Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

MM250 Course Information

Welcome to MM250 Advance Multimedia Project Development, everyone!

Your Instructor

Before we begin with the course details, I would like to introduce myself and let you know I’m here for you throughout the term. My name is Mary Anne Funk. You are welcome to call me Mary, Mary Anne, or Mrs. Funk, whichever you prefer. My areas of expertise include Photography, Photojournalism, Visual Anthropology, Video Production, Audio Storytelling, Interactive Design, and Digital Storytelling. 

I am committed to creating a student-centric learning environment with an understanding that students enter a shared classroom with diverse experiences, unique perspectives, individual interests, and various learning needs and styles. Please let me know at any point in the class if there is anything more that I can do to make my course content and lessons more accessible and meaningful for you.

Course Modality

This is an online class only that takes place in D2L. We do not have a regularly scheduled class meeting. This online course guides you through the process of creating a culminating multimedia project that showcases your advanced skills in multimedia production. You will learn to plan, research, pitch, and execute a project that aligns with your professional interests and meets industry standards for accessibility.

An online class requires a lot of self-discipline because you are working on your own throughout the term without regular class time. If you ever feel stuck or unsure, don't hesitate to reach out for help. Office hours, peer feedback sessions, and online resources are all available to support your learning journey.

I will also host 3 one-hour remote Mary’s Cafe Chat sessions, via Zoom, for anyone who wants to attend, you can drop in at any time during that hour. 

Assignments and Projects

10 Weekly Attendance Participation Discussions

Each week, you will have a weekly participation discussion to complete. They open on Monday of each week and your weekly participation discussion response is due by the following Sunday at 9:00 pm of that week. 

4 Lesson Labs

Lesson labs are in the form of a checklist for you to complete with activities that demonstrate what you are learning. 

• lesson labs will include micro lecture lessons, which are short videos or textual data that cover specific topics we are currently studying. Additionally, you will be required to read assigned materials and watch videos posted within the lesson lab checklist.

Capstone Project

Throughout your time in our PCC Multimedia/VPEM program, you have learned different methodologies for producing stories. Now it’s time to take what you’ve learned and apply it to a single project that you will develop throughout this term, this can be in any digital media format that you choose. To complete your project, you will utilize the tools and knowledge acquired throughout the program to create a portfolio-worthy project that demonstrates proficiency in multimedia/VPEM production. This will be broken up into smaller project assignments that you will submit along the way while actively working on your project goals and project completion.

When you pick your project, pick a project you are passionate about and a project you can feasibly complete in 10 weeks.

To everyone who is taking this class, I'm looking forward to being on this journey with you.

Best,

Mary Anne

https://www.pcc.edu/staff/mary-funk/

Equipment and software needs vary depending on the type of capstone project you are producing.

• If you need gear to help you create your project, there are a few computers and cameras that you can check out from the PCC library: https://www.pcc.edu/library/equipment-for-checkout/
• Another suggestion for gear would be to become a member/producer at Open Signal, where you can check out cameras, recorders, and more: https://community.opensignalpdx.org/forms/inquiry-form
  • This would also provide you with the opportunity to showcase your projects on their cable channel and online streaming platform.

Check the Multimedia Technology specifications page for computer recommendations. Chromebooks or tablets are not recommended.  

If you do not have access to a sufficiently powerful computer our department provides access to Mac labs at the Cascade Campus during open lab hours. Please contact us to learn more and for a link to the current schedule.

Required:

• Regular access to a computer, Mac or PC, that can run Adobe Creative Cloud software tools.
• PCC offers student licenses for the Adobe CC Suite. Please watch your PCC email in the week before course start for information about how to access it.
• Recommended: an external hard drive, or have about 20-50GB open on your computer’s internal hard drive
• The use of Apple Cloud Desktop or other cloud storage is not recommended for working with digital media files. Such software automatically moves large files from your hard drive to iCloud, and deletes the local copy. You must have sufficient local storage to work on digital media files.