Equipment overview and safety is essential to teaching children about proper video equipment care. Without this, equipment could get destroyed, mishandled or lost. Put emphasis on the use of the lens cap, proper camera storage and how to hold a camera. Go over the different functions of the camera and how to hook up extras like microphones, batteries and tripods.
Teach children about proper frame composition within the shots. Use diagrams and screenshot examples to showcase how certain shots are framed. Explain the "Rule of Thirds" to show how a shot is split up. For example, when taping a person, he should fill the left or right of the frame for a more appealing shot rather than the center. Explain the concepts of "Wide Shot," "Medium Shot" and "Close Ups" and the purpose of each shot. Have the students create a 30 second video of different composed shots to show they understand.
TV media may involve interviews; knowing the proper technique can improve the final products. Show examples of good and bad interviews. Teach students to use a tripod, and show examples of audio differences for interviews with and without a microphone. Teach them that the interviewee should look off to the side rather than directly at the camera and that open-ended questions should be asked rather than simple "yes or no" questions to yield a better response. Split the students off in pairs to conduct fake interviews for practice.
After a few weeks of basic video education, students should start using editors. Teach editing styles and the functions of the specific editing program used. Teach the students how to overlay audio from different shots, using fades and how to cut properly for a smooth edit. Focus on sound balancing to complete the editing lesson. Assign students a one-minute music video editing project to learn the different editing techniques.
Teach students how to write various script forms. Teach them about writing voice-overs for news packages and scripts for hosts of the show. Give example of scripts and hand out storyboard sheets. Mix this lesson with the music video project so students can create storyboards to go with the sound in their video.