paid to a market that spends more money on media technology than most small to mid-sized television stations (my guess). I'm hanging on a long limb here, but it is my belief that every high school in America is involved in some type of video & audio production; podcasting, vidcasting, live newscasts, animation, etc. I have attended conferences where Avid, Apple, Grass Valley and other national media technology corporations courted teachers and school districts. It is still happening to this day. States such as Texas are creating mandates similar to www.achievetexas.org requiring all high school graduates to leave K-12 with not just a diploma, but a license or trade in a certification. Expenditures for broadcast technology by schools are in the thousands and some in the millions. National organizations have emerged from this new paradigm shift with visual education, such as, School Tube and Teacher Tube. Recently, the Wall Street Journal posted an article on these important groups.

Imagine this - a student missed the deadline to buy his/her schools new DVD Yearbook. Days later, the school announces it is selling scenes from the yearbook via cell phone. For just ten cents, you can view the homecoming you missed on your cell phone or download it to your ipod, take it home and ingest it into your DVR via bluetooth. Imagine districts streaming graduation to homes via wi-fi and fiber to those families that can't attend for a modest cost. Revenue streams in K-12 video production will and are becoming viable. School districts such as mine have invested in laser fiber as the core of their media infrastructure and broadcasting cable programming to computers and closed-circuit systems. We are adding to the fragmentation of television as we know it. Our industry can create many new and exciting fund raising revenue streams with this technology. We are also a revenue stream for vendors of NAB. The National Association of Broadcasters and others need to include workshops, seminars and training sessions for the K-12 level. Why? First and fore-most the industry desperately needs to foster, nurture and develop new talent behind the camera, especially in the area of engineering. Second, and I stress this...it is a revenue stream for the industry. Another client and partner. It just makes sense.

I can go on and on, but the turkey on rye bread sandwiches are ready...gotta go! Please post your thoughts and comments and tune in Thursday for my final post on equipment for middle and high school control rooms and studios.