Social Media: Expanding Pedagogic Opportunities in Film and Television Production - BEA 2014...

Social Media: Expanding Pedagogic Opportunities in Film and Television Production

Kevin BurkeElectronic Media DivisionUniversity of Cincinnati

Social media has changed the way television programming and films can be produced.



Producers in New York can now interactively discuss scripts, storyboards and rough cuts with their contacts in Los Angeles either on-line or via mobile devices by using a variety of social media applications that are available for little or no cost.



Social media is also changing the way in which classes that emphasize “experiential learning,” or “hands-on production” can be taught.



Social media is also changing the way in which classes that emphasize “experiential learning,” or “hands-on production” can be taught.

And by whom….



Social media can also help facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and class initiatives that cross curricula of programs within the same and/or different colleges.


Social media has changed the way television programming and films can be produced. It can provide mobility and comfort for the students, teacher, and guest lecturers, all of whom don't necessarily have to be in the physical classroom.


Social media has changed the way television programming and films can be produced. It can provide mobility and comfort for the students, teacher, and guest lecturers, all of whom don't necessarily have to be in the physical classroom.

And it can greatly enrich the overall student learning experience.


Over the past two years at the University of Cincinnati, a collaborative group of senior students–from a interdisciplinary range of diverse programs–have used a variety of social media applications to work with their professor and a professional director/producer in New York to produce a ninety-minute documentary for national television distribution.


By using social media, these students were able to work Brian J. Leitten, who works for VEVO in NYC, to create a student-produced documentary television series for national cable distribution. Brian is my former student and essentially “co-taught” the course that was formed to produce the documentary


This project took the form of an interdisciplinary course and received an internal three-year, $10K UC Forward grant. The enrolled students came from a variety of programs at three different UC Colleges: CCM's E-Media program, DAAP's Graphic Communication Design program, and the Anthropology and Communications programs from the College of Arts and Sciences.


Brian Leitten and I structured the course around a common objective that fused the skills of this disparate group, the production of a three year documentary series on the Gold Rush Adventure Race, held annually in the Sierra Mountains of California in August 2012, September 2013 and again this year in September 2014.


The Gold Rush Adventure race involves fast packing/trekking, mountain biking, navigating, paddling and cliff rappelling and is part of the Adventure World Racing Series. Brian’s production company, Hyperion XIII Productions and the Gold Rush Mother Lode Expedition Adventure Race partnered with us to find national cable television distribution on NBC’s Universal Sports HD Network.


In August 2012, five Electronic Media Division students traveled to California to join Brian and another professional film crew member in shooting the 2012 Gold Rush Mother Lode Expedition Adventure Race. The crew used over a dozen different cameras to cover the grueling four-day event.


In September 2013, nine UC students from five different programs at three different colleges traveled to California to join myself, Brian and four professional film crew members in shooting the 2013 Gold Rush Mother Lode Expedition Race.


While shooting the 2013 race students used a variety of social media to update their activities to various internal and external constituencies on campus and beyond.



They created their own Twitter page, with daily video updates.



And notifying the UC President, Santa Ono…



And notifying the UC President, Santa Ono…an avid tweeter.



The students also created an Instagram page,



The students also created an Instagram page, a YouTube page and



The students also created an Instagram page, a YouTube page and a Facebook page to cover the social media spectrum.



The students also created Instagram, YouTube and Facebook pages to cover the social media spectrum.


When we returned to the University to begin postproduction, we used a variety of interactive video web conferencing platformsThat enabled Brian to “co-teach” each class session from 6-8pm.


The total enrollment for the course was thirty-three students in 2012-13. This year we have twenty-three students enrolled.


The total enrollment for the course was thirty-three students in 2012-13. This year we have twenty-three students enrolled.

These students are all involved in the editing process, both offline (logging and transcriptions) and online work (rough cuts and final cuts) that both Brian and I review and provide extensive feedback about.


When we returned to the University to begin postproduction, we used a variety of interactive video web conferencing platformsThat enabled Brian to “co-teach” each class session from 6-8pm.

In 2012 we partnered with a new company, OnCam, which allowed Brian and a variety of professional guest lecturers to talk to the class.


In 2012, we used OnCam for multiple professional guest lecturers that included:• Lonnie Sill: Director, FirstComm Music (LA)• Rochel Holguin: Music Supervisor, MTV (NY)• Jordan Glickson: Program Executive VEVO (NY)• Chris Deutsh: Educational Director, Oncam

(PHX)• Sara Hillner: Network Television Editor (LA)• Jeongwon Joe, PhD: Musicologist CCM (UC)


In 2013, we used both Google Hangouts and a new screen sharing software called zoom.


In 2013, we used both Google Hangouts and a new screen sharing software called zoom.

Zoom allows us to not only have Brian on the screen, but to also upload rough cuts and edit masters that both the class, myself and Brian can look at simultaneously.


Because of the cross-curricular nature of the course, we used Facebook and Google Docs as our Course Management Software, rather than UC’s CMS system, Blackboard.


Our Gold Rush Mother Lode Facebook page became our central communications HQ, where students from all programs could post information regarding the project.


Our Gold Rush Mother Lode Google Doc Drive became our repository for all logs and transcriptions, our class agendas, and other important files. Students could work simultaneously on the same document and update it to our Google drive.


Also, our YouTube channel and Vimeo page was set up to allow students to upload rough cuts of their sequences so Brian could see them and send them notes:


The course also involved the use of a variety of social media file transferring software such as WeTransfer and DropBox to exchange high resolution versions of our final cuts to Brian, myself and the students in the class.


In conclusion, social media has played a critical role in the success ouf the Gold Rush Documentary Project at the University of Cincinnati. It provided our students with the opportunity to work in a virtual “one-on-one” basis with a professional, award-winning television producer and director on a real-world project, in an experiential, collaborative and interdisciplinary structure.


By embracing, rather than discouraging the use of social media apps and technology, the course ties into the University of Cincinnati's UC2019 Strategic Plan and its vision for ►undergraduate education, which is called the UC Integrated Core Learning Initiative.

If interested in anything shown during this presentation or about this project, please contact me at: [email protected]


Social Media: Expanding Pedagogic Opportunities in Film and Television Production - BEA 2014...

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Transcript of Social Media: Expanding Pedagogic Opportunities in Film and Television Production - BEA 2014...