Update: New Turner Hall Making Progress

 

What a difference a year makes! 

As SC State students returned to campus on August 10 to begin the new school year, it is clear that the new Turner Hall academic building has made great progress since May. 

This photo is from one year ago, August 2025. The construction was just getting underway. 

In an update this week, the university says crews have completed the steel structure or framework and are now pouring concrete for each floor. 

The $54.7 million 94,000-square-foot building is scheduled to open next year, hopefully in time for the start of the 2027-2028 school year. 

New SC State Greenhouse 60 Second PSA Script

 

60 Second PSA Script 

Music Bed Under Voice...

Looking to brighten up your home or office with a pretty new plant? Or maybe give one as a gift to a friend or family member? The holiday season is upon us right? 

Well, you don't have to leave campus to buy a beautiful potted peace lily (as I did!), succulent, begonia... or how about black stem elephant ears or rex vines? There are two dozen types of plants to choose from! 

Since August, the BECT Greenhouse has been open behind the planetarium, near the ROTC building. BECT stands for Business, Environment, Communication and Transportation. Since 2022 the institute has been doing good things around campus such as the new greenhouse that among things offers learning opportunities for botany students and local school children. 

The plant sale happens the second Monday of each month so the next one will be on December 8. But if you stop by when graduate assistant Penelope Fennell is watering the plants, you probably can buy one or more then. 

So bring some green to the Greenhouse. You won't leave empty-handed! 

Music Out

Music used is from Incompetech.com.

Here's my completed 60 second PSA!

The video was edited using Adobe Premiere Pro. Here is a screen shot of the production. 

This video PSA was produced as a demonstration project to share with my TV Production class at SC State in the Fall 2025 semester. I also produced an audio version of the plant sale for use in my Radio Production class, also this semester. 

Here is the SoundCloud link to that 60-second PSA and below is the screenshot of Adobe Audition. Students in the radio class edit projects in Audition. I slightly sped up my narrative audio so the piece was within 60 seconds. Here is how to do that. 

Listen to my PSA here

Five Questions Interview Example

 

An assignment I enjoy in my television production class is called "Five Questions." Students work in three- member teams as producers-videographers, interview hosts and guests. 

The student behind the camera directs the show and records specific shots needed to piece the completed interview so it looks like there were two cameras in use, not just one. 

The students learn about two shots, reverse questions, and listening or cutaway shots. 

And they are instructed on different techniques and tools when editing their interviews on Adobe Premiere Pro. 

Below you can see the interview that I produced using Carroll Kelley's video. 

Jalen Gasque interviewed Dominic Reaves, a defensive back on SC State's football team. 

Carroll will still produce the piece himself. I wanted to do it for demonstration purposes. 

The interview runs about three minutes. Last class, I showed the students my Premiere Pro process (below) and how to tweak things such as audio levels, color quality, as well as adding supers, titles and music, then exporting the finished project before posting it on my YouTube channel. 

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. 

New Turner Hall Classroom Building on the Way!

 

(Click to hear this post)

The new school year just began here at SC State and it may soon get pretty noisy on campus. 

A sparkling new academic building is going to be constructed between the current Turner Hall and Dukes Gym. 

The university secured $54.7 million from the state legislature to erect its first new classroom building since 2013 when the Engineering and Computer Science Complex was opened. 

The new Turner Hall will have 94,000 square feet of classroom, collaborative learning, and office space, according to the university.

The outline of the new Turner Hall can be seen clearly and completely from the third floor of the current Turner Hall. 

The construction is slated to last two years and should be open by fall 2027, according to the current timeline. 

Some student and faculty parking spots have been lost to the large footprint of the work site. 

Communication News- August 19, 2025

 

MSNBC news network will now or soon be called MS Now (My Source News Opinion World). 

Part of Comcast's NBCUniversal recent spinoff move.

Associated Press story here.

YouTube to begin testing AI-powered age verification. 

AP report.

AOL is finally shutting down its dial-up Internet service. 

AP story here.

Other summer media news: 

CBS canceling long-running Stephen Colbert late night show. 

AP report.

Howard Sterm Sirius XM show to be canceled.

Five-year $500 million contract won't be renewed, reports say. 

Captured in a Flash: The Epitome of Bulldog Tenacity (Audio Report)

 

Marching 101 band member and drum major Trent Bryant had 15 minutes of fame that lasted three months or so. 

(Click here to listen to this story with Bryant's comments)

Bryant's image was selected last fall to be on SC State's homepage. Decked out in his colorful Marching 101 uniform...he is the first thing people see when going to S-C-S-U-dot-e-d-u. 

Bryant says he was back home in Georgetown, S.C. in December when friends began alerting him that he was on the school's front page...

SOT: Trent Bryant :29
In: When I first saw it...
Out: ...face of the school right now

The director of S.C. State University Relations...Sam Watson...took the photograph when the Marching 101 performed at halftime of the home game versus Fort Valley State on October 19. (YouTube has the show here!)

When Watson looked at the images he captured that day he saw something special in one of them. 

SC State's Website Features Marching 101's Trent Bryant

 

If you've been to SC State's website recently you have seen this image of a Marching 101 band member that some call the epitome of Bulldog Tenacity. 

Meet Trent Bryant, a senior mechanical engineering major from Georgetown, S.C. Bryant is one of the band's drum majors so he is front and center during performances. 

At an October 2024 home football game, he caught the eye of Sam Watson, director of university relations. Watson was taking photographs of the halftime show and snapped this focused, determined image of Trent in action. 

My feature writing students had the chance to interview Bryant in February. The students were assigned to write a feature about Bryant's 15 minutes of fame. I recorded his talk and had my radio production students produce an audio report. 

From the audio recording, here are three memorable comments Bryant shared about his unique experience appearing for several months on the school's homepage. 

Soundbite 1

Here's his first reaction when learning in December that he was on the website. 

Soundbite 2

When he looks at the image of himself, what does Bryant say was going through his mind at this moment in time? 

Soundbite 3

Bryant says it was in 2017 when he decided he had to be part of a university marching band.

Three Point Lighting Starring TK!

 

In my TV Production class we have been covering different lighting techniques. 

This exercise covers three point lighting, long a mainstay of video and still-shot photography. 

Three strategically placed lights can help produce a high quality, flattering look for someone at the center of it, whether in a video interview, a modeling scenario or a professional head shot for Linkedin or a newspaper or magazine placement. 

Ryan Stubblefield is in this image. 

Makayla Dotson sits for the three-point spotlight. 

Next in this post, I'll break down the steps needed to get the most out of the three-point lighting setup. 

Two years ago I wrote a similar post. Check it out here.

Full Sail University has on YouTube this tutorial on this popular and widely used lighting technique. 

TK Ayinmide is the model for this presentation. First we see her with the three lights turned off. You see the three lights: the key light (front right), the fill light (left) and behind TK is the backlight. 

New "Action Sequence" Production

I have always been fond of the assignment that I call "Action Sequence." It depicts one of my SC State University students getting up, leaving the classroom, making his or her way out the door, through the hall and down the steps from the third floor to the ground level of Turner Hall. 

Another student is the director and videographer, and later the editor using Adobe Premiere Pro to put it all together with titles and music and the clips that should be edited together into a smooth, flowing process. 

Last week I shot a sample "Action Sequence" with two students, Ariana Pinder and Andrea Fullington. 

The skills tested in this production exercise include communication and planning between the director and "actor", shot composition, lighting, white balancing the camera in different settings, editing and blog posting correctly. 

Here are some other "Action Sequence" examples from previous years. 

"Five Questions" Interview Project

 

In my Radio Production class here at SC State, the students are working on a project I call "Five Questions." 

The students have the chance to interview a classmate, a professor, a campus leader, a student-athlete, really anyone they choose. 

The idea is to conduct an interview in an interesting and informative way to help the listener get to know the subject and also get a sense of the host's style and personality. 

Listen to the three-minute interview here.

This is one example of such a "Five Questions" feature. Keira McGowan sat down with her classmate Ali Hardwell, who is a guard on SC State's women's basketball team. Ali, who is from Washington state, is in her first semester here after transferring from a two year college in Texas where she led her team to a conference championship last season. 

To learn more about these fine and talented students, check out Ali's blog and Keira's as well. 

"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. 

Adobe Creative Cloud Access Steps

 

You may receive this email saying you now have access to the Adobe Creative Cloud platforms that include Audition (used in my Radio Production class), Premiere Pro (used in my Basic TV Production class), PhotoShop, inDesign, and many other cool tools for content creation. 

You can also go to the SC State apps page, via the school's homepage at www.scsu.edu 

Click on this image on the apps page. 

Enter your SC State email address. 

This screen should open next. Click on Company or School Account. 

Enter your SC State user name and password. 

Public Service Announcement (PSA): All-Star Justice Center

 

There's still much work to be done, but the old All-Star Triangle Bowling Lanes on Russell Street is on the path to reopening. In its new life it will be called the All-Star Justice Center. It will not only feature 16 bowling lanes but will also have a civil rights museum to reflect the business' role in what became the Orangeburg Massacre. 

My students and I are producing public service announcements to help raise awareness about the important project and also to solicit donations.

To follow is the script for my 60-second PSA.
Click here to listen to the final product.  

All-Star Justice Center PSA
Patrick Harwood
April 18, 2024
Time: 60 seconds 

Music bed under voices...

Two SC State students are walking on campus when they hear this sound: 

Bowling bowl hitting pins

Student 1: Hey did you hear that?

Student 2: Yes I did! It sounded like a bowling alley!

Voice from the great beyond: Greetings S-C State students. I'm a voice from your school's past. Have you heard about how in 1968 hundreds of us college students tried to integrate the All-Star Bowling Lanes over on Russell Street?

Student 1: That's when the owner wouldn't let Black folks in to bowl. 

Student 2: Right, that sure was an ugly time.

Voice from beyond: Things got really ugly the night of February 8th, 1968. Law enforcement opened fire on students gathered on your campus. Three young men were killed and more than two dozen others were wounded. 

Student 1: That was the Orangeburg Massacre!

Student 2: So I here there's something going on with the bowling alley?

Voice from beyond: Indeed there is! Work is underway to reopen the All-Star Lanes and turn parts of it into a civil rights museum so people will always remember the tragedy caused by segregation back then.

Student 1: This sounds great!

Student 2: How can we help? 

Voice from beyond: With your help, the All-Star Justice Center can get to the finish line sooner than later. For more information and to make a donation, please go to center for creativepartnerships-dot-org. That's center-for-creativepartnerships-dot-org. 

End with bowling alley sound 

Podcast Productions: Student-Athletes, Campus Issues and More!

We recently dusted off one of our department's old Allen and Heath mixing boards to record a series of podcasts. 

Podcasts seem to be as popular as ever so this project gave the students a chance to be part of one. They will be writing blog posts that feature their particular podcasts complete with the recording, photos and their thoughts about being part of one in our Radio Production class.

(Audio Story) Orangeburg Native Remembers the Orangeburg Massacre

Sandra Paul Miller was a student at Orangeburg's Wilkinson High School on Feb. 8, 1968 when shots rang out on the campus of South Carolina State University. Fortunately for her, she was far away from the school at home with her mother.

Fortunate because three young men were killed and more than two dozen others were wounded when nine S.C. Highway Patrol officers opened fire on the 200 or so SC State and Claflin students who had gathered around a bonfire in the wake of attempts in the previous days to integrate a bowling alley nearby on Russell Street. 

My students and I met Ms. Miller at the All Star Bowling Lanes in February 2022. It was by happenstance that she was there. We went there to interview Ellen Zisholtz, who is leading an ambitious effort to restore the bowling alley and also make it a civil rights museum. 

Click here to listen to my two-and-a-half-minute report about Ms. Miller and her experiences marching for integration and other civil rights for Black Americans. The music included is courtesy of Incompetech. 

February 2024- Students in my BC 203 Radio Production visit the plaza on campus that commemorates the Orangeburg Massacre.

Click here to see my blog post that proceeded this final production audio report. 

To hear the full, unedited interview that runs 7:30, click here.

Sharp with the "Sharpies"- SC State's Avery Daniels

Outside his job as the library archivist at South Carolina State University Avery Daniels has an interesting hobby.

It involves axes, hatchets and knives. 

A regular at Orangeburg's Black Water Axes & Ales, Daniels in about a year and a half has become a world-class thrower of these "sharpies." 

Check out my video (below) about his expertise. In September my students and I met Daniels at Axes & Ales and saw firsthand his blade-throwing precision.

Good luck Avery Daniels at the big tournament in Appleton, Wisconsin. We hope you bring home the gold and some of the prize money too! 

This is a fun photo Avery Daniels took of us. Thank you sir for a great experience with you at Black Water Axes and Ales! 

Archivist/Ax Thrower Avery Daniels- Check Out My Audio Report!

 

In a relatively short time SC State library archivist Avery Daniels has become a world-class thrower of knives and axes. 

You and I may visit one of these increasing popular places to have some fun and maybe a drink or two. But Daniels has taken his throwing skills to the next level and will soon compete in a world championship tournament. 

Click here to listen to my report about Avery Daniels who has refined his skills at Orangeburg's Black Water Axes and Ales.

Thank you Avery Daniels for letting us interview you. We wish you the best of luck in your upcoming competitions. 

This is a fun photo Avery Daniels took of us. Thank you sir for a great experience with you at Black Water Axes and Ales! 

And thanks to the owner of Black Water Axes and Ales for letting us come in and even try out a few throws ourselves. 

The business is located in the Orangeburg Mall at 1128 Orangeburg Mall Circle.