2008 Woodie Awards
Communications program expands into interactive digital multimedia
Trey Thompson
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Green said that the school became more motivated because, "Communication is converging and is getting more technologically dependent and students need the opportunity to work with modern day technology. A writer is not only going to have to know how to write, he is going to have to know audio and video production. Communication is starting to become a technologically driven discipline."
Green also stated that some of the steps taken towards these goals are based on the equipment that is now available for the students. "We have four Macintosh computers loaded with the latest software on audio and video editing. We have a brand new television studio with a portable studio environment and all digital equipment. Most importantly, we have a new member on staff named Jack Morris, who brings decades worth of writing and pre-production experience. "We also have new equipment. Starting with new cameras, we have the Cannon XL 2 video cameras, which allow producers to shoot in 16 by 9 formats for wide screen videos and 4 by 3 formats for standard television."
Kansas Weselyan produces a couple of different TV shows, Green said. The first half of the semester is for pre production work, and students produce a half-hour show every week called "All Access." This is a show that focuses on the arts and humanities. Also, a new full feature-length film program called "Cinema Chills," which is produced by a couple of students, takes a movie and makes a television program out of it. They also do all of the home football games, and they are videotaping "The Magic Flute," which is produced by the orchestra in Salina and the drama department.
"We encourage our students to get a membership at the access center, and I have already had people volunteer time at Community Access," Green said. I normally have my students spend a number of hours at Community Access, because it is the best way to learn. You can only learn so much in a class room; you have to get your hands on the equipment at a live television center.
"The biggest advantage a student can have by working hand on hand with the cable studio is a student can go and produce whatever he wants. Most of the other places will not allow you to have the creativity that an access station will allow you to have. This is the only place that if a student wants to shoot a drama, he can shoot a drama. If you want to shoot a comedy, you can shoot a comedy. You can be as creative as you want at a public access television center."
Students are having to properly prepare themselves for graduate work in live studios, Green said. Communications students need to produce; they can't get out of college and have their head in a book and then expect to participate actively in a career in communications, he said. "You have to communicate, and you have to use and be familiar with the newest technology."
Five years from now, Green envisions the communications department getting bigger and the number of students increasing the enrollment of the university. "I see us staying up-to-date with the newest technology available. I see communications becoming more and more important. Without communications, we are not able to communicate worthwhile with each other, and I see people realizing that in the near future."
Some of the steps that need to be taken in order to get to the next level involve keeping your eye on the continual improvements in computer technology, such as Facebook, Myspace and You Tube, which recently sold for $1.6 billion. Those types of computer forms of electronic communications are becoming businesses, and that is what is going to drive communications forward.
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