"Action Sequence" Project: Christian Manning Walks the Walk!

Who knew leaving a classroom could be so exciting!

"Action Sequence" is a video project I'm having my SC State Television Production and Editing students this semester. It's pretty basic but demonstrates some basic principles of videography and editing: steady tripod shots, allowing the subject to walk in and out of the screen, and editing it all together with music and some text in a smooth, flowing way.

From leaving the classroom, going down the stairs, and leaving the building, each video needs at least 10 shots in this sequence-shooting project. The elevator, water fountain, soda machine, and restroom can be used in the production.  In each shot, after the first one, the students walks in and out or through the camera shot. This and a stable tripod shot will make for easy editing.

When editing, begin the video with a slate (with text) and end with a slate and text. See this YouTube video for assistance with this part. 

Also include music in the background. Consider the free site incompetech.com for the music selection.  Go to the site's royalty-free music part for its vast library of different vibes, themes and genres. 

Thank you Christian Manning for the assistance with this. I look forward to seeing the video you took and produced of me leaving the classroom and building.

The music I used is courtesy of my go-to royalty free site, Incompetech.com.

And here it is.....the sequence video Christian shot of me...

Here's another motion sequence class video. Keith Gilliard shot, edited and produced this with classmate Constance Maybin.

SC State Sports Talk with Devante Williams and Javonte Neal

This is a second TV production interview we shot and recorded in the SC State Communication Program's studio on the second floor of the former Crawford Engineering Building.

Christian Manning jumped at the chance to direct this sports talk segment with classmates Devante Williams and Javonte Neal. Everyone did a great job, including the students operating the studio cameras and the ones in the control room assigned different tasks.

This week the class, divided into three groups of five students, will begin to organize their own studio interview productions. What a great facility we have for such excellent hands-on learning!

Here are some photos I took during the production:

Video Interview: Kyre Cox- Student/Soldier

In my Basic Television Production (BC 320) course a few weeks ago, we did our first production in the Communication Program's fine television studio. Students operated the three cameras, another was the floor director, and several others were with me in the adjacent control room.

On set was Christian Manning and the classmate he interviewed, Kyre Cox. In October Kyre's National Guard unit was called up to help with the flooding disaster that swept South Carolina earlier in the month. Kyre spent two weeks collecting debris and helping homeowners dealing with the unprecedented- in its scope and destructiveness- natural disaster.

For this first production, I set up the control room's  NewTek Tricaster "studio production in a box" unit. Students observed and were later given step-by-step instructions and one of them, Christian Manning, would be at the helm for the next studio interview.

This first production has plenty of glitches! I was a bit rusty on running the board, doing the switching and directing. Lots more hands-on experience in the weeks ahead for the students- and I.