Syllabus

Steve E Sweitzer
Professor
997-5916
ssweitze@iupui.edu

Office - Meetings by appointment

J210 - Visual Communications
Class IT-273 - 9:00 - 10:15 Tuesday and Thursday
Lab IT 254B - 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday

Read the description of Visual Journalism.

Good journalist should strive to:

Tell important stories by
Introducing us to interesting people and
Making us care about what happens to them.

This course will introduce you to the concepts and tools required for powerful visual storytelling. You will learn to work with digital still and video photography and how to marry them with audio to make a compelling multimedia presentation. You are embarking on a course of study that should serve as a foundation to your future as a journalist or public relations professional.

This course will probably be unlike others you have taken. Instead of text books and papers, there will be hands on assignments with cameras and multi-media software. The average expectation for a college course is at least three hours of work outside class for every hour in scheduled class. This course will take at least that. Manage your time accordingly.

There are no text books required for this course but you will be expected to spend time watching on-line tutorials and learning to use media editing software.

What You Will Learn

All these things will take significant effort on your part but you will have fun along with the work. At times you will be frustrated but at the end of the course you will be surprised at what you have accomplished and learned.

Equipment

Free Software Packages

All the software used in this course is available for free download from http://iuware.iu.edu or you can buy the software on DVDs from the campus bookstore. Installing this software can be tricky. TAKE YOUR TIME AND FOLLOW EACH STEP CAREFULY. Any problems you have installing software on your own machines are your responsibility. A call to 317-274-HELP may help.

PLEASE! PLEASE! Pay attention to the installation instructions on IUWARE. Registering your software is a multi-step process. You get a Product Key from IUWARE and then you have to log into Adobe and create an account with that Product Key which they call a REDEMPTION CODE. Use your IUPUI user name and create a password for this account. WRITE IT DOWN. If you create a new Adobe account, you will receive email requesting verification. Within 72 hours, click the verification link in that email message, or you will lose access to your account. You will have to use this same user name and password to activate the software package. IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS YOU WILL END UP WITH A DEMO VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE THAT WILL EXPIRE HALF WAY THROUGH THE SEMESTER. THEY WILL NOT GIVE YOU A NEW CODE!

In this course we will learn to use the following software programs which are available for free from IU Ware:

You won't be expected to become experts in the use of these but you will have an introduction to them.

Organization of the Course

We will begin with still photography. You will need to become familiar with the technology of your camera so that you are ready to shoot when you see a picture. Naturally, you will carry your camera with you at all times.

Early assignments will cover basic camera operations and photographing people.

You will move on to the study of composition. We will look at the work of many professionals and study how they select and organize the content within the viewfinder. You will try to use some of those techniques yourself, at first with still photography and later with video.

You will give a short multi-media report during class, showing some of your favorite images and explaining why you like them.

You will learn to record and edit interviews to make sound tracks to accompany your stills, to tell stories with a sense of reality and emotion.

Finally, you will learn how video is similar and different from still photography. You will practice new video skills and finally you will tell a story with carefully edited moving images, stills and video.

Attendance

Attendance is required and will be taken in class. There are two lectures and two labs each week. Attend the lectures and your assigned lab. If you are ill during your lab, try to make the other lab section.

The IUPUI Faculty Council requires that the language below be included on each course syllabus: 
Administrative Withdrawal: A basic requirement of this course is that you will participate in all class meetings and conscientiously complete all required course activities and/or assignments. Keep in touch with me if you are unable to attend, participate, or complete an assignment on time. If you miss more than half of the required activities within the first 25% of the course without contacting me, you may be administratively withdrawn from this course. Example: Our course meets twice per week; thus if you miss more than four classes in the first four weeks, you may be withdrawn. Administrative withdrawal may have academic, financial, and financial aid implications. Administrative withdrawal will take place after the full refund period, and if you are administratively withdrawn from the course you will not be eligible for a tuition refund. If you have questions about the administrative withdrawal policy at any point during the semester, please contact me.

Classroom Behavior

Class and lab time are for listening, discussing, questioning and showing work. Checking e-mail and cruising the web is NOT acceptable. We will look at lots of pictures and videos during this course. If you don’t plan to pay attention, don’t bother coming to class. If I see you using your computers or phones during class, I won’t make a big deal out of it, I’ll simply mark you as “absent” for the day.

Your Own Work

All work for this class must be your own original work. Work done for other classes may not be used for this one. This link will give you details about Student’s Rights and Code of Conduct.

Homework

Media assignments will be uploaded to Box at IU. It is essential that you correctly accept the invitation that I will send you. If this isn't done correctly, I won't see or grade your homework.

Camera Check out

If you don't have a camera that will meet requirements for class you can check one out from ComTechLab - 425 University Blvd. | CA 446 | 317/274-0568 - mmaitzen@iupui.edu - comtechlab.iupui.edu. A cell phone or point-and-shoot camera is NOT acceptable and you will loose points if you use one.

Failure to return your camera on time will result in an “attendance penalty.” You will loose class attendance credit at a rate of 1 day for every day the camera is late, this can significantly effect your grade.

Assignments and Grades

See the assignment table.

Journalism and public relations are loaded with deadlines, so too is this class. Assignments are due on time. Late assignments will be docked one letter grade and will only be accepted for one week after the original due date.

There is a considerable work load to this class. If you get behind, you will have difficulty catching up.

Assignments are presented well ahead of their deadline. If you expect to do well in the class, you will have to do leg work well before the assignment deadline (thinking about the content for the assignments and scheduling the required shoots.)

Grading Scale:

A+ 100%-97%
A <97%-93%
A- <93%-90%
B+ <90%-87%
B <87%-83%
B- <83%-80%
C+ <80%-77%
C <77%-73%
C- <73%-70%
D+ <70%-67%
D <67%-63%
D- <63%-60%
F <60%-0

Check your grades on Canvas

I will do my best to post your grades on Canvas within a week of of their submission. It is your responsibility to check Canvas and insure that I'm properly recording your grades. One year a student waited until they received an F for the class before discovering none of their assignments had been properly submitted or graded.

 

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