WHAT ARE WE LEARNING: How to become a Production Assistant through Kincade Productions

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT: Learning how to become a Production Assistant (PA) through Kincade Productions is important because it provides actionable, real-world training—not just theory—that prepares you for the demanding film industry, helping you land jobs and avoid common on-set mistakes. The course offers practical, hands-on knowledge on how sets function, industry jargon, and professionalism from experts with decades of experience.

HOW WILL MY TEACHER KNOW WHAT I LEARNED:  You will follow along with the program and complete tasks throughout the program!

• Kincade Productions connects very naturally to a Digital Photography / Advanced Photography CTE pathway, even though its main focus is film and video production. The strongest connection is that it teaches students how the photography skills they learn in class fit into the larger professional media-production industry.

• Kincade Productions describes its Successful Film Production Assistant (SFPA) program as a five-course series for high-school and college-age film/media students. It focuses on how professional sets operate, crew roles, communication, set etiquette, preparation, employment expectations, and career entry. The company says the program is aligned with CTE standards and is already being used in California CTE and ROP programs.

• Photography students already learn camera operation, composition, lighting, exposure, editing, portraiture, sports photography, and visual storytelling. Kincade adds the professional-production side: What happens when those camera skills are used on an actual commercial, sports, portrait, advertising, broadcast, or media production? (That's especially valuable for advanced photography students because professional photographers rarely work completely alone. They may work alongside art directors, producers, assistants, videographers, lighting crews, clients, talent, marketing teams, and other media professionals.?

• The Kincade curriculum includes topics such as call sheets, crew positions, working on location, client etiquette, communication, set procedures, resumes, building a client list, and preparing for a first professional job. Kincade Productions

• For example, a student photographing a Hoover athletic media day could begin treating the assignment like a professional production:

• Call sheet → equipment preparation → crew assignments → lighting setup → talent/athlete management → shooting → file management → editing → delivery to the client.

• That's a major step beyond simply knowing how to take a good photograph.

• One of the strongest aspects of Kincade is its emphasis on what are often called soft skills: being prepared, arriving on time, communicating effectively, staying organized, maintaining a professional attitude, understanding your role, and working successfully with other people.

• Communication, punctuality, positivity, respect, organization, and teamwork as transferable skills students gain from Kincade Productions

• For photography students, those are directly applicable to careers such as portrait photographer, sports photographer, photo assistant, digital technician, studio assistant, commercial photographer, photojournalist, content creator, social-media photographer, production assistant, camera assistant, and multimedia producer.

• A student who understands photography already has a foundation for cinematography: exposure, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, depth of field, lenses, composition, lighting, color, framing, and visual storytelling.

• Kincade gives students an opportunity to see how those concepts operate within a larger production crew rather than treating still photography and video as completely separate industries.

• Kincade provides more than videos. Its curriculum includes quizzes, exercises, discussion prompts, a final assessment, downloadable professional documents, and an LMS for tracking student progress. Students who watch at least 90% of the material and score at least 70% on the final exam can earn a Certificate of Completion from Kincade Productions

• Students have measurable evidence beyond a normal photography assignment: course completion, assessment results, certification, career vocabulary, professional documents, and demonstrated employability skills.

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING: Double Exposure (though created in Photoshop)

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT: Learning how to create a double exposure in Adobe Photoshop is important because it builds foundational Photoshop skills while unlocking powerful creative storytelling techniques.

HOW WILL MY TEACHER KNOW WHAT I LEARNED:  You will practice different tools and techniques and gradually show your success!