DV Production Masterclass

This two day course is designed to give participants a full experience of DV-based production, starting with simple script production right through to post-production and producing a master tape - all within two days.

The range of topics is broad - as set out below:

The idea for this course is that many people learn one or two parts of the production cycle but very few people get an introduction to the whole deal. Within the space of two days, a class of students goes through the entire production process, from script selection to post production sound, including a full edit with titles and music. At the end of the course, students take away a copy of their 1 minute film, produced in collaboration with the class.

The trainer is a person with solid experience in the whole production process. This course is very much hands-on and guided by the trainer. At each stage, while the issues and solutions are offered by the trainer, the class makes creative decisions collectively.

During the post-production day, students work in pairs on their own editing system and complete their film, guided by the trainer. This day covers the whole post-production process and covers some of the issues that that can come up after the film is 'in the can'.

The script that the students work on is approximately 1 minute long and includes one interior scene, (set in a location much like the training centre) and one exterior scene. This way, issues connected with correcting colour and dealing with different sound environments can be properly discussed and demonstrated.

The Choice of Editing platform for the second day of this course will depend on demand from attendees. In all likelihood it will be using Avid, since this is the most popular platform for broadcast production companies. However, Adobe Premiere is also an option.

The structure of the course loosely follows the normal stages of production, albeit in a much abbreviated form in order to cover all the topics.

Day 1

• Introduction
• Safety
• What we intend to do and explanation of the course
• Overview of DV Production, starting with the end and working backwards
• Writing the 1 minute Script
• Planning the shoot
• Producing camera notes
• Choosing the roles for attendees
• Rehearsals
• Blocking the interior scene
• Setting up the camera, the importance of timecode
• Setting up the lighting for the interior scene
• Setting up sound for the interior scene
• Recording the interior scene
• Different camera angles for interior scene
• Recording wild track and insurance shots for the interior scene
• Assessing recorded material on location
• Moving equipment safely to the next location
• Blocking the exterior scene
• Setting up lighting for the exterior scene
• Setting up sound for the exterior scene
• Recording the exterior scene
• Different camera angles for exterior scene
• Recording wild track and insurance shots for the exterior scene
• Assessing recorded material outdoors
• Conclusion

Day 2

• Introduction
• Safety
• The importance of breaks
• Overview of DV Post-production, being an Editor
• Recording material on to the system
• Understanding how non-linear editing systems work
• Planning your film
• Identifying problems to be resolved
• Organising your media
• Identifying your editing system
• Organising your workspace
• Timecode explained
• Organising your clips and making subclips
• Selecting your clips
• Making a rough cut
• Tidying up the rough cut and fine tuning with trimming
• Fixing video problems and making the film 'vanilla' or neutral
• Introducing transitions
• Adding filters and effects
• Fixing and sweetening the audio
• Adding Music
• Adding Titles
• Finishing your movie
• Making a master tape
• (Time permitting) Encoding your film for DVD and the Web