ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
This course requires an extraordinary amount of work to be completed outside of class hours. Students who expect to travel frequently during weekends are strongly advised against registering for this course.
Tardiness will not be tolerated, as managing time is one of the most crucial components of being a filmmaker, so you will all be expected to arrive promptly unless you are delayed for a valid reason. Notify me in advance.
Two unexcused absences will result in a full letter drop in the final grade and three unexcused absences will result in failure. Due to the once-a-week meeting schedule for the course, missing one class can mean missing out on a major technical or conceptual lesson plan, which can affect the quality of your projects and those of your fellow students. In the case of excused absences due to documented illness or family emergencies, please present a Dean's note as soon as possible.
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Equipment: Different digital recording equipment will be used for each project and these will be available from the Digital Media Lab. You all have access to the digital equipment JCU has on reserve for the course. You can check out gear from Thursday afternoon with gear needing to be returned Monday morning.
Out of Pocket Materials: Students enrolled in this course should provide their own external USB hard drive (500GB-4TB) to store and archive captured material and video projects. These drives must be Mac-formatted.
Office Hours: I am available to discuss any concerns or questions outside of class time. Please do not hesitate to email me to schedule a meeting.
Final Project: Since this is a creative environment, what matters most is your effort and commitment. You will be graded on execution of filmmaking techniques, not your style or taste.
Submissions: Every late submission may not be screened/read and will receive one letter grade deduction for each class day it is late.