Today session 9 students worked on their first project! - They did a scavenger hunt!
We are still accepting applications!!!
We would like applications in by May 2011. Come and join us for an exciting term.
Session 8 has started off great
Our trip to Brightwater was a fantastic event and we are will into production. It looks like it will be an exciting term.
Session 7 wins the national Youth Privacy contest
The students created the film "Targeted" which represents how one person's interests are tracked on the internet resulting targeted advertisments begin invading her space.
Are You Interested In Media School?
If you think Media School might be for you, first check out the information on this website. Then, email mediaschool@spsd.sk.ca and indicate your interest by putting "Interested In Media School" in the subject line. Please include your full name, your current school and grade, and home phone number.
Select the "Home", "Applications", "The Course" and "Contact Us" tabs at top to find out more.
What is Media School?
Media School is a chance for Grade 11 students to spend a semester concentrating on media production. The class takes a film and television centered approach to English 20 and 30B (both compulsory credits), Physics 20 and Communications Production Technology 20 and 30. All the course work is fully integrated - activities will draw on all five courses and emphasize independent work, peer teaching and learning, and group projects.
Housed at Evan Hardy Collegiate, Media School uses semi-professional audio and video equipment, a dedicated media studio, and industry standard software. There are frequent guest instructors from the local television and film industry. Media School productions will be submitted to contests, festivals, television networks and other student broadcast outlets. Students will receive industry certification in set safety and protocol from Crew Call and develop demo DVDs that they can use to apply to post-secondary film and video courses.
Applying for Media School
There are three types of students who can apply to be in Media School: students who attend one of the Saskatoon Public School Division high schools, students who are resident in Saskatoon but do not attend one of the SPSD high schools, students who live in Canada but outside Saskatoon, and foreign students. All Canadian students should have completed the Saskatchewan equivalent to Grade 10 English Language Arts and Grade 10 Science (the necessary prerequisites for Media School). Check the section below that applies to you.
Saskatoon Public School Division Students
If you are a student at Aden Bowman, Bedford Road, Centennial, Christian School, City Park, Evan Hardy, Marian Graham, Nutana, Mount Royal, Tommy Douglas or Walter Murray Collegiates, check with your Student Services office or email mediaschool@spsd.sk.ca to indicate your interest in apllying. Application forms will be available by email in January and from your Guidance Counselors in February of 2010. Early in Semester II, Media School will likely be visiting all public high schools. If you have questions in the mean time, email mediaschool@spsd.sk.ca or call 683-7700 and ask for the Media School teacher.
Saskatoon residents
If you have a Saskatoon residence but do not attend one of the SPSD high schools, contact the Media School teacher for application information (email mediaschool@spsd.sk.ca or call 683-7700 and ask for the Media School teacher). If accepted into Media School, you will register at Evan Hardy Collegiate.
Coordinating your Classes
If you are a successful applicant to Media School you will need to work with your student services office in order to see where the Media School courses fit with your overall credit needs and course selections. Most students should plan their Grade 11 courses as if they were not going to be in Media School and then adjust their registration if they receive a place in Media School. However, many high schools may only offer some of the courses you would like to take in particular semesters. This may affect your preference for enrolling in Media School for:
Semester 1 (September to January)
Semester 2 (February to June).
Who applies for Media School?
The basic requirement is someone who has completed or will complete English 10A and 10B and Science 10.
There are some classes that can prove very useful to your experience in Media School:
Visual Arts - provides a sense of design and color. Having some drawing skills can be an asset.
Industrial Arts - both woods and machining are good assets to have on the set.
Clothing - this portion of the Home Economics course can make a good contribution to productions.
Drafting - this comes in handy for set design.
English and Creative Writing - while script writing is a different beast that most of the fictional or dramatic writing you do, it's good practice to write and write lots.
Communications Production 10 - we provide the 20 and 30 credit, so it's nice to come into the class with some of the basics (don't worry - there are lots of opportunities to learn these.
If you like to make your own videos in school or on your own, you might be a good candidate. Similarly, if you love movies and television - especially shows that are not typical, you may find the right home in Media School.
Do you have a strong desire to create or have a sense of design? Are you an organizer and master of detail? Do you enjoy learning new technologies? Are you observant, interested in what's going on culturally, politically, and so on? Do you like to take risks, be different? Do you have a story to tell?
Not everyone will have all of these qualities, which is why most media production is done in groups.
Math 30A and B.
Many students want to take one math class each semester. In order to keep this pace up and still attend Media School you have two options. The first is to not take a math class while you attend Media School but instead enroll in the math course you need in either the Summer School before Grade 11 (you'd take Math 30A) or the Summer School after Grade 11 (you'd take Math 30B). Both courses are usually offered at Summer School. For more information about Summer School Program please contact the Saskatoon Public School Division.
If you have strong organizational skills and a committed work ethic, you can take either Math 30 A or B online while you are at Media School. Remember that doing an online course for most students requires more time and effort than taking the class in person. You will have time throughout the school day during most weeks where you could work on your math, however you still have to meet all your commitments to Media School. There is a Math 30A course offered online in Semester I and a Math 30B offered online in Semester II. There are enrollment limits on these courses so it is first come, first served. To find out more, visit the Online Learning Center.
Equipping the prospective film and video maker.
Robert Rodriguez, the director of such films as Spy Kids and Sin City, says in his book Rebel Without a Crew that the most important thing for someone who wants to make films can do is actually make films. Of course, these films won't start out to be big studio productions but instead small videos made for no budget. With luck, you can likely borrow video cameras and access to a computer with editing software. However, it is nice to have some of your own equipment so you can practice, practice, practice.
Headphones.
The one piece of equipment you have to have for Media School is a set of closed ear headphones. It's too unsanitary to share headphones. You want closed ear so that your audio doesn't spill over into someone else's hearing or into the microphone if you are listing to the audio while you shoot video. Closed ear headphones have a round pad that seals off your ear from the outside. Most standard headphones will be fine and have a price beginning at $25. I would avoid those especially made for computer gaming or any that "pump base" or make other modifications to the sound. You want as accurate reflection of what you are recording as possible.
If you are looking to purchase semi-professional headphones that you will use during all of your film and television education and into your career, here are some of the less expensive recommended models used by professionals (this list is current as of 2006 and many models may have changed):
Sennheiser HD 280 $145
HD 515 $160
HD 25 $288
Sony MDRV300 $70
MDR7502 $80
MDR7506 $165
MDRV600 $149
You should be able to find many of these headphones locally or by special order (Audio Warehouse, Future Shop, Long and McQuaid, Sony Store, and so on). By the way, most headphones come with a small 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch adaptor phono plug. Try to hang onto this plug as professional equipment often uses 1/4 phono.
In the past we have not recommended headphones with active noise suppression. However, several students have found them very useful.
Thumb Drive / USB Key
Don't trust floppy drives, especially those in public spaces. We have nothing but trouble with our floppy drives at school. Instead buy a USB memory key. The small ones (4+ GB) hold lots of information. Remember that most multimedia files are very large. A small key should be about $25 - but are sometimes on sale for much less.
External USB or Firewire / 1394 Hard Drive
If you want to transfer your video files back and forth
between school and home, an External USB drive is very
useful. With the correct software and a laptop computer
(available at Media School), you can directly capture
your video to such a drive. Smaller drives are priced
between $100 and $200. The USB drives are more common,
while the Firewire /1394 drives have been used more frequently
in video editing. Again, watch for sales, for they often
go on sale. We have been using eSATA drives at Media School - this is a brand new technology and while eSATA drives are much faster than Firewire or USB, we have had some problems.
What Computers and Video Cameras should I buy?
If you are going to be a student in Media School and you do not already own a video camera or a computer, your best purchase is none at all. Why not use Media School's equipment so that you can find out what type of equipment and software you prefer?
However, we often get asked by others about appropriate purchases. Here's some advice.
Laptop or Desktop?
Media School has seventeen computers available for student use: ten of these are workstation class towers that are very powerful and can handle complex editing and compositing jobs. Another four of our computers are workstation class laptops - you're actually not allowed to use them on your lap because they are so large and heavy - they are more like portable workstations. Finally we have three desktops for regular jobs like script writing and word processing.
Media School has a Wireless Access Point in both the classroom and media production lab / studio. About half (a dozen) students brought their own laptop to use in Media School. However, most reasonably priced laptops are fine for simple editing chores and for other standard software applications. Workstation class laptops are very expensive ($3,000 or more) - high level editing software is similarly expensive.
While it is nice to have your own computer on which only you do editing and so on, if you are using more high level applications, your laptop may be less "portable." Other students use Media Schools equipment for editing, but us a light, inexpensive laptop for script writing, research and so on.
Macintosh Computers
Unlike most businesses, the motion picture and television industry has a large number of Apple Macintosh computer users. There are also frequent arguments about which type of computer system is the best for editing audio, music, graphics and video. There are certain Macintosh models that are good value and ideal for the student video and audio editor: the iMac, the Mac Mini, and the MacBook. These models all come with iMovie, iDVD and Garageband. These are excellent media creation programs and solid enough to create excellent productions.
Windows Desktop Computers
Almost any Windows based desktop computer currently on sale or purchased in the last year or two will be perfectly fine for video / audio editing. You don't even have to purchase the high end model. Look for a Firewire / 1394 input (you probably only need one, but more is also good). It's nice to add a second hard drive to store your video files - you will have to add this to your computer either at the time of purchase or as a later upgrade. You don't need to have the latest, greatest video card, but a card that is able to handle two monitors is nice, if you eventually want to add a second monitor (a nice option for video editing). You will likely be fine starting out with 2 GB of RAM, but be sure you can easily upgrade without having to throw out your old RAM. If you are only getting one monitor initially, get as large a model as you can afford. Right now the 19" models are usually the best value.
Windows Laptops
Laptops have come down in price a lot over the last two years. They have the advantage of being able to work anywhere - including in the Media School classroom through a wireless internet connection. If you are going to be really mobile, a lighter laptop is better. Large laptops with big screens can get heavy to carry around. You won't get the speed, screen size and storage space out of a laptop that you will from a desktop. Laptops also tend not to have as long a life expectancy (the average is three years). On the other hand, most people I know who have a laptop love the flexibility.
Look for a faster hard drive (7200 rpm if you can), a minimum of 1 GB RAM that is easily upgradeable, and a Firewire / 1394 port (these are less common on laptops).
Where should you buy? Talk to friends and family to see where they have purchased computers and whether or not they have been happy with their experience. I have also made it a practice to purchase a longer comprehensive warrantee just to avoid unpleasant future surprises. Again, check out the experience of others.
Software
Media School uses Adobe Production Suite CS4 as its software.
If you purchase a Macintosh computer, you can get a lot of useful production out of the iMovie program that comes with most Macs (check to make sure it does). For more advanced editing, Final Cut Express HD is an excellent and inexpensive program.
Video Cameras
Probably more confusing than choosing a computer is choosing a video camera.
If your student is serious about editing video, probably
the easiest advice to give is to avoid a camera that stores
video on writable DVDs or on a built-in hard drive. While
these are excellent choices for people who just want to
have a few home movies, they are more problematic for
editing because they must store their video in a highly
compressed (efficient) format.
The beginning step for appropriate video cameras is an inexpensive Standard Definition MiniDV camera. These record on tape and the video can be easily imported into a computer for editing. Inexpensive MiniDV cameras usually only have one electronic element (the CCD or Charge-Coupled Device) that captures all colours of an image. These cameras cost between $350 (on sale, deep discount) to $500. You will also find cameras with 3 CCDs and better color fidelity in the higher price range.
There are now a number of High Definition (HDV) video cameras for under $1,000. Media School has just received a Panasonic HDC-SC1 which is a 3 CCD High Defnition Camera that records to a special version of the SD memory card. We have also been looking at purchasing the Canon HV20. Both of these are available for around $800 with out any "extras".
We provide a few HD cameras with lots of manual controls that are easy to access so that students can learn begin to learn how to use a professional camera. Surprisingly, the more "manual" features - the ability to manually set focus, exposure and so on, means that the camera is likely more expensive than cameras that usually handle such tasks automatically.
The Structure of Media School
Media School is meant to be a unique educational experience. It should be different from any other educational experience you have had. Here are some of the ways in which the program will be organized:
No bells, No periods
If the class needs to spend all day understanding how lenses work and how focus can be used to tell a story, we will spend all day on that topic. We will structure our days as a group, taking into account the needs of the group and individuals.
Real World Problems
Most of what we do will center on figuring out how to solve the real world in video and film production. Some of these problems are technical (how to cope with fast changing light conditions), some artistic (how do you get a good performance out of amateur actors), and some are very general (how do you achieve the most, given the limitations you have to work under).
Resource Based Learning
We will assemble as many web-based, print, media and human sources as possible so that students can draw on a wide variety of information as they search for solutions to the problems they have encountered.
Integration
For every activity, we will try to include as many components from the Communications Production Technology, English Language Arts, and Physics curriculums as possible. There should be many opportunities for this integration.
Workshops
Your video productions will be looked at carefully and respectfully by every member or your Media School class. For the past forty years, creative writers have used the workshopping process to respond to and improve writing. We will be taking a similar approach to our video productions.
Working Solo, Working in Groups
Students will have opportunities to work in groups and as a solo artist. When working in groups, students will take turns working in all different aspects of production. Finally, students will be asked to select and develop a specialization in one aspect of production that interests them.
Public Performance
We will encourage you to enter festivals, contests and submit your productions to series television programs, and broadcast networks. We will hold our own film festival to showcase the results of your work.
Portfolios
Both post-secondary film and television programs and prospective employees in the industry want to see what you have created. Each student will build a DVD portfolio (often called a Demo Reel) of the work they have accomplished in Media School. This will serve as the basis for applications for further education or apprenticeships in the industry.
Real World Connections
To the extent that they are willing, we will invite in or visit as many individuals and facilities that are available in the local TV / Film industry. We will also consider a trip to Regina to visit the sound stage at Studio Saskatchewan. Finally, we will contract with CrewCall to certify each student with the Set Safety and Set Protocol courses.
