Course Description:
CMM 225: 30-Second Stories introduces students to the principles of visual storytelling
and the fundamentals of editorial design for the fast-paced and hyper-competitive
social-media realm. Throughout the course, students explore how mobile technology
revolutionizes visual-media design, production, and editorial workflows and how the
mastery of professional-grade software like DaVinci Resolve can elevate the final
product to reach a broader audience.
CMM 225 provides a basic study of social-media platforms and examines their most
effective content. Building from that study, the course covers how to create eye-
catching and click-attracting content through story structure, scriptwriting, pre-
production design, digital storyboards, mobile photography techniques, video editing,
audio capture, and color grading. CMM 225 also demonstrates how to integrate
footage, photos, and text for a more polished final deliverable.
At the end of the course, along with the short class exercises and media creation
assignments, students will have a portfolio of two sample works – an artist profile
project (ASP) and a public service announcement (PSA). The ASP and PSA will
demonstrate the student’s ability to create professional editorial content using mobile
technology and post-production software, preparing them for careers in digital
publishing, journalism, advertising, or online content creation.