Month: March 2019

Olivet School of Media and Communication (OSMC) is preparing its new course offerings for the Spring quarter. Multimedia Storytelling and Journalism Capstone are two featured courses among others.

Multimedia Storytelling is a continuation of the the Fundamentals of Multimedia Journalism course offered in Winter. The latter course has provided background on new forms of digital journalism, including multimedia elements such as photo, audio, video, and graphics. The focus of the new Multimedia Storytelling course would be integrating all these media elements to create stories for digital publishing. The curriculum is designed to be student-orientated and uses project-based learning.

“In the new media world where many different screens are completing for audience eyeballs 24/7, publishers must take a ‘reach the news consumers wherever they are’ approach to provide information and content,” OSMC program director Eunice Or said. She explained, “The medium is the message. Presentation of information on different platforms will obviously be different and so will the content. That is why aspiring journalists must be trained to have a multimedia mindset and be equipped with multimedia production capabilities.”

The other featured course in Spring is Journalism Capstone. It is part of the graduation requirements for journalism graduate students. Students will pick a topic of interest to investigate and produce a publishable journalistic piece. The presentation can be one of the followings:

• Long-Form Narrative – A series based on extensive reporting, research and interviews, that is suitable for publishing

• Multimedia – A publishable series that includes multimedia elements such as original video, audio, photos, and graphics

The project should demonstrate the student’s mastery of media skills and commitment to journalism ethics and principles.

Students can register for the Spring quarter from now until Friday, March 22.

Students at Olivet School of Media and Communication (OSMC) received hands-on videography training, lighting, and audio recording while filming a new episode of “My OU Story” as part of their video production class project. The filming started last week under the guidance of video production class instructor Edwin Tsuei. Since camera and lighting team members have worked on the storyboard and location scout during the pre-production stage, the actual shoot can be more efficiently done.

The camera crew takes charge of finding the right angle and directing the overall shoots. The lighting team decides the lighting style and sets up the lights based on the requirement of the location. The sound unit handles the microphone and recorder. Upon the “click” of the clapperboard, everyone goes into action and synchronizes with one another. Instructor Tsuei is on location with the team to provide assistance and advice as necessary.

For some of the students, this is the very first time they participated in a video production. Students share that it turns out to be a very challenging yet rewarding experience. By participating in the entire production process, students come to appreciate the art of visual storytelling. While students are gradually growing in various skills, they have to put in hard work in pursuing excellence in that chosen craft.

“It’s a fresh experience for me to participate in the ‘My OU Story’ video production,” graduate student Hannah Gong said. “I’m excited to learn everything about shooting videos on locations. It’s a creative process to bring a message to life with through audio-visual. Besides the complicated steps of assembling camera equipment, I have learned how light and composition plays a huge role in storytelling. I’m looking forward to the last phase of editing which will give all the footages and audio a new life.”

“My OU Story” is a short video series featuring current student experiences at Olivet University (OU). Its purpose is to witness God’s work on transforming and equipping ministry-bound men and women through education at OU. A new episode is scheduled to be released by the end of the Winter quarter.