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Another semester begins at Mesa Community College. Our annual convocation was today. The speaker discussed learning and brain research. Next week, we spend the week getting students enrolled and classes finalized. Then, the 16-week sprint to graduation.
This semester, we’re adding Digital Filmmaking and Digital Editing courses at Mesa Community College. By next fall, we hope to have Associate Degrees in both the areas. All the years at Sundance really feel like they’re paying off, now. As an educator, I’ve always been so far ahead of the curve in the area of digital filmmaking. I’ve been wanting to teach it since the early 90′s but no one was interested.
This trip, I’ll be going to presentations by Sony on the HDCam, DV Cam and IMX Videocams. I’m also going to catch the Panavision presentation on post production. Every year I learn so much and this year I get to bring it back to campus in a very real way!
It’s hard to believe this all started way back in 1981 when I attended the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire (for the second time, dropped out as a freshman in 1976) and discovered how much I loved Media Arts and Telecommunications. For decades I’ve been all about telling independent, non-traditional stories. I love filmmaking, television production and expressing a personal point of view about meaningful topics. Finally, the education market is catching up. Students now come in asking about digital editing and filmmaking careers. Many filmgoers want something other than the “traditional Hollywood fare.” Guess I was just a little ahead of the curve.
As they say in the Valley, “Whatever.” I’m just glad I’m finally getting to do what I love and share it with students. It almost makes it worth all of the grief of trying to create curriculum and (more importantly) get it approved. It is so much harder than I ever understood.
