T356 Final Project

Final Projects will be produced the last two weeks of the semester. This will be your last chance to produce a high-quality studio piece for your portfolio. As with the Dramatic Scene Exercise, everyone will pitch a final project idea. The class will vote on which projects to produce. If your project gets selected, you will function as the producer.

Pitches and Program Proposals

When you pitch your idea in class you should have:

• Program title
• Pitch
• Proposal (including a treatment) Scripts are not necessary, but nice to have.

Process: Once your group has been seelcted, the producer should assign people to handle all of the necessary pre-production and production tasks. You may wish to fill the following roles: director, lighting and sets, properties manager, graphics, sound designer etc. You should also secure on-camera talent for your production. Members of your group should not function as talent for their own production.

Program requirements:

• Time: While there is no "set" time requirement, it is recommended that you focus on quality not quantity. 4 minutes might be plenty of time for a short dramatic scene, while 8 minutes might be a good length to explore a topic for a talk show.
• Graphics: You need at least two graphics, including an opening title and closing credits.
• Music/SFX: Your group must use at least two cuts of either music and/or sound effects. (Appropriate  music is HIGHLY recommended) You might start and close your piece with some music. A background bed of sound effects can help establish your location.

Grading - You will be graded on a number of criteria including: pre-production, production, lighting, blocking, graphics, sound and your individual critques.

On the day of your production, it is vital that you come to lab prepared. Do not plan on being able to go to the production lab to make last-minute changes to graphics, select music or find sound effects. Come Prepared! Except for the credit given to your individual critiques and initial proposals, you will be graded as a group and should submit the following in a professional-looking production booklet the day of your shoot:

• Program proposal
• Master Script
• Floor Plan
• Lighting Plot
• Relevant production materials: timeline, storyboard, camera shot sheets etc

Each student will turn in a two-page journal/critique documenting the final project and their experience in class the following week (at the time of the final exam).

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