Winter 2004/Pasadena
WS508A
Adam
WS508A: MINISTRY AND MEDIA: THEORY AND PRODUCTION (Two Units). Scott Adam.
DESCRIPTION:
- This course, the first quarter of a two-quarter sequence, will
provide students with the opportunity to learn the fundamental skills relating
to video production as a tool for ministry, and will introduce them to the use
of various related forms of media (audio production, satellite, web) in
ministry. Students are expected to enroll in WS508B the following quarter. The
student will explore a theology of media usage and demonstrate its
applicability through small group development of a 3 to 10 minute video for use
in a church ministry. Students will learn basic skills in storyboarding, script
development, and planning of video projects (including computer programs used
in production) that can be used in ministry. The collaborative and relational
processes of motion picture production will be emphasized. Students will also
be introduced to concepts relating to video and audio streaming and web
hosting. There will be participation by guest instructors Steven Watts and
Martha Copeland with expertise in media and technology.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
- The twenty-first century church is evolving into a multi-media
ministry model that requires ministers to understand and appreciate how to
utilize technology as a ministry and outreach tool. This course will provide
familiarity with and basic skills relating to the use of media and technology
as ministry tools.
COURSE FORMAT:
- The format is designed to allow for the creative time to develop a
theologically driven media project as well as to acquire the technical
competence to carry the project to completion. The class will meet for a total
of eleven two-hour meetings (including a meeting in the exam week) according to
a schedule to be distributed in the course syllabus.
REQUIRED READING AND VIEWING: Chapters relating to production from the
following texts:
- Course Reader.
- Selected motion pictures, TV shows, and commercials will be viewed (both
inside & outside class).
- Straczynski, J. Michael. The Complete Book of Scriptwriting.
Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 2002 (1st paperback ed.).
- Turner, Steve. Imagine: A Vision for the Christian in the Arts.
InterVarsity Press, 2001.
- Wheeler, Thomas H. Phototruth or Photofiction: Ethics and Media Imagery in
the Digital Age. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- Schmitz, B., N. Neubert, and C. Plikat. Navigation for the
Internet and Other Digital Media. Ava Publishing, 2002.
- Pakstas, A. Komiya, R., ed. Digital Media and Broadcasting: Virtual
Reality Technologies: for Future Telecommunications Systems. John Wiley
& Sons, 2002.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- Complete all assigned reading and viewing.
- Collaborative development of a storyboard, treatment, and script for group
production project.
- One media conversion project (for example, VHS to DVD).
PREREQUISITES:
- WS500 OR WS507 OR ST539 and permission of the advisor. (Students
must be enrolled in the M.A. in Worship, Theology and the Arts; the Worship,
Theology and the Arts concentration of the M.Div.; or the M. A. in Theology,
Theology and Art format.)
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:
- The two-quarter course fulfills the Worship, Theology, and Arts
specialized course requirements for the M.A. in WTA and the M.Div.
concentration in WTA.
FINAL EXAMINATION: None.