Optimum Learning
Optimum Studios school for educating the future of production.
Offering hands on training and a curriculum that places you in the middle of the real world.
The Curriculum
Multimedia Program students are exposed to a comprehensive media production curriculum. The current course offerings are A/V Production, Photography, Digital Arts and Marketing, and In Front of the Camera. Additional courses will be added as needed. Through lecture, critique, field trips and hands-on production work and with the aid of instructors and guest speakers students have access to different points of view and a wide range of experiences.
As in most disciplines, the more experience one has in video production the more able one is to be more creative, use the technology to its fullest, and better adapt to the frequently unpredictable situations that occur in production. Therefore, we encourage students to return for multiple sessions to become more proficient in there chosen disciplines. Advanced students, in addition to being offered internships, will have individualized independent studies designed to help them polish their skills.
Audio/Video Production -16 weeks
The core of the Optimum Learning Media Program is Audio/Video Production. This hands-on course introduces students to key photographic concepts and the basics of shooting and editing film and digital video. While cinematography focuses more on the ways to capture dramatic elements through the use of cameras, video production focuses how to make certain types of films and videos. From conceptualizing an original idea, to scripting, producing, directing, lighting, shooting, recording audio, editing, designing graphics, performing and marketing this course covers it all. This course will teach ways to accomplish the best video and audio possible while coping with all the challenges of shooting in controlled and uncontrolled environments. Students will be cast and crew for their own productions and work with industry standard equipment. They will use digital still cameras while studying photographic exposure and composition, and digital video cameras to create documentaries, commercials and short films. As they learn to design graphics for their projects, students gain experience with several computer programs including Photoshop, AVID, and other Adobe products. A/V Production is offered as a 16-week course.
Audio/Video Production Syllabus
Week 1: Meet and Greet and Learning to discover the subject and the story
Assignment: Break into teams, conceptualize a 30-second TV commercial and present ideas
Week 2: The Equipment: Video - camera, the tape, the tripod; Audio - microphone, mixer
Assignment: Storyboard concepts and begin scripting for development
Weeks 3: Jobs Associated With Multimedia Production; Guest Speaker - Producer
- Technical Director
- Director
- Producer
- Lighting Designer
- Gaffer and Grip
- Editor
- Graphic Designer
- Writer
- On-Camera and Voice-Over Talent
Assignment: Determine production positions and plan commercial shoots, in-studio and on location.
Weeks 4: Getting in Front of the Camera; Guest Speaker: Actor/Director
Quiz #1: Equipment and jobs
Assignment: Shoot commercials
Week 5: Offline Commercial Footage; Guest Speaker: Producer
Week 6: Develop graphics; Guest Speaker: Graphic Designer
Week 7: How to Interview; Class Project: Documentary -- "Our School"
Assignment: Develop interview questions and interview each other on camera
Week 8: Real World Experience 1: Field Trip
Assignment: Shoot photos of each other on location
Week 9: What have we learned?
Assignment: Continue Documentary -- "Our School"
Week 10: Real World Experience 2: Field Trip
Week 11 & 12: Editing
- How to edit
- Editing software
- History of editing and film development
Week 13: Preview of final work
Week 14: Final Edits
Week 15: Prepare for Red Carpet Gala Showcase
Week 16: Premier of Documentary and Historic Time Capsule at Showcase
Audio/Video Production - Summer Session - 8 weeks
An 8-week summer course is also offered to provide students with an intensive overview of A/V production. The summer session is designed to give students an opportunity to taste each of the disciplines. If a student can’t decide which direction to take, by the end of the summer they will know where their heart lies.
Photographic Arts – 16 weeks
Photographic Arts is an in-depth class in the art and technique of photography. Students receive instruction in operating the equipment, selecting and framing subjects, and the properties of light and form. Photographic Arts is offered as a 16-week course.
Photographic Arts Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction to the course; demonstration and discussion of using the camera, lenses, aperture, shutter, depth of field, loading film or use digital cards, etc; shooting the first pictures; ideal shooting environments.
Week 2: By the end of the 2nd week, students are expected to be able to demonstrate that they can use a camera fully, load it, make proper exposures that are perfect, and have started their first contact sheet and print.
Weeks 3: Students have settled into a comfortable shooting routine. They are going out once or twice a week to shoot 24 - 36 photographs and seeing the role natural light plays in creating an expressive print. They are expected to take a personal interest in developing a coherent portfolio centered on the strengths of seeing, sensitivity and the appreciation of light.
Weeks 5-7: Students prepare for the mid-term critique. They are able to articulate their appreciation for the significant roles design, depth of field, lens choice, and focal point play in their work.
Week 8: Students present their best four prints for a group discussion. They will discuss their successes and challenges and receive critique from instructors and peers.
Weeks 9-10: Real World Shooting. Look for angles, reflections, corners, street life, etc. The emphasis is on design and abstraction. How does the frame pull together shapes to create new visual relationships?
Weeks 11-12: The Portrait. Use natural window light, tight framing, and a longer lens to photograph a friend or loved one in a quiet, truthful session.
Weeks 13-14: Revisit your favorite place to shoot. Complete the rest of your portfolio for the end of the session. Bonus Work - shoot in a studio setting using studio lights and real subjects.
Weeks 15-16: Finish your printing for the final critique. Matt your best 12 prints, edited down from your best prints from the session.
Digital Arts and Marketing – 16 weeks
Learn to balance artistic expression, emerging technology, and marketability. Learn how art, creativity, color and form work hand in hand to effect consumer trends. Students will learn to design from user requirements, objectively evaluate usability of products, and test designs to verify successes or uncover design flaws. As artists, this class will give you an introduction to the body and soul of computers. We’ll look at computer evolution; past to present. You’ll have a better grasp of what’s inside computers, what makes them tick, as well as discover, hands on, a whole new world of creative possibilities. Through the use of traditional techniques and digital media, students will explore the principles of developing digital images and the processes associated with hardware and software. As they learn to design graphics for their projects, students gain experience with several computer programs including Photoshop, AVID, and other Adobe products. Each student's creativity, self-expression and visual communication skills are stressed as well as resolution and formatting for various media. This course focuses on major programming languages for the internet. Students will learn about technological possibilities and constraints through hands-on activities. The class explores animation and interactivity through current digital tools. Students will begin to develop a fluency in pace, rhythm and effects to move story and concept for engaged user experiences.
In Front of the Camera -16 weeks
The In Front of the Camera course is a cutting-edge exploration into the art and practice of acting for the screen presented in four sessions. Students who complete all four sessions will be basically prepared to audition and perform for television, video and film. Each session requires intensive time demands and a complete commitment on the part of the student. A standard week of study involves classes, rehearsals, and shoots that may take place during weekdays, evenings, and weekends.
The first session concentrates on building a foundation in the craft of acting, using training techniques rooted in the theater but applicable to screen acting. Students participate in a broad array technical, emotional, and physical work necessary for film acting. Since we believe that film actors benefit immeasurably from working in front of a live audience, most of the training in the first session builds towards a live performance of scene work at the Red Carpet Showcase.
In the second session, the core classes continue as the students’ focus intensifies on applying the techniques they have learned to more elaborate scene work, on-camera exercises, and film shoots — all designed to develop and hone their screen-acting ability. During the second session, all students perform in a short film production, original work that was created and developed by the students in collaboration with their instructors. The third and fourth sessions address more of the business of the video and film, successfully marketing techniques for talent, and more individualized independent study designed to allow students to further develop audition techniques, materials and many different film crafts. In contrast to the first session, the second, third and fourth sessions culminate with screenings of the students’ video taped scenes and commercials for family, friends, classmates, and industry contacts.
Session 1
Introduction to Acting
Acting for Film I
Film Craft
Voice & Movement
Speech
Text Analysis
Live Scene Presentations
Session 2
Acting for Film 2
Acting Technique
Improvisation
Shakespeare
Voice & Movement 1
Speech
Monologue Presentations
Session 3
Acting for Film 3
Scene Study 1
Acting for Film Production Workshop
Audition Technique
Improvisation
Independent Study
Film Scene Presentations
Session 4
Acting for Television
Scene Study 2
Acting for Film Production Workshop
Combat for Film
Voice & Movement 2
Independent Study
Television Scene Presentations
Instructors
OLMP Instructors are drawn from a pool successful, artist, technicians, managers and administrators currently working globally in world of communications. Instructors are required to have a minimum of 5 years experience and be active in their respective fields. Through a combination of lecture, critique and hands-on production work, the OLMP instructors guide students through the comprehensive curriculum. Some instructors will receive a stipend of $50 per class, while others will provide in-kind services. Each 2 to 4 hour class will be limited to10 students to help facilitate personalized instruction. Guest Speakers also will be engaged to share their expertise and help to broaden the students’ perspectives.
Students
Optimum Learning Multimedia Program will be seeking a diverse mix of students in terms of age, level of education, ethnicity and socio-economic status, and a portion of the participants will be considered economically disadvantaged. Applicants will be recruited through community organizations, public and private high schools, colleges and universities. Applications will be distributed and gathered through various locations. Applicants will then go through a comprehensive interview process designed to determine their areas of interest and level of compatibility with program objectives. Students will be responsible for their own transportation and any additional media they may require
Interns
Optimum Learning offers year-round internships which will be awarded to students who have successfully completed OLMP and to students currently enrolled in outside academic communications programs. Interns will support OLMP administration and instructors, and students. Generally the internships coincide with school sessions: September- December, January- April, May-August. Dates, times and months are flexible; however, interns must make a minimum 3-month commitment of 2 to 3 days a week for which they will receive stipends of up to $150.00 per week. Optimum Learning production internships are appropriate for pursuing many career paths, including producer, director, camera operator, grip, event coordinator and media researcher. Post production internships are geared towards people who are interested in learning about media technology, 2D and 3D still and motion graphics, video editing and DVD authoring. Students can often receive school credits for their internship hours. Interns have the opportunity to learn and work in a hands-on environment. The more motivated they are the more they will learn.
Facilities and Equipment
Optimum Learning will lease program space and furniture and equipment from Optimum Studios, 735 North Parkway, Memphis, Tennessee, 38105. Lease will include classroom, production, office space and all equipment necessary for the effective and comprehensive instruction of participants. Equipment will include: studio cameras, audio recording studio equipment, microphones, tripods, projectors and screens, chairs, tables, and desks. Optimum Learning will have recurring purchases of expendables, including video tapes, DVDs, CDs, inks, and paper.
Supplies
While a limited amount of media and processing will be made available, students pay for their own project supplies and other expenses. If a student is not able to purchase their supplies, the program will assist in the purchase.
Schedule
Each year Optimum Learning offers two 16-week program sessions and one 8-week summer Intensive Session which roughly conform to school sessions. Each class will meet one to three times a week. In order to utilize the most qualified working professionals as Instructors, OLMP makes every allowance for scheduling challenges. Each session begins with a 2-hour orientation session.
Session 1: January-April (16 weeks)
Summer Session: May-June (8 weeks)
Session 2: September-December (16 weeks)
Courses are offered concurrently during each session to allow interaction among the various disciplines. While A/V Production students are cast and crew for many of their productions, they are also crew for any video or audio production required by In Photography, Front of the Camera and Digital Arts and Marketing. Photographers need models, Designers need clients, and talent needs everybody. The program becomes a living, breathing production, particularly during preparation for the final Red Carpet Showcase.
Red Carpet Showcase (Optional)
Each session will conclude with a formal Red Carpet Showcase and Graduation Ceremony. Students will have an opportunity to showcase their work in front of family and friends. Interested industry leaders who could positively impact the students’ futures will also be invited.
Optimum Studios Services
Optimum Studios is a full service
Media Production Company that
provides video and audio production,
graphic design, photography, print
and website services for
corporate, documentary, commercial
and artistic communications.
Our goal is to satisfy all of your
production needs from conception
to completion and have fun while we do it!
Optimum Studios Portfolio
If you need samples of our work, there are some you can see online. We have provided services to The Grizzlies, Federal Express, The Urban Child Institute, The Neighborhood Christian Center, The Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis, The City of Memphis, Shelby County Government and Memphis City Schools, just to name a few. Let us quote your project today!
About Optimum Studios
Whether corporate, commercial, or an artistic expression intended to inform, inspire or entertain, Optimum Studios is at your service. Our work over the years has included multi-media productions Network and Cable Programs and Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos, Educational Presentations, Music Videos, and everything in between.