Fall 2025 First TV Production Project

In my Television Production class, I call the first assignment "Me in 30 Seconds." It gives the students early exposure and experience in front of and behind the camera. 

During previous classes, we went over camera, microphone, tripod and lighting operations. And I gave the students tips on speaking on camera. In this photo, Summer Gray is speaking with Dallas Barnes recording her. RJ Steadman is the timekeeper. 

Like many things in television production, this project must be carefully timed: as close to 30 seconds as possible. A cue is given when there are 10 seconds left. Reshoots are OK. 

The project also involves putting the video on YouTube, so I did that on my channel. Below is the unedited version. 

"Fotos from the Field"- Students Shoot Interviews

 My SC State TV Production students are getting some practical hands-on experience recording interviews for their "Person on the Street" video project. Each student comes up with a topic question and then goes on campus with a camera crew to record at least five different interviews and their on-camera "stand-ups" too (check out these tips for better stand-ups). I'm looking forward to seeing their final projects!  

Here they are in action on the plaza: 

Aaliyah Felder conducts interviews with Ryan Stubblefield running the camera and monitoring the audio levels. 

Aaliyah does her on-camera open and close. The interview clips or soundbites will go in between her on-camera parts. 

"Me in 30 Seconds" Videos

 

This semester at SC State I'm teaching Basic Television Production and it's a very hands-on class. Students have been quickly exposed to the tools of the trade: cameras, microphones, lights and tripods. 

As a first project I asked them to be in front of the camera sharing "Me in 30 Seconds." Just talk briefly about yourself: where you are from, your major and year, hometown, hobbies, ambitions, what you like about SC State- things like that. 

The students rotated from in front of the camera to behind it. They operated the cameras and gave time cues so the student on camera would be as close to 30 seconds as possible. 

Here are some of the videos that the students will post on YouTube, then their own blogs. 

"Me in 30 Seconds" Video Project

This semester I'm teaching Basic Television Production and it's a very hands-on class. Students have been quickly exposed to the tools of the trade: cameras, microphones, lights and tripods. 

As a first project I asked them to be in front of the camera sharing "Me in 30 Seconds." Just talk briefly about yourself: where you are from, your major and year, hometown, hobbies, ambitions, what you like about SC State- things like that. 

The students rotated from in front of the camera to behind it. They operated the camera, some held the boom microphone and others held up a stopwatch so the length would be a close to 30 seconds as possible. 

Here are some of the videos that the students will post on YouTube, then there own blogs. 

Patrick Jenkins

Delighting with Three-Point Lighting!

In my television production class at SC State University, we are spending a few weeks on lighting. We covered the use of reflector discs, now we are looking at a mainstay of photography, videography, film, and television: three-point lighting. See this YouTube video for details and tips. 

Essence Adams (right) is at the center of this popular, widely-used lighting concept. You see the video camera's position in front of Essence and the three lights surrounding her. 

Here is another perspective of the lights from behind Delano Whitfield (left). The light in the center, under the clock on the wall, is called the key light.

On the left side of this photograph is the fill light. And the light behind Delano, along the right side of the photo, is the backlight. 

I will explain and show how the lights work in tandem to create a high-quality image of the subject, whether for a yearbook or LinkedIn picture, a TV interview, model shoots, and other scenarios. 

New School Year Video Project

The new school year is underway at South Carolina State University!

In my Basic Television Production class, we got off to a fast start. The students have had some training on the nice Panasonic cameras we have along with microphones, tripods and lights. A couple classes later the students broke into small teams to shoot a project called "Me in 30 Seconds." They all introduce themselves and talk about their outlooks for the new school year, what they like about going to SC State, whatever they want to talk about really. 

As a demonstration, and to test the equipment, I shot this video in our classroom in Turner Hall. 

 

There is a second phase to this first video project. Once all of the students have access to the university's Adobe Creative Cloud programs, which include the Premiere Pro video editing software, this video will be trimmed, a title will be added with the student's names, and some music added to accentuate the production. 

Here is a better version of this clip. The audio is trimmed so it's tight, a "super" showing my name has been added, the clip has been brightened a little bit, I have also added some music to the background, and I have cropped the video so the window in the background is eliminated.  The music came from a free music site called Incompetech.

Bulldog Barber Shop Sequence Shooting & Editing

My television productions students and I ventured over to the SCSU Student Center (the PITT) to the Bulldog Barber Shop where 30-plus year barber Thad Miller graciously let us videotape him plying his trade.