Winter quarter’s featured course “Audio and Video Production” at the Olivet School of Media and Communication (OSMC) introduces journalism students to the world of visual storytelling with an updated curriculum.

The course teaches the technical skills and creative principles required for single-camera video field shooting and post-production using Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Apart from regular lectures, readings and in-class demonstrations, students will be working in groups to produce business profiles, entertainment or information-based videos. By the end of this course, the class will host a premiere to showcase the best video productions.

“Compared to the previous curriculum, this newly designed course focuses more on the hands-on production experience, rather than just editing and compiling videos. Every student will participate in the entire process from pre-production planning, shooting, audio recording, lighting, composition to editing, and eventually produce some original journalism pieces. The class is student-centered and results-driven,” course instructor Edwin Tsuei said.

During the first lesson, Tsuei introduced basic photography composition techniques such as the rule of thirds, golden ratio, leading lines and shapes, symmetrical balance, asymmetry, repetition, frame, and negative space. Both aesthetics and photographic techniques affect how well a message is presented to the audience, and therefore the audience’s response to the message. A critical appreciation for aesthetics and mastery of techniques are part of the core learning objectives to train students as effective visual communicators, according to Tsuei.

Students enrolled in this course are excited about the upcoming video field shootings. They also plan to start new media projects on social media and other digital platforms with the new skills acquired through this course.