Between producing promotional videos and PSAs, creating a daily North Tampa newscast, and more, our Video Production class offers hands-on experience both behind and in front of the camera. Students develop real-world skills that go beyond the walls of a classroom.
“The goal for any project is to expose students to different types of learning that spark that creativity within themselves to say, hey I love this; I might want to pursue a life in this area. [In Video Production], they learn the behind-the-scenes of everything,” said teacher Kevin Cameron.
A Day In the Life
Students do more than just edit existing footage: they’re the interviewers, anchors, and post-production team. Every crew member has a job, including the crew leader, camera person, anchor, researcher, and editor. As the semester continues and new projects begin, students will rotate jobs, taking on responsibility for the background, the lighting, the mics, finding stories, and shooting takes for the anchor — and they love every minute of it.
They come to class excited every day, and Cameron “can’t keep them out of the classroom! They love it,” said Cameron. The class is currently producing a North Tampa newscast, which includes interviews with community members, a weather segment, a Christian segment, commercials, and more.
The Beginning Of School
For the first five weeks of the school year, Cameron collected footage for the seventh and eighth graders’ first project. The project is intentionally done with minimal tools: iPad and iMovie. While students will learn to use sophisticated software such as Final Cut and Premiere, their first project teaches them to be critical and creative thinkers, and they learn how to use what they have.
The Next Steps
As the semester progresses, students will dive into a variety of projects, which range from interviewing local war veterans to partnering with churches and local businesses to create content. Cameron will also teach students how to film and conduct an interview. He plans to cover “everything from the lighting to how to actually be the interviewer to how to keep the conversation going and be a good listener,” said Cameron.
In addition, the class will be responsible for producing a large-scale documentary. Students will source set materials and build the final product; they’ll write the script, design the costumes, instruct the stagehands, and handle everything from determining the best lighting to writing the perfect music for a scene.
The Instructor
Our Video Production teacher, Kevin Cameron, brings a wealth of experience to the classroom. He spent 10 successful years teaching at Crawford Adventist Academy in Toronto, where he developed a media department and wrote and produced sold-out stage plays. He’s an entrepreneur with his own film and marketing business, and he’s created over 200 videos ranging from commercials to documentaries to music videos.
“I love that I have experience. There are opportunities for me to say things like, ‘You see this video we just worked on? I work on stuff like this for my business, and this will get me a $3,000 check,’ and [the students’] eyes get huge,” said Cameron. “I’m able to tell them how to talk to a potential client, and they learn how to treat every product that you produce as a tool or as a way to promote your business. Everything that you produce says something about you, and you never know when someone’s going to ask you to do something for pay.”
The Purpose
Whether or not your child dreams of becoming the next Steven Spielberg, Video Production equips each student with important tools for lifelong success.
“Everyone is a client, and students learn how to interact with that client when you’re in session. They learn how to produce a product in a timely fashion and how to present it,” said Cameron. “They learn people skills, how to meet deadlines, how to think critically, and how to have that third eye of creativity and see things beyond to produce quality work — not just in video production, but in life.”
At North Tampa Christian Academy, a Tampa private school, the faculty, staff, and families work as a team. Our service-oriented approach builds Christian leaders who think deeply, choose wisely, create beauty, and use their dreams to solve problems. Want to learn more about what makes us different? Contact us today.