I wrote this post to accompany the video below to give a little more detail and helpful links. I first released that video on Facebook and then Youtube after finishing up Day Two of a video club teacher training. His leadership had purchased the student video production kit in hopes of giving more students an outlet to create and participate in spreading the vision they had for their school. This kit is an entry level video production kit for a video production club, or a video production class, or an elective at middle school. The gear was chosen to help this school get their video club started on a budget for under $5,000 in gear and training. This particular kit was for an elementary school (I work with a lot of elementary schools).
Removing Bottlenecks from Production
One of the keys to a successful video production class is to remove bottlenecks in the process and give students an opportunity to go at their own (hopefully quick) pace to get their videos completed. Teachers need to think through their situation. What are the bottlenecks students will face? In many cases those bottlenecks have to do with access to specialized equipment like camcorders or microphones. That’s where having multiple items like the contents of the student video production kit can be helpful. Another common bottleneck used to be access to editing equipment like a powerful desktop computer. Thankfully, online video editing platforms and tablet-based video editing apps have made editing less of an obstacle.
Inside the Student Video Production Kit
- 6 self-contained camcorder kits
- 4 mic kits
- 12 SD cards in pockets
- 2 USB SD card readers
- 4 tripods
- 1 surge protector/power strip to charge camcorders while in storage bin
This kit is intended to provide plenty of flexible capture gear for a student video product club organized into production teams of at least two students each. Inside the kit there are six little camera bags. They’re set up inside to charge while in the the bin at night. There’s a power strip with a long cord to plug in.
The kit in the video has entry level Canon HF R800 camcorders. We could outfit a kit with higher end camcorders or DSLRs. I like Panasonic GH4s myself.
You also need external microphones for quality audio capture. This kit has four mic sets. These are wired Audio-Technica 3350 lavalier mics. They have a six meter (20 foot) cable. We put the four mics in four of the camera bags in the kit on the video. Two of the camera bags have cameras only with no mics because you don’t always need to have a mic when you’re recording, like with B-roll or establishing shots, for instance.
We also incorporated a plastic pocket sheet on the bottom of the lid of the bin for storing SD cards. They’re all labeled to make it simple for the teacher or student manager of this gear to be able to easily see if all the SD cards have been put back. “Stuff management” made simple is very important in the classroom.
We also have four tripods. Again, we don’t always need a tripod for shooting, but they are usually recommended. The key to a tripod that will be useful for panning and tilting is the fluid drag head. The tripods in the video are $75 knockoff types. As I’ve tested them so far, they are sturdy. If they are used with care, they should last a good long time.
One of the nice features about this student video production kit is that it all fits in a little bin. This makes it pretty easy to grab it and go to an MPR room, or whatever room the video club will be meeting in. Students can update the Kanban board to track where they are in their student video production project, collect the gear they need from the kit, and continue where they left off.
Self-Management trumps Teacher Directed
A video production class or club can get pretty complicated. It takes time to go through the whole production process. There are various teams of kids putting together content clips at all different stages of the workflow. Other kids are piecing the content clips together along with the other regular portions to create the weekly or daily broadcast for the school. One of the keys to success is setting students up to be able and responsible to manage themselves. An easily trackable visual system for managing student video production is key.
Teacher: Key to Success
Having the right person for the job is key to a video club success. They don’t need to come from a video-making background although that can be helpful. More important is someone who really wants to equip students to communicate effectively and manage their own work. Putting together a class or club so that you have a regular school broadcast requires some structure and willingness to learn and improve over time. Over time the broadcast will become a channel for giving students a chance to create, casting vision and shaping culture for the school, and providing students with an authentic audience for their work within their own school community.
Get Started
To have a free consultation to help you start a student video production club at your school, schedule a call today, or give me a call at 714 four 85 7948.
Learn More
To learn more about student video production, check out our school studios page.
Apologize for the shaky video… It’s a quick vlog-style capture to show what is in this kit.
