Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Brittney Barsotti A photo of a LPC student demonstrating the proper use of a soundboard.

Lights. Camera. Action.
Offered for the first time this semester is the introduction to television studio operations class which will be taught partly at TV 30's local studio in Pleasanton and partly at LPC. The idea for the class has been in the works for a while, but due to the rearrangement of some mass communications classes the new course will come at no additional cost to the school.
According to Phillip Manwell, Dean of Arts and Entertainment, adding a TV course to the mass communications department was the next logical progression afterthe addition of radio and video journalism courses. He added that discussions with TV 30 have been in the works for two to three years but nothing permanent has been established. The course should be offered in the fall as well. The curriculum for the course was actually written some time ago by professor Melissa Korber.
The class meets on Mondays, three to five at the studio and seven to nine at LPC. Currently, there are 23 students in the class but it is not too late to add in.
The course could have been offered strictly on campus on a smaller scale, but then the students would have missed out on the great opportunity to gain experience in a "real" studio and lab with professionals, according to Manwell. Also according to Manwell the staff at TV has been great and very welcoming.
For mass communications student Matthew Cornmesser the in-studio is what he is looking forward to the most so that he can gain hands-on experience of working in a studio. Cornmesser is also looking forward to his work possibly being aired on local TV but he is wary about "hell raining down" after reporting on controversial issues or what people will think of his work in general.
Cornmesser is also excited to learn from instructor Jin Tsubota who has taught him in the past, due to his approach, which according to Cornmesser, is always on the cutting edge and makes a point of addressing new technology and trends. What Cornmesser enjoys about Tsubota's instruction is that he stresses that as much as the students learn from him, he learns just as much if not more from them.
Tsubota hopes that when his students walk away from the class with some core journalistic principles such as, integrity, initiative and industriousness.
Tsubota added, "It would be wonderful if they developed pre-production, production and post-production skills to create a TV show."
Tsubota is looking forward to teaching the class for several reasons.
"I love creating new things and project based classes," Tsubota said. "It is a different type of learning and more similar to life outside academia."
He also feels that students will get a different sense of accomplishment from creating a product rather than getting an A on an exam.
"As per my understanding as a student and a teacher," Tsubota said, "students receive a different sense of accomplishment when they create a wonderful piece of work. There is a qualitative difference."

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