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We're pleased to announce our 2012 Schedule for Summer Programs at the Media Center. This year, we're offering new programs, and more sessions than ever - with the goal of being able to serve your children and family during what can be busy summer months.
Among our offerings this year is a new course - "Advanced TV Studio for High Schoolers" - a program designed to combine elements of journalism and activism into our studio curriculum. In this course, students will pick an issue affecting their community, and plan and create a 30 minute television program exploring that issue through interviews, video clips, and creative segments. It's a great class for students interested in exploring journalism as a career, and who would like to participate in their school's broadcasts.
We're also offering 4 sessions of "TV Studio Production" for Middle School students. In this course, they'll learn all of our equipment and gain an understanding of the process of creating a TV Show. They'll also produce several shows that will air on our Channel.
Finally, we're offering "Special Effects and Advanced Animation," for students who want to take their movie making skills to the next level. They'll learn to create computer generated special effects in Adobe After Effects and make their characters interact with them on screen. A must-take course for students interested in film-making!
We hope to see your child at one of our programs. To register and see the complete schedule, look at our camp page at midpenmedia.org/digiquest. See you this summer!Published 2012-01-03T12:43:00.000-08:00 by Brad S
On August 2nd, a team of Media Center interns opened up the doors to our studio, and produced "Movie Talk with Colin and Laura." In the show, hosts Colin Marchon and Laura Rossiter dish on some of the summer's hottest movies.
Using the skills they learned in the YAC and through other Media Center experiences, they ran cameras, audio, graphics, and directed the show, which they also developed more or less on the spot.
So the question remains: Which summer movies are worth the 11 bucks? Which ones are worth the wait for DVD? Which ones will make you wish you had your two hours back?
On Saturday night, Local bands "Thanks for Asking," "The Aisling Project," and Molly Tuttle performed in the Media Center's studio at our 3rd Sound Lounge of the 2011.
The Sound Lounge is a concert series created by youth, to give local musical acts a supportive and safe environment to perform. The event was streamed live online, and crewed by high school volunteers, who used their studio skills to produce a brilliant 4 camera live stream.
All in all, it was a great night featuring amazing music acts! Follow us on facebook for updates about upcoming Sound Lounge events!Published 2011-05-02T13:53:00.000-07:00 by Brad S
Students in the TV Production after school program at the 49ers Academy said bye-bye to April in style, by going live on channel 28 with their "Live at 49ers!" newscast. The class, which is run in partnership with the Media Center, aims to teach the EPA students about TV News Journalism, and the technology that makes News happen.
In this episode, the crew talks about the issue of Vandalism at their school, discusses ways to stay safe during and earthquake, and pranks their teachers in a new segment called "YOU JUST GOT P'DIDDYed," named for class prankster Pedro (affectionately nicknamed "P-Diddy").
Hosted by Ricardo and Paula, and Directed by Mohammad, this show successfully blurs the line between news and entertainment. Mission Accomplished!
When YAC Leader Colin Marchon learned about the miraculous life his friend (and co-leader) Laura's pet frog,"Zarf", he couldn't resist using the elderly amphibian as a subject for his first 8mm film.
The result is a compelling documentation of the life of an extraordinary animal. Featuring Colin's trademark beautiful cinematography and editing, the "Zarf" looks and sounds fantastic.
Join Colin and his friends as they explore the dark sides of life, death, fear, and tolerance. Is it a comedy, or a tragedy? You decide.
Sean Lee, a member of the YAC at the Media Center, has produced a music video for his R&B song "Understand" from his album, "Drama Lives On."
Sean's obvious talent as a songwriter is matched by his skills behind (and in front of) the camera. This video marks his debut for a song on a studio album. "It was a long, tedious process, and was my first time really capturing the Final Cut Pro feel. But I'm very happy with final product and plan to do more in the future."
He also had some help from YAC members Susie and Nick, who act along side him in the video.
So take a look at Sean's video and enjoy! His album, "Drama Lives On" is available now on iTunes.
When the Palo Alto Art Center contacted MC Youth about making a video on an upcoming project, intern Farrah Plummer stood out as the one for the job.
Farrah spent 3 weeks in January split between the Art Center and our edit suites producing this short on Patrick Dougherty and his beautiful, captivating sculpture made entirely out of sticks.
Farrah did a fantastic job with the story, and the Art Center was great to work with. Please take a look and enjoy!
Credit card debt can be a slippery slope for teens and college students. So when Media Center Etta Zhang (Menlo College '10) learned of a freshman level course at Menlo teaching students about the dangers of debt and the importance of saving, she decided to highlight the course and share its lessons in a short documentary. "I felt that so many young people do not know how to manage their money and credit cards in correct ways. However, there is a class that can let us understand more information about the personal finance and give us more tips about using money. "
She recently completed the documentary, which features footage from the class and interviews with students and staff about managing your money for the future. Check it out, and skip that next latte!
The Media Center is proud to be hosting Farrah Plummer as an intern for the month of January. Farrah is a Senior at Monash University in Melbourne, where she studies Broadcast Journalism.
Says Farrah:
"I always visit the US twice a year from Australia to see my father, but decided that in my last year of university I should try to find an internship that could expand my studies in journalism and communications. "
"The Media Center has been kind enough to take me on board this month, and I am really excited to be shooting and editing a fantastic piece on Patrick Dougherty, a sculptor who will be creating a site-specific sculpture for the Art Center in Palo Alto."
We're very exited to have Farrah on board, and are looking forward to seeing her finished Story!
Sometimes it feels like all the news you hear about the health of our planet is pretty grim. That's why we created the Greenlight Earth Day Film Festival, to highlight the positive steps humans are taking to reduce our impact on the environment. If you're looking for inspiration for your Greenlight entry for this year, check out this slide show from the Discovery Channel: How Humans Helped the Earth in 2010.
Do any of these stories relate to the Bay Area community? Dig down, and you'll find people working near your home to help the Earth. Tell their stories!
Wes Rapaport is a Paly senior who has been involved with the Media Center since he was in 7th Grade! As Executive Producer of Paly's INfocus TV Network, he traveled with the school's Football team to LA and filmed their championship victory over the Centennial Huskies.
Congratulations to the Paly Vikings on their big win, and thanks to Wes for sharing this video, and for his years of excellent volunteer service to the Media Center!Published 2010-12-21T13:44:00.000-08:00 by Brad S
2010 was an amazing year for Youth Programs at the Media Center! Check out our 2010 highlight Reel edited by intern Ryan Lee, and featuring clips from our Digiquest Summer Camps, Youth Advisory Council, 49ers Academy and many other youth and intern produced projects! We're looking forward to another great year in 2011! Published 2010-12-20T13:33:00.000-08:00 by Brad S
The Media Center and The City of Palo Alto are gearing up for the 2011 Greenlight Earth Day Film Festival. The festival challenges young film makers to produce short videos that explore environmental citizenship and show how individual actions can reduce environmental impacts.
The 2011 Festival will be held at Cubberly Theatre on April 21, with Submissions due to the Media Center by March 25! To learn more about the entry categories, visit the official Greenlight page at cityofpaloalto.org.
We're looking forward to seeing the community submit some amazing videos this year! Happy shooting!Published 2010-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:00 by Brad S
The Youth Advisory Council has finished their first project: make an AdBusters commercial! Congratulations! AdBusters is an organization that critiques print and TV ads through parody. Each of the groups decided to focus on a population that was under- or misrepresented in the media and, more specifically, advertisements. This project was an exercise in interpreting and challenging the messages that media sends us and, more importantly, creating our own media that counters the mainstream.
Great job YAC!
Published 2009-12-04T17:21:00.000-08:00 by Becca F
We started the new school year off with a bang with a trip to KQED in San Francisco, and a big video project, making an AdBusters video!
Here are some pics from the epic KQED tour: Next up are the Adbusters videos, and after that we'll be making a couple PSAs for the PADACC (Palo Alto Drug and Alcohol Community Collaborative... that's a mouthful).
With the impressive skills of the YAC youth and some ludicrous dance moves - we have mastered the green screen!!! Watch this video for a compilation of the hilarious outcome!Published 2009-04-09T17:03:00.000-07:00 by Becca F
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