Media Center Youth

2012 Summer Camps: Registration is Open!

2012-01-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

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!

Media Center Interns Go to the Movies!

2011-08-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

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?

Watch the full show to find out.

Local Bands Gather for "Sound Lounge" at MC!

2011-05-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

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!

49ers Go Live to End April!

2011-04-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

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!

What is a "Zarf"? You may not want to know...

2011-03-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

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.

Zarf from Colin Marchon on Vimeo.

YAC Member Directs Debut Studio Music Video

2011-02-16T16:14:00.001-08:00

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.

Palo Alto's "Sticky" Situation

2011-02-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

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!

Intern Etta Zhang Completes Personal Finance Video

2011-01-21T10:21:00.000-08:00

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!

Intern from Australia joins the Media Center!

2011-01-10T10:53:00.000-08:00

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!

Greenlight Inspiration

2010-12-30T13:52:00.000-08:00

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!

As always, you can click to learn more about the Green Light Film Festival.

Happy shooting.

Wes Rapaport Shoots Paly's Championship Win

2010-12-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

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!

2010 Youth Highlights!

2010-12-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

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!

GreenLight Film Festival 2011

2010-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

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!

Light the Night

2010-12-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

Check out this Local Focus piece produced by the YAC member Daria! Great work!

2010-10-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

Who Ate The Last Cheddar Bunny? - by Layla, Sean, and Haelin

YAC Project - By Laura, Eric, and Jonah

Love Tree - by Colin, Nick, Daria and Suzie

VAMPIES!

2010-05-05T15:02:00.001-07:00

Final YAC 2010 show! Thanks to the actors, producers and crew for making this ambitious and cutting edge show possible =)

Congrats YAC! Enjoy!

P.S. All your other shows are also available on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMediaCenter5

YAC Project/Greenlight

2010-03-12T11:04:00.001-08:00

Change

2010-03-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

YAC Project #2

"If Everyone Cared"

2010-03-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

YAC Project/Greenlight Film Festival

PADACC Projects

2010-03-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

First of 2 projects for PADACC (Palo Alto Drug and Alcohol Community Collaborative).

AdBusters Commercials

2009-12-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

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!

YAC 2009-10

2009-11-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

Introducing...

YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL, 2009-2010!

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).

So stay tuned...

Am I a God?

2009-05-14T16:19:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

A teen has the power to make people die by saying two words.But does he want this power?

Teenish

2009-04-29T12:45:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Teens learn how to survive without their parents! Cooking, cleaning and washing clothes...sounds fun huh!?! An entertaining and educational program!

The YAC practices the green screen!

2009-04-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

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!

YAC - The Great Debate

2009-02-27T11:05:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Four teen debaters compete over topics such as Obama's success, legalization of marijuana, communism, and Mac vs. PC.

Armageddon!

2009-01-29T16:57:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Armageddon comes to the Media Center.

YAC Promo

2009-01-29T15:23:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Promotional video for the YAC 2009, created by former YAC 2007 member Kait Macknick.

Mikkel the Mikkel in Antique Roadshow Land

2009-01-29T15:21:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

A YAC mock show, featuring Mark Monroe and Mikkel Nielsen.

Talking About Nothing with Ryan

2009-01-29T15:20:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

A YAC mock show, featuring Ryan Lee and Camille Smura.

Talking Art with Le Plants

2009-01-29T15:19:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

A YAC mock show, featuring Layla Moheimani and Edoardo de Armas.

Greenlight Filming Day 1

2009-01-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

The YAC is working on a film for the Greenlight Film Festival. The Greenlight Film Festival is a showcase of films that encourage environmental activism and show how people can reduce their environmental impacts. Today Jan 17 2009, we had our first day of filming. Our movie is about an environmentally unfriendly and fragmented family that find connection while making a movie for the Greenlight Film Festival. After filming, we played a fun game of basketball, Yann tried to score with his feet. (:

Teen/Slash

2009-01-08T15:19:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Project by the youth advisory counsel. Take on the oscar winning movie Crash.

YAC Visits The Giants !

2008-11-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

On November 5th, the YAC went to AT &T Park. While there, we got to check out the room that controls the scoreboard. It was really cool to see how broadcasting applies in the real world. We also got to see some really cool equipment. Afterwards, we went on a tour of the rest of the Giants stadium. We got to go down onto the track into the visitor's dugout and locker room. It was

to see everyone's faces during this. They were all smiling and enjoying an awesome

opportunity. Another highlight of the trip

was checking out the beautiful VIP lounge.

In the lounge, there were wall sized murals

of baseball scenes. All in all, it was an

amazing experience.

YAC Debate Watch ISSUES

2008-10-31T11:30:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

A short video about how San Jose State University Students felt about the third 2008 Presidential debate. (4:01)

YAC Debate Watch YOUTH

2008-10-31T11:12:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Short video on what San Jose State University students think about the 2008 election. (3:06)

Election 2008 Coverage

2008-10-20T15:02:00.001-07:00

On October 15th the YAC traveled to San Jose State University to film coverage of the Debate Watch event. SJSU students and other interested voters gathered to watch the final presidential debate and share their opinions on the candidates. YAC was there to get the scoop. The 08-09 YAC members (Eugenah Chou, Edoardo De Armas, Ryan Lee, Layla Moheimani, Mark Monroe, Jacob Neugass, Mikkel Nielsen, Camille Smura and Yann Zeller) filmed the viewing of the debate and interviewed students on their reactions. The shoot was a great success! This was arranged through a partnership with Generation Engage (generationengage.org) and segments cut together from this footage will be aired on their website and also the YAC blog. Check back soon for the final result!

YAC In-Camera Editing Project

2008-10-20T14:55:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

This is the result of the first project of the 2008-2009 YAC class. In order to get the feel for the cameras, three groups shot three different videos without the use of editing software. These short videos are just a taste of the wonder yet to come from this year's YAC! Watch and enjoy.

Monkeys at Typewriters

2008-08-07T12:52:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

YAC produces a game show based on the popular board game Balderdash.

The Sun sets on YAC 2008

2008-06-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, the YAC ended the year with a bang! They each presented short clips of the videos they'd made throughout the year, and then talked a short while about their experience. Parents, friends, and board members enjoyed casino games and munchies. Isaac, Ari, and Mark gave out awards to the other YAC members, like the "Rubber Chicken Award" to Jeremy for being so silly and goofy. It was a great way to end the year and celebrate all the great work they've done!

PSA American Cancer Society

2008-05-20T12:36:00.003-07:00

Click to Play

Public Service Announcement

American Cancer Society

PSA Palo Alto Community Fund

2008-05-20T12:36:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Public Service Announcement

Palo Alto COmmunity Fund

PSA Friendship Circle Palo Alto Branch

2008-05-12T17:38:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Public Service Announcement

Friendship Circle Palo Alto Branch

PSA Adolescent Counseling Services

2008-05-12T17:36:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Public Service Announcement

Adolescent Counseling Services

PSA Action Against Hunger

2008-05-12T17:33:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Public Service Anouncement

Action Against Hunger

Violence in the Media

2008-03-31T13:06:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

The Youth Advisory Council discusses violence in the media and how it impacts teens today. Two guests speakers, Quentin Jones and Ricky Minno share their perspectives about the influences of video games, movies, music and other media. (25:40)

New Shows (And New Shows and New Shows)

2008-03-30T13:08:00.001-07:00

Well, we're on to a new task now. Each of us are producing two shows, one studio show and one individual project of our choosing. Most of us are behind on both. Currently we've produced two studio shows-

"In-10-se questions," produced by Ari and Isaac, is essentially U.S. Government jeopardy. In it, two adolescent males (both named Mark) answer questions like "what is the Hawaiian state fish" and so forth. It is most notable for using unusual lighting and special effect configurations(including sound and lighting changes during the taping). In this way it was ambitious. It utilizes a creative (though somewhat Goth) set and creates a definite "theme." Isaac hosts the show.

"Violence in the Media" produced by Adam and I explores common questions about the media's influence over rising youth violence trends. It invites on two guests; Quentin Jones, a lecturer on Media Literacy and Ricky Minno, a young person with a taste for violent video games ("Call of Duty" and so on). Jones and Minno debate the media's roll, however, atypically Minno supports the belief that media does influence youth, while Jones argues that it is only one of many factors. Mary hosts the show.

Next week Jeremey and Mark will be producing a game show (based on the board game "Balderdash"). Their list of unusual words is rather impressive. It looks to be a bit more light-hearted than last week's, perhaps a positive change.

Our individual projects, as I said above, aren't going extraordinarily well. Only one student shot footage. But we will all be working hard over the next two weeks and no doubt they will air within the month.

Media Center YAC 3/30/08

2008-03-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

3/30/08-

It's the first day back to the YAC from spring break, and needless to say, almost all of us did not get our personal project footage. Because this was supposed to be an editing day for our projects and none of us have any footage (except for Mark, hence the almost), all we are doing today is planning for our show, which involves pencils, paper, and Danielle, and transferring videos from tapes to digitized videos, such as mpeg-4's.

Today, I learned, well, how to digitize videos using FCP and how to upload the mp4's to blip.tv, and the video that i uploaded is on our blog! It also happens to be the video that my group (Adam Shore, Mary Minno, ME, Ari Kaye) made, so watch it now!

Can't think of much more to say, so I am going to share a.... success story! today, I had success brainstorming for my personal project and digitizing / uploading a video!
I think that my unbridled hard work and determination led to these motivational success stories, and that I am a role model to the young peoples of America, especially those in Kentucky.
After this monumental success, i feel much more confident about my life and now want to jump higher, run further (farther, if grammar is your thing), go to college!

~Adam Tong

High School Sports

2008-03-30T12:37:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Sports are part of the majority of a high school teen's lives. From participating to cheering on their team at a home game, most teens' daily schedule is defined by sports. However, there are positives and negatives of high school sports. This documentary focuses on interviews with athletes, coaches, and reporters, all of whom have extensive experience with the high school sports atmosphere and its results.
Created by: Adam Tong, Adam Shore, Ari Kaye, and Mary Minno.
This program was produced, filmed and edited by the Youth Advisory Council of the Media Center in Palo Alto, CA. (15:36)

http://www.communitymediacenter.net

YAC at KZSU

2008-03-11T17:59:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

The Youth Advisory Council goes to visit KZSU Stanford radio station. (34:25)

2008-02-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

This was our second day of studio training and it went really well. I helped teach some of the other members of the YAC and we all learned how to use the cameras in the studio. We learned all sorts of different techniques like tilts, dollys, trucking and panning. We practiced these by following someone around with the camera and keeping them framed up in the shot. We also learned all the different locks on the camera and the tripod which is very usefull because it can be pretty bad if you forget how to unlock something like the tilt lock on the camera. We also learned all the different things a floor director does. We learned that a floor director is the voice of the director out in the stodio, because the director can't talk to the talent, the floor director tells them what the director wants them to do. Another thing we learned how to do is "Graphics" which is making the titles, tags, and credits of the show. The last thing we did that day was learn about the "Switcher". The switcher switches the camera angles from camera 1 to camera 2 to camera 3. It's up to the director to tell the switcher when to switch to each camera. It's a fun job and we had a lot of fun learning how to do all these new things.

Studio practice

2008-02-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, we concluded our practice in the studio with mock shows. I, Jeremy Geist, was the switcher, director, and floor director. Personally, I prefer to be switcher, but director is okay occasionally. It's a grueling job, though. Directors deserve to be paid a lot...

Next week we have off for President's Day. Hooray! This'll give me time to get the guest for Mark and my show...

PAYC Field Production Training

2008-02-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

This post is a week (or three) late but I will go ahead and enlighten you anyways. For those of you that did not come, we held a Palo Alto Youth Council training session for the members of the Council who are trying to produce their own video. Mark, Emily and Adam S. led the basic training session with additional help from Adam T. Following the training, we discussed the plans for the video and created a basic shooting and editing schedule. The amount of time they have to complete this project is very limited but we are hoping it will be done in time.

A very nice Sunday YAC session indeed.

Field Projects are complete and on the air!

2008-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

The YAC has been working long and hard on their field projects and they're finally done and on the air! They also are on our website via live stream, for those of you who have relatives and friends outside the Media Center's service area. You can watch them at: http://www.communitymediacenter.net/watch/schedules/index.html

See the following dates and times:

STUDENT STRESS, Channel 28 (Available only on Comcast):

Fri, Feb 8th 8:00pm
Sat, Feb 9th 4:00am
Fri, Feb 15th 8:00pm
Sat, Feb 16th 4:00am
Fri, Feb 22nd 8:00pm
Sat, Feb 23rd 4:00am

EARTHQUAKES, Channel 28 (Available only on Comcast)

Mon, Feb 11th 8:00pm
Tue, Feb 12th 4:00am
Thu, Feb 14th 2:30pm
Mon, Feb 18th 8:00pm
Tue, Feb 19th 4:00am
Thu, Feb 21st 8:30am
Thu, Feb 21st 2:30pm

EARTHQUAKES and STUDENT STRESS, Channel 28 (Available only on Comcast)

Sun, Feb 10th 6:30am
Sun, Feb 17th 6:30am

The Sound @ The Media Center promo

2007-12-05T17:38:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Check out The Sound @ the Media Center (1:00)

Pictures from our tour of KZSU Stanford Radio

2007-12-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

This week

2007-12-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

Hi. We are currently working in small groups on three different videos. My group (Mark, Sunia and I) are doing a feature on earthquakes. The other topics are student sleep, and sports. We just had someone come in and talk about screen writing, and that was interesting. It asks to include a recent experience in some aspect of media.. I guess recently we wrote our own little screen play, which was part of the screen play workshop last week. It was positive because we got to apply the skills we learned about in the class and get a feel for whether or not we enjoy screen writing. Some negatives were maybe that we were there a really long time. It was overall a pretty good experience so I wouldn't really change anything. As for project suggestions... after we finish our videos maybe we can start brainstorming good show ideas. Something we could do more of is maybe film critiquing just because that sounds fun.
See you all next week
-Isaac

Field Trip Last Week

2007-11-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

Last week, six of us from the YAC took a trip to KZSU, the Stanford radio station. KZSU is actually located in a basement of a building, and from the outside doesn't look very impressive. Inside KZSU looked much more like a radio station and we had quite an unique experience there. We first got a tour from two staff members, whose DJ names were Sadie O and Fool. We got to view their impressive library of records, and view all of the equipment needed to run the station.

After the tour, Sadie O went on air with her radio show, and all six of us got to be her honorary guests. On live radio, we read Public Service Announcements, and also promoted the YAC, and explained why we joined it. Danielle also got to go on and discuss the different programs at the Media Center. After that, we all got to have a "round table" discussion with Fool about various off the beat topics, ranging from the topic of lightning to the founding of Stanford. I think the field trip was a success, as the experience of being on the radio was pretty cool. Everyone who went on air did a good job, and perhaps more than 10 people were listening to us.

Our projects seem to be coming along well, and I assume most groups are still gathering interviews. Hopefully we'll have the final product done by winter break.

Not this week, but last week

2007-11-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

sorry for the late blog, im a little overloaded with homework and barely have enough time to go to a computer. looks like i picked a good topic for the projects that were working on! (hint, hint) speaking of the projects, my group has inched a bit further, but still have a long way to go. other things that we have been up to is reviewing our interviews that we did the week before last and pointing out mistakes that both the interviewer and the interviewee have done. for example, when i was being interviewed i fidgeted a lot and that is a major no-no. oh well, maybe next time!

The Art of the Interview (Performing It--- and Getting It)

2007-10-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

This week, as we embark on our first field project of the new semsester, a quick course in interviewing was included in our lesson plan

Most of us have a background in journalism, so for many of us it was a review, but new skills were taught and the rest of us refreshed our knowledge.

We are still very much in the planning phase, but so far our group (student stress) has made little progress.

I personally have contacted around twenty teachers (two replied) and am setting up an interview with the only one of those two who agreed to be interviewed. I will be sending out a different batch of e-mails tomorrow if the situation doesn't improve.

However, despite these setbacks, we have a team of qualified editors and skilled interviewers and once past the ever-irritating phase of coordination, the process should be smooth.

The other groups reported similar results although I do not have the details.

MC Youth Programs Featured in Paly Campanile

2007-10-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

The Palo Alto High School student newspaper, The Campanile, recently ran a feature on the growing youth programs at the Media Center, with an emphasis on the YAC.

Media Center helps student movies shine
Palo Alto teen center offers students tools for success for future careers in the media

By Yelly Bitton of the Campanile

The studio is silent. The lighting is perfectly set. The sound check is done. Three, two, one, action.

Palo Alto High School senior Adam Shore is ready to shoot a television show at Palo Alto's Media Center's television studio. Shore has been involved with activities at the Media Center for over two years.

The Media Center is a non-profit public access television station. The local cable provider, currently Comcast Corporation, is required by California state law to give back to the community and does so in the form of public access media centers, such as the one on San Antonio Blvd. in Palo Alto...

To read the whole article, click here.

Hey hey hey!

2007-10-21T18:28:00.001-07:00

This is Jeremy Geist, your source for all things YAC!

...For this week, anyways.

Today, we played some game that I've never heard of that involved yet more finger-guns, but it was yet quite fun. Somebody (I believe Danielle) brought a loaf of pumpkin bread, and I partook of it and enjoyed it.

On to the nitty-gritty. Today, we talked about what makes media so appealing, viewing a beer commercial (All of us are minors! Bitter irony!) on Youtube, and discussing about the appeal in both visual and sound. Then, we decided on topics for our field productions, coming up with:

A. Narrow escapes and attempted suicides
B. Teen stress. (I'm on this team)
C. High school sports and college sports.

Sorry my post isn't quite as long as the last guy's, but I'm not that great at blogging at length. Pleasure meeting you.

The YAC

2007-10-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

I'm Mark, and I am a junior leader for the Youth Advisory Council. The last time we met as a group, we made short in-camera editing films which means we filmed it all in order and didn't edit it together. This was an exercise to help us practice all the different camera techniques like panning and zooming. I've learned how to use a "boom mic" which was really useful because I wanted to learn how to mic someone without having that microphone show up in the video.

When we were first trying out the boom mic, we couln't get it to work for some reason. We found out how to control the sound of the microphone and our problem was fixed. Another problem we had was that we couldn't figure out how to turn up the sound on the built-in mic on one of the cameras, so it ended up being very quiet. We should be able to figure out what the problem was by asking someone at the Media Center and if we keep experimenting with the equipment I'm sure we'll find out what the problem was sooner or later.

There was one activity that we did where we had to go without Media for one whole day. That meant I couldn't watch any T.V. or listen to my ipod! I also had to avoid ads, billboards and posters because those are also considered as Media. It was hard to get rid of Media, but I had a lot of homework to get done anyway. I should have done the project on a day where I didn't have homework though, because then I would have seen how much I wanted to watch T.V. or listen to my ipod. After that I had one day where I was exposed to Media as I normally am. From doing this project I noticed how much Media I'm exposed to every day.

YAC2008 In-Camera Editing

2007-10-17T14:45:00.001-07:00

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These videos were created using storyboarding and In-Camera editing techniques. They are a project for the field production segment of the YAC program.

Welcome!

2007-10-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Media Center's YAC blog! Visit here often to see what the YAC is doing, read about current projects and recent activities, and see what they're learning each week. Check back soon as we upload completed video projects.

Danielle