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Education
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High school video club gets involved with community
Oct 20, 2006
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by Nancy Caronia
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How many 18-year-olds can say that they've helped to found and are the vice president of a video production company? In Oregon's Josephine County, recent Hidden Valley High School graduate Brendan Traub can.
Interschool Televison (iTV) is the brainchild of video production professional Dale Matthews. As a substitute teacher in the Josephine County School District, Matthews noted that while Grants Pass High School had gear, a full-time production teacher, and a cable access channel, the three smaller high schools in the county -- Hidden Valley, Illinois Valley and North Valley -- weren't so fortunate. That meant those students had no opportunity to use or learn about video production.
With borrowed equipment, Matthews instituted after-school clubs at the three high schools that focused on production values and practical experience. The student club members, including Traub, quickly became proficient at mutli-camera productions while shooting Friday night sporting events at the local high schools.
Where Credit Is Due
As the club's profile was raised (the games were shown on the local cable access channel), Matthews asked the students to think about what they wanted for the club. The students' responses surprised him. "They didn't ask for their own cameras, for a production studio, or laptops," he recalled. "They kept asking, 'Is there any way we can get high school credit for this?'"
Matthews approached Oregon State University's OSU K-12 Online administrator Tryna M. Luton about instituting an online advanced television production course. For three years, OSU K-12 Online has been up and running within OSU's Extended Campus program. It offers approximately 50 online high school and middle school courses that run on OSU's Blackboard. The high school courses usually follow the 18-week high school calendar, though a nine-week fast-track option is available during the summer, and middle school students can take one to three-week integrated thematic units.
After meeting Matthews, Luton searched for an online high school that was offering some sort of television production course, but didn't find anything. That was when she realized that Matthews' suggestion was a good opportunity.
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| Members of Interschool Television Oregon are learning about video production. |
"He was very excited," Luton said. "I saw some of his work and it was excellent. He's eccentric and has his own ideas, but he's good at what he does. We thought he would be a good addition."
Matthews has designed the online advanced television production course so that students who are at a distance can learn what his face-to-face students do. In addition to learning about cameras and software editing packages, students also study the basics of how to shoot, edit, create special effects and graphics, and copyright law for graphics and music.
"The way I teach the course, they don't have to memorize the technical stuff at the beginning. As they need them, I introduce the techniques," Matthews explained. "If we're looking at a sporting event application, I ask, 'Did you ask permission to be down on the field?' If their answer is no, I tell them that they're going to be up in the stands and ask them to note what adjustments they'll have to make in terms of audio and shooting, since they're now surrounded by the fans in the stands.
"If they forget to bring a tripod, I say, OK, you'll have to hold that for an hour and a half. I'll ask if they brought two tapes. I also start out teaching a single-camera shoot and then work up to a shoot with four or five cameras."
Reaching Out
Matthews founded the nonprofit iTV while designing advanced television production for OSU K-12 Online. The impetus for iTV was two-fold -- Matthews wanted to reach out to more local students, and he thought it would be a good way for local community members, including government officials, to recognize "that young people considered at risk youth can be a community resource and add to the life of the community."
Through iTV local students team up with businesses, government, and the community in order to produce television programs highlighting community events. By teaching students responsibility for everything in a video project, from proposals to post production, Matthews said they are able to feel a part of the energy of the community. While the idea formed at the high school after school club, both college and middle school students are also involved in iTV projects.
As iTV's executive director, Matthews purchased eight 3-CCD Panasonic PV-GS250 cameras and five Dell Inspiron 6000 laptops with money he and his girlfriend had been saving for their wedding. "She's terrific and knows how dedicated I am to this," he explained.
Last July, 12 Josephine County students led by Matthews participated in the first C4 Sports Exhibition and Conference in Las Vegas, NV, where they conducted an "HD on a Budget" hands-on technology showcase. The team shot live HD footage of a women's club volleyball exhibition, edited it on site, and streamed it simultaneously on HDTV monitors on the show floor, on the Las Vegas Convention Center's cable network, and on the Internet.
Though Traub is now a freshman at OSU working on a degree in business administration, he has no plans to abandon iTV or his position as vice president of the burgeoning nonprofit. "iTV has been one of the defining activities of my life in the past few years," he said. "When I first joined iTV, I didn't know anything about cinematography. I knew a lot about computers, but I didn't know how to produce great content with them. Thanks to my iTV experiences, I not only know how to shoot video, but I've become an expert at editing it."
MORE INFO
Blackboard blackboard.com
C4-Sports c4-sports.com
Dell dell.com
K-12 Online k12online.oregonstate.edu
Panasonic panasonic.com/broadcast
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