I will be teaching my Mobile Filmmaking and Visual Storytelling course again at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). Thanks to Head of Program Zhiying Jiang for recruiting me!

It is a blessing to be invited to teach her amazing students in Singapore every August.

I am also advising media schools in the USA and Europe as they build MOJO into their core curriculum.

Since 2003, I have had the privilege to lead multimedia journalism courses and workshops at:

– Danish School of Journalism

– American University,  Cairo

– EFJ School of New Journalism, Paris and Bordeaux

– FH Wien School of Journalism (Vienna)

– Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

– Stockholm University

– University of London

– E. W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University

– Katholische Universität, Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

Teaching Mobile filmmaking in university classrooms

More about the annual course I lead at Singapore University of Social Sciences:

Learning Outcomes:

● Create visual stories that engage audiences about issues they care about.

● Assemble the basic skills of narrative filmmaking including writing, production planning, filming,

and editing, using their own smartphones.

● Appraise how visual storytelling and persuasive communication can be applied effectively in the

world of digital marketing, and how videos can be used to effectively engage audiences around

products, services, personal branding and creative stories.

● Elaborate the idea of smartphone filmmaking and editing techniques.

● Demonstrate proficiency in visual storytelling and communication in both theory and practice.

● Create good rapport in group work and coordinate emerging issues at the filming site.

Synopsis:

Students learn make short smartphone films by using visual storytelling and persuasive communication. They turn their ideas, personal stories, and marketing concepts into compelling visual narratives with both fictional and factual elements.

This class combines concepts of marketing, psychology, and filmmaking to help students shape a story idea into a short film made entirely on their mobile phone.

Smartphones are the future of filmmaking because they allow any individual or small business to create their visual content quickly, affordably, and with high quality.

Students can choose to create a practical advertising video promoting a product or service, or a more open and creative video promoting their personal brand or telling a story that is important to them.

Topics:

● Visual Communication and Storytelling theory in both fictional and non-fictional settings, including marketing and promotion and creative storytelling

● Creating your own film idea and storyline that appeals to you and to a wider audience

● Understanding the concept of creative visual thinking and its benefits in both the professional and personal

● Smartphone filmmaking theory and practice

● Post Production and Editing

● Promoting your short films online and how to effectively use your films to engage with different market segments and audiences

Textbooks:

Mobile Journalism, Academic Edition, Robb Montgomery, Visual Editors

ISBN-13: BN-0276