Teaching Multimedia Commercial Production for Advertising and Publication Relations

With the growth of online advertising and social media, it is increasingly necessary that advertising and public relations integrate video messages into campaign efforts. Offering video production classes that focus on multimedia broadcast strategy and production unique to advertising and public relations is one way that universities can address this development. This article provides a description of an experimental course, “Multimedia Commercial Production for Advertising and Public Relations,” co-taught at a private Midwestern university by an advertising professor with significant agency experience and an active award-winning filmmaker. Experiential learning and hands-on instruction of television production education provide the framework for the course design. Instructional goals, lecture topics and assignment ideas congruent with experiential methods of education are presented. A 16-week course outline, based on student feedback and evaluations gained from surveys as well as instructors’ assessment, is offered.