LATE SUBMISSION AND PENALTIES
The majority of Audio Production coursework will take the form of practical performance and projects. If you are not present in class when your name is called to undertake a task, your work will be considered late. If your work is submitted incomplete or otherwise outside the assignment’s specified format parameters, it will be returned to you for correction. Upon resubmission, it will be considered late work.

Late work can earn no more than a maximum of 64 points. Work is considered late if it is submitted (or, in the case of e-mail, time-stamped) after lecture begins on the due date. If, because of extreme and prolonged sickness, you miss a deadline and are able to substantiate a claim of incapacitation with a note from a reputable doctor or Calvin Health Services, the grades of your remaining assignments will be given greater weight to compensate. Otherwise, you will receive a zero for the assignment. Examinations must be taken when scheduled.

FEEDBACK AND REVISION
Syllabus deadlines are the date and time an assignment is due in its final version. The nature of filmmaking is such, however, that you should plan on soliciting your professor’s feedback on at least two intermediate versions of each project. While this is not a requirement, you ignore this recommendation at significant peril to your grade.

QUIZZES
Quizzes may be given without warning to encourage attendance and affirm content mastery throughout the term.

PARTICIPATION
Participation will be evaluated throughout the semester by professor and peers based on student contribution to class community. Assigning the grade, I am chiefly concerned with the following questions:

1. To what degree and in what ways does the student demonstrate respect for his/her audience and co-laborers?
2. To what degree and in what ways does the student model dependability and responsibility?
3. In what ways has the student participated in work load, idea generation, and leadership — apart from the work necessary to complete his/her individual assignments?
4. Of what value are the student’s criticism and suggestions for improvement valued by his/her peers?

GRADE SCALE
Coursework will be weighted as indicated:

Assignment grades will be based on the following scale:

Responding to students’ desire for the most immediate feedback on their project work, grades and comments are reported via Moodle. It is therefore the responsibility of students to regularly consult Moodle for the most current report of their grades.

Project Management  ASSIGNMENT T Feb 15 1:30 pm

Phase One:  On behalf of your group, your producer will collect members’ preferred e-mail addresses and use them to establish common a Google calendar and a shared collection of Google docs.  The producer should include the professor as a member of the group.

Phase Two:  On behalf of your group, your editor will

1. Open and save a new Avid editing project to the Unity Server with the following nomenclature:
   • group partition
   • project name:  working title of your film
   • avid bin name:  sequences
   • sequence name:  bdf4140215a  [editor ID + (yymmdd) + current version letter]
2. Create and label bins for sequences, video clips, dialogue, music, effects, titles and graphics
3. Add bars, tone, and slate to the timeline.  Complete the slate using Avid’s Title Tool
4. For each character in your script add four audio tracks to the editing timeline.   Using your own character names, label the tracks as follows:
   • [Character A] Boom (L)
   • [Character A] Boom (R)
   • [Character A] Lav (L)
   • [Character A] Lav (R)
5. Add two audio tracks to the editing timeline.   Label them “Temp Music (L)” and “Temp Music (R).”  Import music from the Westar Music Library to your project’s “music” bin, and from there into the tracks.

Storyboard and Sound Design PROJECT   R Feb 17 2:30 pm
Your professor will provide each group a dialogue-only script. Through storyboard and production design, your group will develop the script with appropriate literary, dramatic, and cinematic elements. Given the instructional emphasis of the class, you should pay particular attention to the sound design for your script, making special note of diagetic and non-diagetic dialogue, effects, and music.  On behalf of your group, your director will present a polished, detailed storyboard and sound design to your professor and classmates.  Take notes of class critique, revise and pitch a second time.

Location Dialogue & Ambience PROJECT T Mar 01 1:30 pm

To become familiar with the audio recording capabilities of the Sony DSR570 Camera, the Shure FP33 Field Mixer, and the Marantz PMD660 Flash Recorder, each group will submit the following:

• 1 minute of ambiance (recorded to tape with the on-camera microphone).
• 1 minute of stereo ambiance (recorded to tape with two microphones, each assigned to its own channel)
• 1 minute of a two-person conversation — recorded to flash memory — in which the same signal is sent to two channels, staggering the levels for a 15dB peak difference.
• 1 minute of a two-person conversation — recorded to flash memory — in which each actor is assigned a separate channel and microphone
• 1 minute of a two-person conversation — recorded to flash memory — in which each actor is recorded in dual perspective:  route a body-mounted lavaliere microphone to one channel, a boom microphone to the other channel.
• the hard copy of a footage log, noting details of your audio experimentation.  Be careful to document the microphones you select for each take, your choices heavily informed by Holman, chapter 4 and by the Microphone Specification sheet.

The footage should be well-lit and white balanced.  You might also experiment with the camera’s lenses.  Using the members of your group as actors will provide me with evidence that each of you has enjoyed a turn as sound and camera operator.  No wallflowers, please.  A common comfort and familiarity with each other and with the equipment are the assignment’s chief goals.  I recommend a high shooting ratio as well as frequent reference to chapter 3 of the Holman text.

Footage will be graded as an Avid timeline saved to your group partition.  The instructor will open and evaluate one Avid sequence only.  Exceptions to the following file nomenclature will not be graded:

• Group Partition: Warner
• Project Name: Warner Dialogue
• Avid Bin Name: Sequences
• Sequence Name [editor ID + (yymmdd) + current version letter]: bdf4140403d

Casting & Location Scouting  PROJECT   R Mar 03 1:30 pm
On behalf of your group, your producer will submit

• talent releases
• location releases
• one minute of room tone recorded at a time of day which corresponds to your group’s shooting schedule
• photos of your location

Music Recording  PROJECT   R Mar 10 1:30 pm
To become familiar with the audio recording capabilities of the Sony DMX-R100 mixer, ProTools, and the Steelcase Foundation Audio Suite, each student will record no less than 02:30 of music to his/her own Unity Server partition.   Students may not perform for their own recordings.  Violation of applicable copyright laws will result in a failing project grade.  As a high shooting ratio offers editors more post-production choices, audio engineers are expected to record multiple takes of this project’s component tracks.

Though any sort of music may be submitted to satisfy grading requirements, the wisest of students probably recognize this assignment as an opportunity to work ahead toward the sound design of their final film.

At a minimum, each recording should include…

• a click track
• a scratch track
• two instrumental tracks
• a vocal track
• a master
• Each track should be labeled
• Each parent region should be labeled (thus automatically labeling every successive region)
• Tracks should be discrete, without signal bleed.  Only in the scratch track should I be able to hear both the vocal and the instrumental together.
• Tracks should not peak, either individually or in combination
• Tracks should be set for concurrent playback.   (Please do not make me guess which tracks you want muted or active, or to guess how tracks should be assigned to output channels.)

I will open and grade one ProTools session file only.  Exceptions to the following file nomenclature will not be graded.

• Individual Partition Name: bdf4
• File Folder Name: Music bdf4
• Session Name [editor ID + (yymmdd) + current version letter]: bdf4140310e

Principal Photography  PROJECT R Mar 17 1:30 pm

Each group will submit hard copies of completed footage logs for its final project.

Location Effects Recording  PROJECT  T Mar 29 1:30 pm

Phase One:  To become familiar with the audio recording capabilities of the Marantz PMD660, each student will record no fewer than five original sound effects to the flash recorder, then transfer each effect to a separate track of the same ProTools session.  Save your project with the indicated file path.  Exceptions to the following nomenclature will not be graded.

• Individual Partition Name: bdf4
• File Folder Name: Location FX bdf4
• Session Name [editor ID + (yymmdd) + current version letter]: bdf4140329p

Phase Two:  To become familiar with ProTools’ Audio Suite Plug-ins, each student will

1. Duplicate the “Location Effects” folder (from Phase One).
2. Rename the duplicate folder “AudioSuite FX [+ your partition name].”
3. Within this new folder, duplicate and rename the session to reflect the current date and version.
4. Within the session, process each effect region with a different AudioSuite plug-in.
   • process one track with a plug-in from the “EQ” submenu
   • process one track with a plug-in from the “Reverb” submenu
   • process one track with a plug-in from the “Dynamics” submenu
   • process one track with a plug-in from the “Modulation” submenu
   • process one track with a plug-in from the “Other” submenu
5. On a Google doc shared with your group, describe the use, settings, and effects of the ProTools plug-ins on the field-recorded files in ways which might help other students understand plug-in processes they themselves did not choose.
6. Save your project with the indicated file path.  Exceptions to the following nomenclature will not be graded.
   • Individual Partition Name: bdf4
   • File Folder Name: AudioSuite FX bdf4
   • Session Name [editor ID + (yymmdd) + current version letter]: bdf4140329k

Rough Cut   PROJECT R Mar 31

Each group will screen a rough cut of its film for the entire class for feedback.

Visual Lock  PROJECT R Apr 07 1:30 pm

Late work may earn partial credit toward your final semester average.  However, if your group’s visual lock is submitted after the deadline, your film may not be included in the Showcase screening.  The film’s producer must secure the instructor’s approval of your film before class begins.  You may not proceed to any successive phase of the project without this approval.   During today’s class, each group will screen a visual lock of its film (color correction included).   Footage will be graded as an Avid timeline saved to your group partition.  The instructor will open and evaluate one Avid sequence only.  Exceptions to the following file nomenclature will not be graded:

• Group Partition: Warner
• Project Name: Working Title
• Avid Bin Name: Sequences
• Sequence Name [editor ID + (yymmdd) + current version letter]: bdf4140407r

File Transfer  IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT   R Apr 07 1:30 pm

Moving files from Avid to ProTools and back across the Unity Server can be tricky and frustrating.  To ensure your facility with the process:

• each group’s visual editor will export the film’s window-burned visual lock file from Avid to ProTools.
• each group’s music editor will add a temp music track in ProTools.
• each group’s supervising audio editor will bounce the audio back to Avid.

Dialogue Edit  PROJECT R Apr 14 2:30 pm

During today’s class, each group will screen the dialogue edit of its film.   The group’s designated dialogue editor must secure the instructor’s approval of the film before class concludes.  You may not proceed to any successive phase of the project without this approval.   The project will be graded as a ProTools session file saved to your group partition.  The instructor will open and evaluate one ProTools session file only.

Score  PROJECT R Apr 21

During today’s class, each group will screen the music edit of its film.   The group’s designated music editor must secure the instructor’s approval of the film before class begins.  You may not proceed to any successive phase of the project without this approval.   The project will be graded as a ProTools session file saved to your group partition.  The instructor will open and evaluate one ProTools session file only.

Foley & Effects  PROJECT T May 03 2:30 pm

During today’s class, each group will screen the effects edit of its film. The group’s designated effects editor must secure the instructor’s approval of the film before class begins.  You may not proceed to any successive phase of the project without this approval.   The project will be graded as a ProTools session file saved to your group partition.  The instructor will open and evaluate one ProTools session file only.

Final Mix  PROJECT T May 10 1:30 pm

Late work may earn partial credit toward your final semester average.  However, if your group’s final mix is submitted after the deadline, your film may not be included in the Showcase screening.  Your group’s producer must secure the instructor’s approval of your film before class begins.  You may not submit your timeline for Showcase screening without this approval.   Each group will screen a final mix of its film in the Bytwerk Theater.  Copies will be submitted to the professor as an Avid timeline saved to the group partition.  The sequence will only contain a video mixdown and a two-channel audio bounce.  The instructor will open and evaluate one Avid sequence only.

The classroom setting is such that not all needs can be met within it.  I encourage you, therefore, to visit my office often.  It is my pleasure to discuss grades, attendance, notes, lectures, or anything else which will make you a better student.   Your grades can only benefit from regular communication with your professors.  I will gladly work with you to arrange meeting times convenient to us both. Feel free to contact me:

• by e-mail at mail@brianfuller.org [good].
• by phone or voicemail at 616.498.4336 (49.VIDEO) [better].
• in person [best].

Because there are no “right” and “wrong” answers in this field of study, I am open to a certain amount of discussion with regard to the grade awarded any given assignment. Appeals should be made in a timely fashion, within two class periods of grade notification/posting.  You may be notified of a grade by the return of paperwork or, more usually, in the posting of grades and comments to Moodle.   Appeals should be made face to face (not by phone, in writing or by e-mail) and offered with rhetorical and presentational clarity (After all, this is a communication class).

Because college policy governs the after-hours use of the building and its basement level production facilities, your professor recommends your familiarity with the college’s established schedule of access to academic buildings. Exceptions to the policy require a note of permission from a faculty member, submitted electronically to Campus Safety at least 24 hours in advance.  To address concerns of personal safety and security, it is suggested that a minimum of two students remain in the building together.

Subject to responsible use, students of CAS 190 and 250 are permitted key card access to the Video Editing Labs (DeVos 055). Students of CAS 249, 290, and 351 are permitted key card access to the Video and Audio Editing Labs (DeVos 045). Access to other workspaces must be scheduled in advance with the Chief Engineer.

I really like using the editing software on my laptop.  Can I edit class projects in my dorm?

To maximize opportunities for collaborative learning, the college offers Media Production instruction in a pedagogically-informed, server-based post-production environment. When student teams edit video and audio projects from shared files to common workflow standards, they are learning organizational and interpersonal skills that will benefit them in the workplace and in other relational settings. While we understand and support students’ preference for many different hard- and software combinations, project work for Media Production classes will be done on facilities and equipment in the DeVos Communication Center (approved by the CAS Media Production Faculty in May 2011).

How might a disability affect my performance in this course?
The college will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities.  Students should notify the Coordinator of Services to Students with Disabilities located in Student Academic Services, HH455.  Students should notify their instructors within the first two weeks of class (statement adopted by the College Faculty for inclusion in all syllabi).