3 minute read
Lights, Camera
Public enjoy the opportunity to share our unique set of skills with the students and educators in Maine so they learn ways to integrate video production into their teaching and learning.”
NICK GODFREY Media Services Producer and President of the Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation Employees Association (MPBCEA)
Lights, Camera, CLASSROOM
MEA members from Maine Public foster innovation
Directing and producing a TV show, shooting video, reporting the news, creating animated graphics, flying a drone and now teaching those skills—they’re all part of the work done by a group of MEA members who work at Maine Public. On top of their day jobs for the radio & TV station, the Maine Public employees are dedicated to using their real-world knowledge to help students in classrooms around the state.
Together with educators and media professionals, the MEA/Maine Public employees helped students explore the world of broadcasting, photography, special effects, and more at the Maine Student Film and Video Conference.
The free, annual event draws close to 200 students and 50 educators from Rhode Island to New Brunswick the chance to learn directly from journalists, videographers, editors, screenwriters, and more. Students receive hands-on experience in the fields of narrative and documentary filmmaking, broadcasting, photography, and technical production of tv and radio.
The event is co-directed by MEA member Dave Boardman, Mid-Maine Technical Center’s Mass Media Communications instructor, and Mike Perrault, director of the Maine Film Center.
Boardman says the conference gives students a chance to get hands-on training from professionals in video production, sound design, photography, and other fields. “These are growing fields, and it’s important for students to see a pathway to these careers. Working with professionals for a day gives young people that chance to try out something they’re interested in and meet the people who do this for a living,” said Boardman.
A separate conference track, designed for educators, helps them explore the power of student
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created video and offers a chance to share teaching strategies from elementary through college. For the past two years, the educator track featured speakers from PBS NewsHour's Student Reporting Lab, a national student video journalism program that guides teachers and their students through the process of creating journalism for television.
Boardman and Perrault are committed to keeping the full-day, annual conference free for students and educators so it remains accessible for anyone interested in attending. They've been able to secure grants from a variety of donors for the first two years and are currently grant-writing to create a long-term endowment for the program.
The 3rd annual conference is scheduled for April 4, 2020. Information can be found online mainestudentfilm.org.
Maine Public's Rebecca Conley poses with Mid-Maine Technical Center student Kylee Hamm during a session on After Effects. Kylee is one of several MMTC students whose work has been seen on Maine Public Television.
Students learn in the control room about the behind the scenes work that happens to put on a tv show
Mid-Maine Technical Center student Clayton Hoyle tries out one of the Maine Public broadcast cameras
Students practice using cameras for both photography and video MEA member Brian Bechard shows students how to operate a drone
Photo credits: Shirley Brook and Dave Boardman, Waterville EA
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