Certificate in Screen Media Production for Small to Medium Enterprises
The Certificate in Screen Media Production for SMEs from Griffith College equips learners with the practical skills to meet the specific content production needs of small firms and the self-employed
Now more than ever, it’s clear that digital storytelling is key to brand and business success. With this in mind, Griffith College has developed the Certificate in Screen Media Production for Small to Medium Enterprises, which equips learners with a range of creative skills to work as a content producer in-house, or for clients. It also supports those who work with content creators to better understand the process and the output to achieve more effective results. The course, offered through the Creative Arts and Screen Media faculty at Griffith College, was born from market demand, says head of the faculty, Tanya Doyle. “We had a lot of people approaching us who wanted to hone production and communication skills but couldn’t make long-term commitments because they are in full-time employment,” she explains. “We created this course for people who can’t make a full-time commitment but who have identified that they need to improve their storytelling and technical production skills. Through the programme, learners experience the full content creation process. They tool up with the skills to create content themselves and gain the awareness of the workflow and the process should they be dealing with external suppliers on larger, more complex projects.” The Certificate programme has four modules, centred on the principles of storytelling for screen, presenting skills including TV studio basics, followed by the full range of corporate and commercial content production skills of idea development, filming prep and pre-production, production (directing, camera and sound recording) and post-production and editing.
The course duration is 12 weeks, at two evenings a week and an occasional Saturday. “If there’s an organisation that wants to bring a lot of people through, we can work with them to devise a bespoke schedule,” Tanya adds. “We have an industry-standard broadcast TV studio, editing suites with colour grading facilities, sound recording booths, and a plethora of professional grade production and lighting equipment. What makes this progamme stand out is the calibre of our lecturers and the high spec industry-standard production equipment. It’s the kind of access to professional equipment and to skilled industry active lecturers you’re not going to get elsewhere.” Tanya Doyle sees the Certificate course appealing to the retail and hospitality sectors where there’s a requirement for high-quality content to grow brand identity. “Or you could be an architect or an engineer who needs an online presence to show your services,” she says. “The programme focuses on high-quality production, but also effective and efficient use of the skill base. You could make a really beautiful piece of work, but if it takes you two months to do it, that’s not an efficient use of your time. The course is about practical application, so it’s not online or blended. You will be operating the TV studio, directing your piece to camera, learning how to write, and interacting with people.”
Griffith College’s close ties with industry means the Creative Arts and Screen Media faculty is keenly aware of the importance of content production. “The objective of this course is to enable people to create screen media content like social media content or other promotional videos to raise their brand’s profile,” says Tanya. “In an era when screen media content production is as fundamental to businesses as bookkeeping or HR, this programme enables SMEs to take control of their online narrative, to develop audiences and to grow their client base.”