POLS 385-002: Spec Tops: Political Science: Guerrilla Pol Videography (Fall 2012)

This is a practical "hands on" course on how to express political ideas using the video medium. This course is appropriate for students with no prior experience in video production. Students will learn the following production-related aspects of videography:

• Pre-production (equipment, location, logistics, planning, script and/or outline)

• Production (cinematography, directing, lighting)

• Post-production (authoring, video editing, sound editing)

• Distribution (online, television, mobile devices)

Additionally, students will examine the similarities and differences among the following sub-genres:

• Political documentaries

• Political commercials

• Political music videos

• Political commentaries

• Political satire and comedy

In this class, students will create political videos, and they will learn how to distribute these videos in various venues, including YouTube. Video assignments will typically be "handed in" by posting them on YouTube (as "unlisted" videos that are not searchable) and sending the instructor the URL via email. Students will compare their videos with those of other class members in order to gain perspective and share techniques.

Students can find many practical applications for the content of this course. Minimally, students will find this course invaluable for doing video field work in nearly any discipline, potentially enhancing their graduate school experience greatly. This is particularly useful with respect to documenting field interviews. But other applications are also readily apparent. For example, students may intern with (or become employed by) political campaigns, and such campaigns may need to create low budget political commercials. This is especially true of local political campaigns. Such commercials can be broadcast inexpensively on cable channels as well as on the Internet, and good ones can become viral videos on YouTube that have enormous impact. Other students may want to create a political documentary for a school project, or even for mass distribution. Such documentaries do not need to be long; short YouTube clips can be tremendously effective. Some students may want to publish political commentaries on YouTube and other venues. And yet other students may want to use their new skills by gaining employment in the media after graduation. This course focuses on how to maximize the impact of political video content in a wide range of applications. Remember, quality in production is the key to the successful expression of political ideas in a video format.

Equipment and Software:

Students are expected to have access to a camera (a modern cell phone with digital video will do fine, such as an iPhone 4 or 4S, or a Droid, or a regular consumer camcorder), a laptop, and some video editing software. If you are going to purchase anything, wait until the first day of class so the instructor can give you advice. See the syllabus on the link below for details.

Check out the syllabus at:

http://www.courtneybrown.com/classes/Videography/PoliticalVideographySyllabus.html