Download UNIT TITLE: Digital Production: Audio to Online CREDIT POINTS: 30

UNIT TITLE: Digital Production: Audio to Online
CREDIT POINTS: 30
UNIT CODE: CMP403
FHEQ LEVEL: 4
ACADEMIC SCHOOL: Media Arts &
Technology
UNIT DESIGNATION: Traditional
Delivering School (if differs): n/a
Date validated: 2012
Date last modified:
Unit delivery model: CD
Max & Min Student No.: N/A
TOTAL STUDENT WORKLOAD
Students are required to attend and participate in all the formal timetabled sessions for
the unit. Students are also expected to manage their directed learning and independent
study in support of the unit. Where normal timetabled sessions do not take place,
additional directed learning may be provided, and/or students are expected to undertake
additional independent learning.
PREREQUISITES AND CO-REQUISITES: None
UNIT DESCRIPTION
Digital Production is designed to introduce students to radio production and website
production and design. As a long thin unit the first semester will be devoted to radio
whilst the second semester will focus on online. The third part of the unit considers and
tracks the beginnings of professional development. This component is a consideration
throughout the unit. It begins with students being allocated a work-and-production
individual tutor who balances pastoral support with ensuring that students are active in
building a portfolio of work throughout their first year in preparation for the final piece of
assessment (see below). Alongside these tutorials, students will be introduced to in-house
opportunities to develop experience such as via Solent Productions, Radio Sonar, Solent
Music, Solent Creatives and the proposed Media Employability Forum.
The radio component will introduce students to the specificity of the medium and
introduce students to a range of radio programming to demonstrate the scope and
possibilities for radio production. Sessions will combine theoretical and industry based
sessions/discussions with hands-on practical workshops introducing students to the studio
alongside audio editing software and location recording equipment. An emphasis will be
placed on the explosion of possibilities for radio production wrought by the transition to
digital.
The unit as a whole and especially the online component consolidates the outward facing
industry and employability thrust of the programme by introducing students to the
significance of developing a web presence alongside providing the practical skills to
generate such a presence via existing production and professional platforms (such as
LinkedIn and Vimeo) and their own website. Students will thus be provided with an
introduction to use of Dreamweaver and be tutored in terms of streaming audio-visual
content to the web and e-publishing.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of the unit, students should be able to:
Knowledge and Understanding
K1 Develop specialist foundation skills in the area of audio editing and radio production
and web design, development and publishing.
Cognitive Skills
C1 Critically evaluate, select and edit content from a range of sources in audio, video,
and online platforms.
Practical and Professional Skills
P1 Have an understanding of and be able to demonstrate through artefacts foundational
principles of radio and online production.
P2 Demonstrate work undertaken during the year to showcase production work in live
and virtual environments.
Transferable and Key Skills
T1 Work individually, as a team and develop oral presentational skills.
AREAS OF STUDY
(Indicative)
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Introduction to Solent Productions, Solent Music, Solent Creatives and Radio Sonar
The Structure of UK Radio
Characteristics of Traditional Radio
Characteristics of Web Radio
Roles within the Studio
Introducing the Studio
Radio Ethics
How to Talk / Present
Interviewing Techniques
Writing for the Ear
Audio Imaging
Feature Programming
Podcasting
One Voice in a Very Large Crowd: Getting Heard via Web Radio
The Significance of Developing a Web Presence for Media Practitioners
Website architecture and design
HTML and page layout techniques
Dreamweaver
Photoshop
Preparing digital camera and stock images for the web
Introduction to streaming media concepts and bandwidth considerations
Preparing and encoding video and audio for the web
Introduction to web publishing and FTP uploading of files
LEARNING AND TEACHING STRATEGY
The needs to develop production experience in light of the final presentation will be
introduced at the beginning of the unit and monitored throughout this will involve
introductory lectures and potentially guest speakers. In addition to formal tuition and as
part of the degree’s employability strategy, individual students will be assigned a tutor
who will support the development of their production experience. This role will involve
one-to-one tutorials and run throughout the degree until the conclusion of the Level 6
Work Experience unit. The role will also help to increase student satisfaction by having the
tutor be the first port of call for any pastoral or curriculum based support that students
require.
The radio component will begin in Mac Suites for the theoretical thrust of the unit
alongside introduction to audio editing software. Teaching will then migrate towards the
radio studios. Teaching will take the form of workshops, seminars, hands on studio / lab
sessions and where possible guest speakers from the industry.
Online sessions will run in Mac Suites. Teaching will take the form of workshops, seminars,
and where possible guest speakers from the industry.
Mycourse will be used as a teaching and learning resource to guide students in their
independent learning.
ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
Assessment is designed to track and measure learning outcomes. The group radio show will
be organised around a topic that relates to local Southampton culture (i.e. the role a
University Society plays in fostering a community). Ideally, the stakeholders in the subject
of the radio programme should be involved in the show and students are encouraged to
think how stakeholders might want to make use of the programme on completion. In best
case scenarios, the ultimate application of the radio show could then be part of the
individual students’ portfolio submitted at the end of the unit.
The radio show will be performed live but will also incorporate pre-recorded content. The
show must include at least one interview that has been produced and conducted by the
team. All content should also be harvested from local sources and / or produced by the
team. Group size is ultimately down to tutor discretion although the recommendation is
between 3-5. The radio show will be produced in the period after the Christmas break.
Students will be provided with formative feedback on a rolling process via workshops.
The website component will be a portfolio of the individual student’s own work. The
website must contain text, alongside streaming audio and video content. This content can
be harvested from work that students have submitted elsewhere although credit will be
given to students whose portfolio includes other material(s). As such the website must
explain the conditions under which each element was produced the equipment used to
produce it and ideally any application the element has subsequently been put to. The
website is submitted at the end of the second semester. The site is marked in terms of its
ergonomics, design quality, and the scope of material included. As such, the more
students have been able to demonstrate that they have produced work and even been
commissioned for work in an extra curricula basis the more reward will be given. Students
will be provided with formative feedback on a rolling process via workshops.
The individual presentation is the culmination of the unit (and Level 4). Here students
should use their website as a prop to demonstrate the scope of work that they have
produced on the unit (and ideally elsewhere) and how this contributes to their potential
employability.
Reward will be given here for students who are able to demonstrate extra-curricula
engagement both within the University and potentially beyond. Students will be supplied
with 1-to-1 tutorials at strategic points of the year to manage the accumulation of
material necessary for the group presentation. All oral presentations in academic and
employment/industry units on the degree are videotaped for the purposes of moderation.
All assessment is marked individually except for the radio show where a group mark is
allocated.
Please Note: Group work is intended to require students actively to collaborate and
integrate the fruits of their individual research and scholarship into an organic response to
the brief. Where students achieve this, it is appropriate to award the same grade to all
participants. This reflects the collective nature of group work and the collective
responsibility that simulates professional production practices. Where some or all students
in a group have not integrated their individual contributions to a group satisfactorily, it
will be appropriate to award individual marks to reflect the level of achievement based
upon the student’s personal contribution.
For all elements of assessment tutors will supply precise guidelines at the beginning of the
teaching period and provide additional support both within sessions and via mycourse.
ASSESSMENT.
AE1
weighting:
assessment type:
length/duration:
anonymous marking:
35%
Group radio show
30 minutes maximum
No
AE2
weighting:
assessment type:
length/duration:
anonymous marking:
35%
Individual Interactive Portfolio
Approximately 5 pages
No
AE3
weighting:
assessment type:
length/duration:
anonymous marking:
30%
Individual Presentation
10 minutes
No
Aggregation & Re-assessment Rules
Elements of assessment are aggregated to produce a total unit mark. Referral/Deferral
for all elements of assessment will take the same format as the original assessment tasks.
Referral of both elements of assessment will involve reworking and resubmitting the
original submission(s) in light of tutor feedback. In the instance of non-submissions
referred students must submit fresh submissions. For group projects, students are allowed
to change group/resubmit individually dependent on circumstances.
Where necessary, production facilities will be made available for a specified time during
the referral period.
Unit Author: Dr. Jamie Clarke