Spring 2019 Syllabus

Instructor:

Paul Skiera

[email protected]

Office Hours By Appointment

Technical Support for the Course Website: https://lms.asu.edu/contact

ommunicating With The Instructor

This course uses a “Four Before” policy in regards to student-to-faculty communications. When questions

arise during the course of this class, please remember to check these four sources for an answer before

asking me to reply to your individual questions:

Course syllabus

2. Announcements in our course

3. The “Water Cooler” discussion board

4. Google

This policy will help you in potentially identifying answers before we can get back to you and it also helps

your instructor from answering similar questions or concerns multiple times.

If you c

annot find an answer to your question, please first post your question to the “Water

Cooler”

discussion board. Here your question can be answered to the benefit of all students by either

your

fellow students who know the answer to your question or the instructor. You are encouraged to

answer

questions from other students in the discussion forum when you know the answer to a question

order to help provide timely

assistance.

If you have questions of a personal nature such as relating a personal emergency, questioning a grade on an

assignment, or something else that needs to be communicated privately, you are welcome to contact us via

contact form or email. Our preference is that you will use the contact form first. We will usually respond to

form and email messages from 8am to 5pm on weekdays, please allow 24 hours for us to respond.

Course Description

This is an introductory course surveying the aesthetics, design, manipulation, editing, compression,

encoding, and search engine optimization of digital sound and video media.

Course Objectives

At the completion of this course students will be able to:

1. I

dentify, interpret, and analyze the aesthetic experience of digital media design; including digital

audio, video, and still images.

2. Navigate and utilize the current legal landscape governing digital media to author legally distributable

content.

3. Evaluate and compare various formats and encoding schemes for digital audio, digital images, and

video with an understanding of their underlying functions.

4. Build introductory competence in the use of basic software/tools for media creation and editing.

5. Author communicative/expressive media utilizing best aesthetic practices for online development

and distribution.

6. Explore self-directed and autonomous forms of learning by using e-learning methodologies.

Unit Objectives

Unit I: Working with Still Images

Self-Directed Learning

• Describe self-directed learning goals

• Identify how media authorship can advance personal career goals

• C

ritique relationship between media authorship design and aesthetic goals and target audience

aesthetic appreciation.

Web-Based Portfolio

• Describe purpose of web portfolio

• Organize content of web site to maximize impact for target audience

Digital Images

• Define and use appropriate technical language related to digital image optimization, creation,

and editing

• Define and use appropriate design terminology related to the aesthetics of digital image

composition, palette, and visual narrative.

• Demonstrate how to properly crop and compress image asset maintaining aesthetic integrity.

• Demonstrate how to properly color correct image asset according to thoughtful aestheti

nsiderations of palette.

• Demonstrate how to effectively edit images into meaningful aesthetic compositions

• Demonstrate how to properly encode and wrap image files for web distribution

Unit II: Audio, Media Sources, and Copyright

• Define and use appropriate design terminology related to the aesthetics of sound including

pitch, rhythm, harmony, and balance.

• Define and use appropriate technical language related to digital audio optimization, creation,

and editing

• Demonstrate how to properly compress audio file

• Demonstrate how to properly equalize audio file

• Demonstrate how to effectively edit audio into aesthetically meaningful compositions

• Demonstrate how to properly encode and wrap audio files for web distribution

Unit III: Digital Video

• Define and use appropriate design terminology related to the aesthetics of digital video

composition, palette, pacing, and montage.

• Define and use appropriate technical language related to digital video optimization, creation,

and editing

• Demonstrate how to properly compress video asset

• Demonstrate how to effectively edit video into meaningful compositions

• Demonstrate how to properly encode and wrap video files for web distribution

Unit IV: Search Engine Optimization and Distribution - Final Project

• Demonstrate how to combine audio, video, and animation into a cohesive

aesthetically meaningful presentation

Course Requirements

Online Course

This is an online course and therefore there will not be any face-to-face class sessions. All assignments and

course interactions will utilize Internet technologies.

Lectures, online tutorials, assignments, quizzes, discussion boards and all other course materials of the

various applications used in this class will be presented on the canvas course website. The canvas course

site can be accessed through your myASU.

Computer Requirements

This course requires that you have access to a computer that can access the Internet. You will need to have

access to, and be able to use, the following software packages:

• A web browser (Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) – the most current

version

• Adobe Acrobat Reader (free)

• Adobe Flash Player (free)

• Adobe Creative Cloud (19.99/Month) *Recommended

• Microsoft Word

• Photoshop or Gimp

• Audacity

• iMovie or Windows Media Maker or Premiere Pro

ou are responsible for having a reliable computer and Internet connection throughout the course. You

are given 1 free make-up or extension due to a technical issue. Any other computer failure and/or

problems connecting to the Internet are not acceptable excuses for tardy assignments or missing

exams. Do not ask for extensions or make-ups due to your unreliable computer or Internet problems.

Email and Internet

You must have an active ASU e-mail account and access to the Internet. All instructor correspondence will be

sent to your ASU e-mail account. Please plan on checking your ASU email account regularly for course related

messages.

Attendance/Participation

Preparation for class means reading the assigned readings & reviewing all information required for that

week. Attendance in an online course means logging into the Canvas course on a regular basis and

participating in the all of activities that are posted in the course. If you have not logged into the course

within the first week you may be dropped from the course.

Studying and Preparation Time

The course requires you to spend time preparing and completing assignments. A three-credit course

requires 135 hours of student work. Therefore, expect to spend approximately 20 hours a week preparing

for and actively participating in this course.

Late or Missed Projects/Assignments

All assignments must be finished and turned in to complete the course. Assignments will be lowered by 10%

for each day late if they are submitted after the posted deadline without prior approval.

In the case of a technical difficulty, each student may make ONE late submission request for a

missed exam or assignment. The request must be submitted within 24 hours of the due date.

Early Submission

Students may submit their assignments ahead of their due date, but they will not necessarily be

graded prior to the assignment deadline.

Submitting Assignments

All assignments, unless otherwise announced by the instructor, MUST be submitted via canvas. Each

assignment will have a designated place to submit the assignment.

Exam/Quiz Policies

You are encouraged to use a reliable wired Internet connection to complete the assessments in this

course. Using a wireless connection or mobile device to complete an Exam/Quiz is strongly discouraged.

Do not navigate away from an Exam/Quiz while you are taking it. Do not open any additional tabs/windows

on your Internet browser. Do not reload/refresh the page while completing an Exam or Quiz. Do not log into

or out of any other ASU page (myASU, etc.) while completing an Exam/Quiz. These behaviors can cause

your exam session to become corrupt, which can make your submission of the Exam/Quiz unsuccessful.

Unsuccessful submissions cannot be graded.

Drop and Add Dates

If you feel it is necessary to withdraw from the course, please see http://students.asu.edu/drop-add for full

details on the types of withdrawals that are available and their procedures.

Subject to Change Notice

All material, assignments, and deadlines are subject to change with prior notice. It is your responsibility

to stay in touch with your instructor, review the course site regularly, or communicate with other

students, to adjust as needed if assignments or due dates change.

Academic Integrity

ASU expects and requires all its students to act with honesty and integrity and respect the rights of others in

carrying out all academic assignments. For more information on academic integrity, including the policy and

appeal procedures, please visit http://provost.asu.edu/academicintegrity and the Student Conduct

Statement below.

Submitting Your Video Projects

Video projects in this class will generally be posted on Vimeo or Youtube and submitted through canvas.

You will need to set up a Vimeo membership and Youtube account according to the following instructions:

VIMEO:

1. Visit www.vimeo.com and create a new membership using your ASU email address.

2. Use the same full name that is on the roster for this class as the name on your profile.

3. Attach a recognizable picture of yourself to the profile.

4. Set the “Location” field on your profile to “ASU.”

5. Find the group “MediaAuthorshipSpring2019_A_Session”

(shortcut: https://vimeo.com/groups/563556) and submit a request to join the group. I will

approve your membership

6. When you upload your projects, you must title the video as per the instructions in the project

assignment sheet, upload them to Vimeo, and then add them to the FMP 255 group.

7. Post a link to your video in the appropriate section of the Projects area of the course website.

8. You and your classmates will then respond to each other’s work on the course website.

UTUBE:

1. Go to youtube.com.

2. In the top right, click Sign in.

3. Click Create Account.

4. Subscribe to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvDhAzlGlk80xl-l8Z_yF_Q

Titling Your Projects

For every project use the following titling language:

LastName_TitleOfProject_Assignment.

Example: Nakamura_BirdsOfTempe_Podcast, or

Nakamura_MyWebsiteLogo_LogoGraphicProject.

Materials

Textbook (optional)

Harrington, Richard and Weisner, Mark. Professional Web Video. Focal Press, 2010.

Software

Software for this course is available through Adobe.com under their student subscription service. The Adobe Creative Cloud

subscription gives you access to the entire Adobe Creative suite. It is recommended that you download the free 30 day trial

for Creative Cloud the first week of the course. After the 30 days you may subscribe for the Creative Cloud service for

$19.99 a month educational pricing. The educational pricing is conditional upon a one-year commitment, however if you

are unable to subscribe for a full year, you may cancel your subscription within 30 days.

You may also use previous non-subscription versions of the Adobe Software below, however keep in mind the tutorials may

feature functionality different from yours.

ou may choose to use either a Windows-based or Mac OS X-based computer. Adobe software is available for either

platform.

Adobe Creative Cloud Software

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Audition (optional)

Adobe Premiere

Adobe After Effects

Adobe Alternatives

This course uses Adobe products because they offer the most reliability, technical support, and cross platform features.

There are open source software alternatives however for those who would prefer not to subscribe. We will not be offering a

full range of tutorials on this software, so it will be your responsibility to learn how to use the software to accomplish the

assignments.

Image Editing

Cross-platform

GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP): http://www.gimp.org

Audio Editing

Audacity (audio editing program): http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Media Encoding

MPEG Stream Clip: http://www.squared5.com

Video Editing

Windows only

Windows Movie Maker

Mac OS X only

iMovie (non-linear editing program): available for download from the Apple App Store for $14.99im

Hardware

Required:

Personal computer

You are required to have access to a personal computer for completion of the online component of this

course. This computer must have high-speed Internet access as well as be able to run all the cross-

platform software above and one of the non-linear editing applications (either Windows MovieMaker on a

Windows machine or iMovie on an Apple machine).

Headphones with ⅛” stereo connector

ighly recommended:

Video camera/Smart Phone. In the absence of more expensive models, a Flip camera

(www.theflip.com) or similar a smart phone with video recording ability.

Audio recorder or USB Microphone. We recommend the Zoom H2 portable recorder ($129) or the

Blue Snowball USB microphone ($80). You can also use your iPod/iPhone or computer internal mic, but

these will improve your quality immensely.

Computer Application Descriptions / Information

Adobe Photoshop (Ps)

PS is the industry standard premier raster graphics editing software on the market today. Initially created for

optimization and manipulation of digital photographs and other rasters, this powerful software is also capable

of creating animations, 3D graphics and textures, as well as a host of other features. Photoshop is used for

webpage design, Power Point presentations, flyers, posters, animated GIF's, and of course making your

photos look better.

dobe Illustrator (Ai)

AI is one of the leading Vector-Based drawing programs on the market. Vectors are different from rasters in

that vectors are digital images drawn by the computer based on coordinates passed to the graphics

processor (more on this later). AI is used to create logos, characters, and scenery for the web, animation,

and print. AI is an extremely versatile program that lets you create graphics that will scale to as big or small

as you can print or project with zero loss to image quality.

Adobe Audition (Au)

Au is a digital audio workstation featuring both a multitrack, nondestructive mix/edit environment and a

destructive-approach waveform editing view. With Au you can record and mix sounds of your own or

gathered

from other sources to create simple or complex compositions. Au lets you sample various sounds, remove

unwanted elements and even score your video.

Adobe Premiere Pro (Pr)

Pr is a powerful time-line based non-linear editing application used by both professionals and amateurs alike.

Featuring high-resolution video editing, audio sample-level editing, and 5.1 surround sound mixing. It has a

robust set of filters for color correction, keying, cropping, and many other effects.

Adobe Media Encoder (Me)

Me lets you create optimized video for any screen size and resolution with the codec and wrapper of your

choosing. As you will learn in this course, different devices and programs require different kinds of

compression

GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

GIMP is a free software raster graphics editor. It is primarily employed as an image retouching and editing

tool and is freely available in versions tailored for most popular operating systems including Microsoft

Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. In addition to detailed image retouching and free-form drawing,

GIMP can accomplish essential image editing tasks such as resizing, editing, and cropping photos,

photomontages combining multiple images, and converting between different image formats. GIMP can also

be used to create basic animated images in the GIF format.

Audacity

Audacity is a free software, cross-platform digital audio editor and recording application. It is available for

Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BSD. Audacity can also be used for post-processing of all types of audio,

including podcasts by adding effects such as normalization, trimming, and fading in and out. Audacity has

also been used to record and mix entire albums.

iMovie

iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation,

iPhone 4 and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released byApple in 1999 as a

Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple model – iMac DV. Since

version 3, iMovie has been a Mac OS X only application bundled in the iLife suite of Macintosh applications.

Windows Movie Maker (WMM)

WMM is a free video editing software package that is provided as part of the Windows XP and Windows

7 operating systems. The most up-to-date version of WMM can be downloaded from Microsoft’s

website at http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker.

Projects and Assignments

Portfolio Purpose Project

For this project, you will identify the purpose and intended audience for your online portfolio. During this

course you will be applying the skills you learn related to digital media authorship to create a media rich

online portfolio. Your portfolio will live as a web page accessible to your future employers, clients, or other

targeted audience. Each assignment will provide a template for the creation of various digital media assets

that you will customize to suit your individual interests and goals. It is important that you decide upfront

what the purpose of your portfolio site is, and who you would like to view it.

Competencies/concepts explored:

• C

ritical thinking

• Co

nstructive feedback

• C

areer planning

Google Site/Portfolio Assignment

For this project, you will create a simple portfolio page to showcase their coursework. For this

assignment, you will use Google Sites, a free and easy tool for sharing content on the web

Competencies/concepts explored:

• U

sing templates when creating websites

• N

avigation structures

• P

ersonal presentation on the web.

Photo Optimization Assignment

You will use some simple techniques to explore how to optimize a photo for distribution over the web.

Competencies/concepts explored:

• i

ssues of resolution

• i

mage value controls: brightness, contrast, levels

• i

mage encoding: compression, image modes, working with layers and channels including

alphas, editing raster imagery.

Competencies/concepts explored:

• r

aster vs. vector graphics

• i

mage encoding

• c

ompression, image modes, working with layers and channels including alphas, editing raster

imagery.

Podcast Project

Create a 30-60 second podcast for your home page that introduces you to your audience, describes your

unique interests, skills, experience, and/or perspective about your chosen subject, and demonstrates

your audio optimization and editing skills.

Competencies/concepts explored: Understanding key concepts behind a time-based medium: narrative

sensibilities, pacing, keeping a specific target audience interested; Technical skills: EQing and

dynamics for voice and music, volume automation, making it easy to listen to. You will be delivering a

30-60 second podcast that is engaging and entertaining.

mpetencies/concepts explored:

• D

igital sound encoding

• Equalization

• Fil

tering noise

• M

ulti-track editing

• T

ransitions/fades

• Audio web standards

• A

udio compression

Video Introduction Project

Utilizing both existing video assets you have the rights to as well as original video assets captured for this

assignment, edit video to accompany your podcast. Your video must have a consistent color palette and

general aesthetic, smoothly transition between assets, and be optimized for uninterrupted playback at the

designated video size.

Competencies/concepts explored:

• V

ideo codecs/wrappers

• v

ideo bit rate

• no

n-linear editing

• c

omposition

• montage

• f

iltering and effects

• c

olor correction

Final Project

For the final project,you will be uniting all the skills acquired in previous units to create a video that

presents or showcases one or more of your relevant skills. You will create a 2-3 minute composition in

one of the following formats:

1. promotional video for event or organization

2. pitch video for business or entrepreneurial venture

3. music video or short creative film

4. Demo reel

Competencies/concepts explored:

• Audio, video, still image integration

Resource Index (weekly assignment)

You are required to post links to a total of 5 outside resources you have found useful for each unit

assignment. You must post at least one new resource by the due listed on the unit overview page. You may

post additional resources for a single week, but you are still required to post a new resource on the

appropriate subject for subsequent weeks. In other words, you cannot simply post 5 resources for one

week and get full credit for the assignment.

Tutorial Quizzes

After most of the online video tutorial for the various applications utilized in this class, you will be asked to

take a short quiz on the course website to evaluate their understanding/retention of the tutorial material.

Competencies/concepts explored: understanding of interface/workflow of each application.

Gra

ding

Item

Points

Date

Projects

Portfolio Purpose

Week 1

Google Site/Portfolio

Week 1

Photo Optimization

Week 2

Header/Banner

Week 2

Podcast

100

Week 3

Video Introduction

100 Week 5

Final Project

195 Week 7

Assignments

Resource Index

25 (5 @ 5 points each)

Weekly

Exams

Quizzes

105 (7 @ 15 points each)

Grading Scale

Points

Percentage

Letter Grade

686-700

98-100

A+

644-685

92-98

630-643 90-92 A-

616-629

88-90

B+

574-617

82-88

560-573

80-82

B-

546-559 78-80 C+

490-545

70-78

420-489

60-70

<420

<60

Plagiarism Policy

Though there are few opportunities for cheating in a class that is built to evaluate your ideas and skills,

nevertheless the possibility for plagiarism exists. Plagiarism or intellectual property theft will result in an

immediate loss of all points on the assignment. Plagiarism is defined in ASU’s Student Academic

Integrity Policy. Examples relating to this class:

o Appropriating or copying all or part of an existing work from online or other sources in a

manner not explicitly permitted by the project descriptions.

o C

ollaboration or “splitting” of work with other students in a manner not explicitly permitted by the

project description.

All necessary and appropriate sanctions will be issued to all parties involved with plagiarizing any and all

course work. Plagiarism and any other form of academic dishonesty that is in violation with the Student

Code of Conduct will not be tolerated. For more information, please see the ASU Student Academic

Integrity Policy: http://provost.asu.edu/academicintegrity

Special Accommodations

To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the ASU Disability Resource

Center (http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/ed/drc/#

; Phone: (480) 965-1234; TDD: (480) 965-

9000). This is a very important step as accommodations may be difficult to make retroactively. If you have

a letter from their office indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, in

order to assure that you receive your accommodations in a timely manner, please present this

documentation to the course instructor(s) no later than the end of the first week of the semester so that

your needs can be addressed effectively.

Honors Contract Option

There is an option in this course to do an Honors Contract. According to the Barrett Honors College, Honors

Contract options provide an advanced curriculum for courses offered by colleges other than The Barrett

Honors College. Students may receive honors credit in FMP 294 by receiving the approval of

the instructor to complete an honors option, and by having an individual student-professor contract in place

within the first 4 weeks of the semester. The extra work required to fulfill the contract will be negotiated

with the instructors on a case-by-case basis related to the student’s area(s) of interest.

Technical Support

Please do not contact your instructor with technical questions. Canvas support handles all technical

questions and issues that may arise in this course.

Please contact Canvas support team immediately if you encounter technical issues while completing an

assignment and you are unable to resolve the problem and reset your work.

Technical support is available 24/7 at:

● (855) 278-5080

● https://lms.asu.edu/contact

hen contacting support, please provide:

● The full name of this course (ABC 123: Long Name)

● The title(s) of any assignment(s) you’re having trouble with

● A brief overview of the problem

● Step-by-step instructions to reproduce the problem

Syllabus is subject to change, please keep updated through the Announcements area of the course

website.

Please contact your instructors if you have any

questions about this document.