It's an exciting time to be a broadcasting student. The industry is evolving so fast, now even major players can predict the shape it will ultimately take.
Lines are blurring. Movies look like video games. Independent producers outshine the big studios at film festivals. TV shows package “reality.” Viewers click through commercials or e-mail them to friends as entertainment.
As the realm of media expands, mega-hits often achieve their landmark status by smoothly merging multiple genres. Think of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, with its fantasy location settings, massive use of computer-generated imagery, carefully staged annual releases, and Internet buzz.
Or the savvy street marketing of mix tapes that sample yesterday's stars for today's listeners, and are launched at dance parties with live DJs adding turntable scratches on equipment bought at garage sales.
Even commercial news outlets are redefining their products by racing bloggers for scoops and showcasing celebrity newscasters.
One thing is clear. To prepare for a career in TV, film, or recording, students need to learn not just broadcasting technology, but electronic media as well.
“We're training college students for media that barely existed #- or didn't exist at all #- when they were born,” said Steve Keeler, director of broadcasting and e-media at Cayuga Community College. For aspiring producers, he adds, “technical capabilities are becoming both more sophisticated and more accessible.”
Cayuga's program features hands-on learning in professional-level facilities: a broadcast quality television studio, 32-track audio recording studio, 16-track field recording system, television remote truck, FM broadcast radio station, web radio station, digital media lab, and audio and video editing workstations.
Enroll in the program and Cayuga will teach you to use a camera, record, edit, and announce. Writing and planning are fundamental project skills, along with picture composition, camera operation in the studio or field, and sound recording and editing.
You'll also learn how to compress and stream video and audio, operate a non-linear video editing system, create broadcast-quality, digitally mastered CDs and DVDs, and revise your material for the Web.
You can tailor your studies from a variety of program choices. Associate degrees are offered in telecommunications technology, audio production (with an option available in music recording), and broadcasting. The broadcasting degree offers an option in media communications, as well as concentrations in video production, broadcast journalism, digital and interactive media, and electronic publishing.
Students in each area, said Keeler, “benefit from contact with industry professionals in the classroom and studio, and from excellent internship opportunities.” Recently, several students earned certification in Surround Sound production, a rare achievement at community colleges.
Cayuga students have earned recognition in the Collegiate Broadcasters' National Student Television Production Awards. Three times in four years, Cayuga student videos, created as projects in Keeler's classes, have been named finalists in the competition. The only community college ever to reach the finals, Cayuga was honored in the “best technical production” and “music video” categories. Last year, one of Cayuga's music video entries went on to win first prize.
The program enjoys recognition, too, among prospective employers and transfer schools. Cayuga alumni have transferred to Ithaca College's Park School of Communications, SUNY College at Fredonia, and other noted media schools. Cayuga grads work at major radio and TV networks and a variety of other organizations as broadcast journalists, producers, directors, camera operators, editors, engineers, program hosts, and the list keeps going.
If you're one of tomorrow's media makers, explore the full scope of career possibilities offered in Cayuga's broadcasting and e-media program. Information is available from professor Steve Keeler at keeler@cayuga-cc.edu, or on the Web at www.telcomcayuga.edu. The college's Web site is www.cayuga-cc.edu.
Pamela M. Freeman is director of publications and communications at Cayuga Community College
As the realm of media expands, mega-hits often achieve their landmark status by smoothly merging multiple genres. Think of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, with its fantasy location settings, massive use of computer-generated imagery, carefully staged annual releases, and Internet buzz.
Or the savvy street marketing of mix tapes that sample yesterday's stars for today's listeners, and are launched at dance parties with live DJs adding turntable scratches on equipment bought at garage sales.
Even commercial news outlets are redefining their products by racing bloggers for scoops and showcasing celebrity newscasters.
One thing is clear. To prepare for a career in TV, film, or recording, students need to learn not just broadcasting technology, but electronic media as well.
“We're training college students for media that barely existed #- or didn't exist at all #- when they were born,” said Steve Keeler, director of broadcasting and e-media at Cayuga Community College. For aspiring producers, he adds, “technical capabilities are becoming both more sophisticated and more accessible.”
Cayuga's program features hands-on learning in professional-level facilities: a broadcast quality television studio, 32-track audio recording studio, 16-track field recording system, television remote truck, FM broadcast radio station, web radio station, digital media lab, and audio and video editing workstations.
Enroll in the program and Cayuga will teach you to use a camera, record, edit, and announce. Writing and planning are fundamental project skills, along with picture composition, camera operation in the studio or field, and sound recording and editing.
You'll also learn how to compress and stream video and audio, operate a non-linear video editing system, create broadcast-quality, digitally mastered CDs and DVDs, and revise your material for the Web.
You can tailor your studies from a variety of program choices. Associate degrees are offered in telecommunications technology, audio production (with an option available in music recording), and broadcasting. The broadcasting degree offers an option in media communications, as well as concentrations in video production, broadcast journalism, digital and interactive media, and electronic publishing.
Students in each area, said Keeler, “benefit from contact with industry professionals in the classroom and studio, and from excellent internship opportunities.” Recently, several students earned certification in Surround Sound production, a rare achievement at community colleges.
Cayuga students have earned recognition in the Collegiate Broadcasters' National Student Television Production Awards. Three times in four years, Cayuga student videos, created as projects in Keeler's classes, have been named finalists in the competition. The only community college ever to reach the finals, Cayuga was honored in the “best technical production” and “music video” categories. Last year, one of Cayuga's music video entries went on to win first prize.
The program enjoys recognition, too, among prospective employers and transfer schools. Cayuga alumni have transferred to Ithaca College's Park School of Communications, SUNY College at Fredonia, and other noted media schools. Cayuga grads work at major radio and TV networks and a variety of other organizations as broadcast journalists, producers, directors, camera operators, editors, engineers, program hosts, and the list keeps going.
If you're one of tomorrow's media makers, explore the full scope of career possibilities offered in Cayuga's broadcasting and e-media program. Information is available from professor Steve Keeler at keeler@cayuga-cc.edu, or on the Web at www.telcomcayuga.edu. The college's Web site is www.cayuga-cc.edu.
Pamela M. Freeman is director of publications and communications at Cayuga Community College
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