Students from our New Economics for Women Workshop showcase their projects
A video profile of an animal shelter volunteer - a day in the life of a hair salon owner - and behind the scenes with an audio production engineer. These were the profile subjects our students focused their cameras on during our six-week Digital Video Production Workshop at the Van Nuys offices of New Economics for Women, (NEW).
The ten students we worked with - from four different high schools but all part of NEW's after-school program - came in with very little production experience. But they were curious about the technology and eager to tackle something new.
Our program started with an important discussion about storytelling. The equipment changes - it's all so portable and hi-tech nowadays - but good storytelling hasn't changed much. A good story is compelling, it's entertaining, enlightening and even informative. But stories can also move us in powerful ways.
The workshop was challenging for the group. They had to learn the fundamentals of composition - essentially how to use video for visual storytelling. And they had to learn to use unfamiliar equipment.
On top of that, our Editing Instructor Sassy Mohen taught them how to use Adobe's Premiere Pro software. It's the same platform professionals use to create their video stories.
But the students proved to be up for the challenge.
On our final day of the workshop the NEW staff organized a special screening program inviting the student's parents - and a group of middle school students.
The student producers first explained their project before screening them. The short videos demonstrated the students have a grasp of video production fundamentals but they still need help before they'll be ready to do this on their own.
We're working on that. NEW has asked us to come up with a proposal for a summer program for another after-school program in Sherman Oaks as well as a project for these students to give them a chance to build on what they learned.
We are grateful to Maggie Cervantes, the Executive Director of NEW; Leticia Andueza, the Associate Director; and their great Van Nuys staff for this opportunity and look forward to our Summer Program!
Watch the student Videos!
