trakAx

Careers in Video Production

Professional video production, or videography, is the art and service of videotaping, editing, and distributing a finished video product. This can include television production, commercial video production, and corporate and event videos. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_production) .

This lesson can be used as a review of the video productions created in earlier classes and also present an opportunity to introduce the students to careers within the different areas of video production.

In this lesson the students will learn about the different career areas within the Video Production industry. Careers within the video production industry can be broadly classified according to three areas: Pre-production, Production, and Postproduction. Pre-production is the planning and research phase, which may include scriptwriting, casting, location, set and costume design etc. Production is when the actual film begins to be made. This includes shooting the actual footage, interviews, actors, directing the video, etc. Post-production is the final phase when the footage is edited, video effects and transitions are applied, credits, sound effects and narrations are added, start and end credits are added and the final video is completed.

After completing some of the previous lessons, students will have learned how to plan, record, edit and produce their own News Reports, Public Service Announcements, Documentaries, TV style Commercials and Podcasts. After this lesson students will have a better idea of the careers within these areas.

Themes could include:

• Careers (Teachers explain and students research what career opportunities exist in the Video Production industry)
• Watch credits of TV shows, Films and Documentaries to identify specific career titles.
• Review (Students look back at their own work and specific roles they enjoyed)
• Career Planning (Students can develop and plan a basic CV, identifying positions and goals they would like to achieve).
• Research what qualifications are required for specific career positions and the colleges offering these qualifications.

What you’ll need

• Internet Access to view and research different Video Production careers.
• trakAxPC Pro

Resources

These may vary in suitability depending on age group.

A list of different careers within different media organisations
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/11_16/blastni/media_a-z.shtml

Motion Picture & Video Industries Career Guide
http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs038.htm#related

A resource with many film industry and film production links
http://www.assistantdirectors.com/Links/

Some excellent filmmaking techniques & tips which will help any video production
http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/

Directory of Film and Television Production Resources
http://actioncutprint.com/links/

CV creation
http://content.monster.ie/cv/cvPrep/CreatingCV.asp

CV Examples
http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/curriculumvitae/a/curriculumvitae.htm

Lesson Structure

Class Activity 1 –Research and Review

Teacher can explain the different careers within the 3 different stages of video production: Pre-production, production and post-production (can use the resources above to help identify and explain these areas). Students can review their own productions, analysing what roles they played in the production phase, the roles at which they were most effective and the role they enjoyed the most.

They might discuss the following topics:

• Identify the roles each student played in projects and what career heading did their role fall under?
• Which part of the production phase did they feel they were most effective at?
• Which part of the production phase did they enjoy most?
• Is there any role the students didn’t cover but would like to try?

Class Activity 2 – Research and Planning

Students can begin researching and identifying specific roles in the video production industry by watching the opening and / or closing credits of TV shows, Films and Documentaries. Students can begin to create a basic CV, outlining objectives, goals and achievements. They can also begin to research the qualifications needed for specific job titles and identify colleges which provides these courses.

Students can begin:

• Watching credits of TV Shows, Films and Documentaries. (Pay particular attention to new roles and jobs which Students may be unaware exist (e.g. The Grip, Gaffer, Best Boy).
• Create a CV (Outline Job Title, objectives, goals, achievements).
• Research qualifications needed for specific college courses and identify local colleges offering these types of video production courses. (Some students may be into specific video production areas like animation, graphics & effects / 3D)
• Students can submit a short audio piece or podcast (created with trakAxPC) on what they have learned over the course of the lessons and outline the benefits they have gained from the experience (e.g. working in teams, improved organisational skills, achieving goals and objectives etc.).

trakAxPC Tutorials

Creating an Audio Mix in trakAxPC
An Overview of how to create an Audio Mix in trakAxPC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHraMqRpZxE

Microphone
How to record in your Voice using a Microphone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr_TWX8CvsY

Saving
Saving the mix for future editing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnCqqCHvec&feature=player_embedded

Export
Export the final mix to popular file formats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx1QioSUUQs&feature=player_embedded