Gifted Program 2010

Welcome to the 2010 Gifted Program at Strathcona

Friday 27th August

TV Production

The aim of this program is for each student to produce a (less than) one-minute TV story that deals with one of the following topics:

– The influence of Facebook in my life
– What I love about school
– All about me
– My favourite technology
– How I learn best
– What makes a good friend
– What I am passionate about
– What keeps me going
– My role models
– Where I see myself in the future
– The influence of technology in my life

Or you can negotiate your own topic.

You will be shooting the story in the Strathcona TV studio with the Green Screen and using the industry-standard editing software Final Cut as well as other hardware and software. You will be working in an Apple Mac environment which may be foreign to some of you. You will also not be using any Microsoft products during this project.

All the videos will be posted onto a private wiki (http://giftedprogram2010.wikispaces.com/) that will be available to all involved.

All students in the program will need to register with wikispaces (if they haven’t already) to access the wiki.

If you choose not to be filmed, you will produce one of the above stories but ask another student to be the in-front of camera talent for you.

Production steps:

Established a data folder on the shared drive

You will establish a folder on a shared server to place all your assets for the project. This will be explained to all of you at the same time at the start of the project.

Write the script

You will be reading your story from the teleprompter in the TV studio so it is essential that it is scripted in advance. The teleprompter will read any .txt file which can be produced from a range of software such as Pages, Stickies or Google Docs ( if you have a Google account).

Keep in mind – any good story has a beginning, middle and end. Start your story by introducing yourself and the topic. Keep the viewer interested as you explain the details of your story. Finish your story by thinking reviewers for watching.

While the scripts are being written, Dr Kitchen will set up a page for each student on the wiki.

Film the script

Each student will get the opportunity to record your script while reading it from the teleprompter in the TV Studio and sitting in front of the green screen. You will need to work in a team of four:

1 – The Talent

2 – The teleprompter operator

3 – The recorder

4 – The camera operator

On the job training will be provided. Each team member will be in communication with each other through a wireless communication link.

Each recording will be added to the relevant section on the shared drive for later access.

Organise video assets

While you are waiting to have access to the studio, you can be downloading and creating a range of assets for your story such as:

– images from the Internet that relate to your story

– images from your Facebook accounts can be organised

– copyright free music & sound effects from GarageBand (see tutorial below)

– backgrounds from LiveType to replace the green screen (see tutorial below)

GarageBand Introduction

GarageBand Sound Effects

GarageBand Soundtrack

Exporting a GarageBand project

LiveType Backgrounds

Edit the story

You will be using the Apple video editing program Final Cut Express. Final Cut Pro is one of the industry-standard editing packages used for film and television production. Final Cut Express is a cut-down version of Final Cut Pro. The editing process is the most time-consuming. It is a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle with, each piece of the puzzle is important and needs to be put in the right place. Use the video tutorials below to help you with the process.

Final Cut Introduction