The classroom setting is such that not all needs can be met within it.  I encourage you, therefore, to visit my office often.  It is my pleasure to discuss grades, attendance, notes, lectures, or anything else which will make you a better student.   Your grades can only benefit from regular communication with your professors.  I will gladly work with you to arrange meeting times convenient to us both. Feel free to contact me:

by e-mail at brian.fuller@calvin.edu [good].

by phone or voicemail at 616.498.4336 (49.VIDEO) [better].

in person at room 025D of the DeVos Communication Center [best].  My office hours are listed here

"The intensive study and production of video in a particular style or genre.   The course focus, designated by a subtitle, will alternate among documentary, narrative, and other styles and genres of video and television, and may inclue field and/or studio production and multimedia.  The style or genre will be thoroughly investigated, with emphasis on its creative, ethical, and technical requirements and skills.  Students will produce their own work in a digital video format.  May be repeated for credit when course focus varies.  Prerequisite:  CAS 250 or CAS 290 or consent of the instructor."  (Calvin College Catalog, 2006/2007)

The idealolgical influence of electronic media makes them indispensible and powerful tools of cultural transformation.   It is thus incumbent on at least a few Christians to acquire the collaborative skills of project management, lighting, audio, camera operation, and editing.

Technical expertise -- framed holistically in a liberal arts context -- prepares people to craft images for a meaningful presence on movie screens, airwaves, cable systems, and the internet.  This class offers an opportunity to acquire and sharpen advanced multi-camera, studio-based techniques and to integrate them with single-camera location work.

Through production of a studio-based cooking show, the student will:

support creative collaboration with studio safety, protocols, and etiquette.

demonstrate creative control of studio lighting instruments.

demonstrate a knowledge of camera operation, movement, and composition.

employ audio recording as it supports live studio production and location packages.

demonstrate video editing mechanics and grammar, both "on-the-fly" and in postproduction.

augment moving images with integrated graphic design.

direct and respond to the direction of others in a framework of servant leadership.

demonstrate principles and terminology of media project planning and management.

If you write a good essay or fail a math exam, you do so as an individual.  But the success of a video production demands a New Testament fraternity that begins with attendance.  You jeopardize any group project for which you show up late (or not at all).  Because I believe the ability to collaborate trumps most others in media production, strict attendance is required.  Students will be penalized for late arrivals and early departures.

This class will usually meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 - 3:20 p.m. in Room 065 of the DeVos Communication Center.  Classes will not be held on holidays officially recognized by the college. All other days of the term are fair game for assignments. Those students who plan to leave early for or return late from holiday breaks may not reschedule exams or other work.

The professor reserves the right to answer any cell phone call received by a student during class time.

Generally, students will be assigned work from a long-term calendar.  The nature of live television, however, may demand sudden response to last-minute assignment changes.

On production days, students are expected to dress with a professionalism that includes polished shoes, dark dress socks, pressed shirts and slacks.  Gentlemen are expected to wear ties.  Ladies are advised not to wear skirts (as one can seldom predict the need for work on lifts and ladders above the studio floor).

Exceptions to the policy require a note of permission from a faculty member, submitted electronically to Campus Safety at least 24 hours in advance.  To address concerns of personal safety and security, a minimum of two students must remain in the building together.

Students enrolled in CAS 351 are entrusted with card access to the Video Editing Labs (DeVos 055). 

Governed by the following priorities, equipment and facilities are available to those students currently enrolled in Media Production classes:

1) Priority shall be given to equipment loans which support class project assignments and faculty scholarship initiatives.

2) Production equipment will support in-class instruction as well as out-of-class project work. Return deadlines will be carefully monitored.

3) Certain equipment is designated for use by each class. Thus, cameras and lighting equipment set aside for advanced instruction may not be available to students in introductory-level courses (and vice versa). Not even Production Lab Aides should assume free access to all equipment.

4) Understanding that Media Production majors may not be enrolled in production classes each semester, those declared majors are nevertheless encouraged to engage in project work for their continued improvement (video festivals, competitions, a senior capstone piece, even personal projects). Requests for equipment to support such projects must be made in advance via e-mail to the Chief Engineer (jb25@calvin.edu). As a rule, equipment and facilities tend to be more available early in the semester.

5) Communiqués must include:

a. a project summary
b. a detailed equipment wish list
c. crew list
d. desired loan dates

As in the regular semester, instruction, scholarship, and maintenance, regulates equipment use over breaks, vacations, reading recesses, interims, and summer. Exceptions follow the same guidelines enumerated above.