12th Grade — Production Skills: Video Capture & Editing Basics

⏰ Do Now — Start Here

Think of a school announcement or event video you've seen. What made it feel professional (or not)?

🎯 Today's Big Question

How do we capture and edit a short video for a real school purpose?

📈 By the End of Today, You Will Be Able To

Plan a short video (announcement, event recap, or promo) with a clear purpose and audience.
Capture clean footage using the studio's camera(s).
Edit the footage into a finished short video using a basic non-linear editor, and export it correctly for its intended use.

🧰 What You'll Need

Camera (video)
Tripod, if available
Computer with video editing software
Shot list template

📋 Your Plan for Today

Day 1: Plan

Do Now (5 min, above): what makes an announcement video feel professional? Mini-lesson (10 min): planning a video's purpose and audience.
Independent planning (25 min): define the video's purpose and audience, and write a shot list.
Share (5 min).

Day 2: Capture

Do Now (5 min): review your shot list.
Mini-lesson/demo (8 min): basic camera/tripod setup for clean footage.
Independent capture (27 min): film the planned shots, checking footage quality as you go.
Log & back up footage (5 min).

Day 3: Edit & Export

Do Now (5 min).
Mini-lesson/demo (8 min): a basic NLE workflow (import, trim, arrange, titles).
Independent edit (27 min): assemble the footage, add basic titles/music if appropriate.
Export (5 min): export at the correct settings for where it will be shown.

🖥️ Today's Slide Deck

Short, on-the-board pacing slides — project these to follow along. (The full details are in the handout above, not here.)

📚 Key Words

Shot List: A planned list of the specific shots needed before filming begins.
Non-Linear Editor (NLE): Video editing software that lets you arrange and rearrange clips freely.
Export Settings: The resolution, format, and platform-specific settings a finished video needs for its destination (e.g. a screen in the lobby vs. social media).

✅ What Your Finished Work Should Include

Finished video scored with a rubric: matches the planned purpose/audience, clean footage, correctly exported for its destination.

Exit Ticket: What was the hardest part of turning your raw footage into a finished video?

📊 Before You Leave

Quick, anonymous class check-in -- takes less than a minute.

Class Check-In

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week, add your best finished or in-progress yearbook (or, later, studio) work to your portfolio with a 1-2 sentence caption -- and once you're in the Design Studio phase, a photo of the piece in its real, installed location if possible. This is the same evidence trail you'll use for Archive & Portfolio and any PBAT/portfolio review.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Production Skills: Video Capture & Editing Basics.” This project asked: “How do we capture and edit a short video for a real school purpose?” I used Shot List by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

🔗 Want to Learn More?

The Motion Path (companion book) -- Ch. 1-6, Premiere Pro / Video Editing

🚀 The Extra Mile

Cross-Class Connection: The same storytelling structure (beginning, middle, end) an English or Film Studies class teaches.

Career Connection: This exact lesson is a named project on the Video Design career page.

Go further -- turn this into a portfolio piece:

Shoot and edit a real short video for an actual school event or announcement, delivered and actually used. Start here: write your shot list in three lines — beginning, middle, end — before you pick up a camera.
Cut a 30-second highlight reel from your footage specifically for social media, applying a different pacing than the full video. Start here: scrub through your full edit and mark the three most visually striking seconds before cutting anything for the short version.
Add one real J-cut or L-cut to a piece of dialogue in your edit (see the free companion book The Motion Path, Ch. 1.4) and compare it to a plain, same-frame cut. Start here: find one plain, same-frame cut already sitting in your timeline and try swapping it for a J-cut first, before hunting for a brand-new spot to add one.