Monash University Arts Undergraduate Handbook, 1997

VSA3390

Screen production I

Offered subject to approval

Not offered in Semester 2, 1997

Lecturer to be appointed

8 points
* 4 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
* Corequisite: A minor in visual arts (with a significant component of film and television studies), music or drama (or at the discretion of the head of department/faculty)
* A quota applies for this subject. Preference will generally be given to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Performing Arts, and to students taking a visual arts major in film and television studies.

Objectives At the end of the subject students should expect to have attained a basic competence in operating equipment related to all major stages of video production (video cameras, sound equipment and lights; editing facilities and sound mixing facilities); to have a knowledge of script development methods, and research processes relevant to particular kinds of production; and to have begun to explore ways of expressing their own ideas and viewpoints in an effective form using video.

Synopsis The subject will provide an introduction to screen production techniques used in a range of contexts, including location work. The aim of the subject is to give students knowledge and experience of making video productions, by providing an initial introduction to scripting and other kinds of pre-production work; filming using video cameras and lights; and editing, sound mixing and other post-production procedures. Students will be expected to develop a basic level of technical competence in all these aspects of production. At the same time they will be encouraged to develop their individual creative capacities for visual communication. A primary aim will be to get students to start to develop their ideas in ways that can be realised in video media, and to have a basic idea of how to carry this out. The subject will cater both for performing arts students and for film and television students who want to develop a literacy in video and film production, as a practical complement to their critical, historical and theoretical studies.

Assessment The specific components of the assessment and their weighting will be determined after the appointment of the lecturer. However assessment is likely to involve the following components. Equipment proficiency test: 20%
* Individually produced short script: 20%
* Storyboard for a proposed production: 20%
* Film journal (observations of currently viewed films and their relevance to what is being taught or workshopped in class): 10%
* Assessment of the role a student plays in a group production: 30%

Prescribed texts

Ayres R and others A guide to video production AFTRS, Allen and Unwin, 1992

Recommended texts

Millerson G The techniques of television production Focal, 1990

Parer D Film business: A handbook for producers AFTRS, 1989

Potter C Image, sound, and story: The art of telling in film Secker and Warburg, 1990

Handbook Contents | Faculty Handbooks | Monash University