Western Kentucky University / B / David Brinkley

Brinkley's class was probably the best bcom/tv prod class i've had at western. We actually got to CREATE THINGS instead of reading about 3 point lighting in a text book. Brinkley is very flexible and cares about everyone in the class - he expects the best from you and wants you to be able to find a job that you are interested in after graduation. tests are easy and we spent a lot of time talking about live directing because that's where he's from. Great professor who knows his stuff and is always willing to help.

Brinkley is the worst broadcasting professor I've ever had. We spent 75% of the class in a news studio environment, do no directing/coaching of actors, and then the last two weeks of the semester we are expected to write, cast, direct, edit, and make a mock budget of a final project (short film, commercial, interview, etc.). Not only is that not enough time, he fails to realize we actually have other classes that are throwing other projects/papers at us as well. Also, we never even discussed a budget. He claims we have done it before in other classes, which is true, but we spent two weeks making a mock budget alone in the other classes. This is simply a failure on his part to give us enough time to fulfill the requirements. Often, professors will give you weeks notice of the final project, Brinkley gave us 2.5. And that .5 was right before Thanksgiving Break, which hinders access to actors, locations, and equipment.

Brinkley claims to be interested in all aspects of directing, but that's a lie. He puts so much focus on this "news directing" that he is actually doing a disservice to the class. How? Well, there is more to directing than a news environment.

All in all, I've literally gotten nothing out of his class, it's basically a glorified BCOM 266.