Communications Department prepares its annual Multimedia Showcase event
Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus’ Communications Department will hold its annual showcase on Wednesday, April 26, at the Milton Theatre.
Showcase 3.0 will feature the best in student works from various facets of the communications program. The event is free, catered, and doors open to the public at 6:30 p.m., with the main part of the program on the stage from 7-8 p.m.
Department Chair of Communications, Rob Rector, said the event will be hosted, for the third time, by D.J. Magellan of Ocean 98, a former graduate of the program. He said food will be catered by Tapas Catering and Happy Cow will provide the desserts. He also said the event will be live-streamed via YouTube here from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the showcase.
“We want to keep it open and free to the public because we want the students to share this with their family, friends, and peers,” Rector said. “We also invite various dignitaries from the college as well as local business owners and local politicians so they can see the capabilities and the professionalism of our students on display.”
Rector said the department will showcase student works including, but not limited to: video production, photography, graphic design, layout, creative writing, podcasting, and a virtual reality experience.
“This year we are stepping into a world of virtual reality,” he said. “Advanced photography students took pictures using 360-degree cameras and creative writing students wrote pieces to be recorded in tandem with the pictures. Visitors to the event will be able to put on a virtual reality headset, donated by Verizon of Millsboro, and listen to the creative writing pieces while looking at the 360-degree pictures.”
Rector said the screening will showcase various works from the Video Production, Film, and Newswriting 2 classes. He said the videos are categorized dependent upon the class they were produced in because the purposes, intents, and video experience levels of the students and assignments vary.
“For example, the Film class shot their movie trailer videos on iPads and only had two hours to shoot them,” he said. “So obviously, the quality will be rougher. We also do not want Newswriting 2 videos to be confused with advanced video productions because the video composition will be different, but the content and stories are worth showing – and that’s what the showcase is about – showing the best of what we have to offer.”
Rector said only the strongest works are selected for the showcase from each area of the department. He said the selection process is also ruled by time and exhibit space, as there are limited minutes of run-time and space to fill.
“I usually go with what the instructors of each area suggest,” he said. “They’re the ones who worked with the students throughout the semesters, so they know who should and shouldn’t be considered based on their hard work and effort. We work together in paring it all down and then kick it to the students to make any necessary edits on their work.”
Rector said they want to showcase the best work, but they also want to show student effort, too.
“If a student does a great video piece that’s 15 minutes long, but doesn’t do the work to cut it down, it will not be something we can use,” he said. “In any production, film or otherwise, there are always unkind cuts,” he added. “But like any production, the show must go on.”
Communications Instructor Jessica Farley said for her Video Production classes, she predetermines her showcase selections throughout the semesters.
“I look for videos that are particularly technically sound, have a higher degree of attention to detail and quality, and or are very entertaining even if they have issues,” Farley said. “Once the showcase tally is decided, we have the students do cosmetic editing – usually slight improvements or cutting time.”
Farley said she has found opportunities to include work from some of her other classes in this year’s showcase. She expressed that in the past, students not yet taking advanced or the more artistic classes were limited in what they could contribute.
“My Layout and Design students researched data about the overall demographics of our students college-wide and built info-graphics in a trifold display,” she said. “They also created photo spreads on Manteo, North Carolina, as a magazine layout and that will be on display as well.”
Farley said she was also able to include some of her first-year students work from her Electronic Media Class.
“Our Electronic Media students produced 30-second radio commercials and they used the commercials to build 30-second video promos for the showcase,” she said. “Those are going to run in the preview reel. The preview reel includes things from the department’s field trips, students working on projects, and the promo.”
Farley also expressed her excitement for the showcase, her pride in the program, and her appreciation for the students and their hard work, especially the students who go above and beyond.
“We are a two-year school, so the instinct for most people is to underestimate us,” she said. “I like that we’re underestimated because it makes our work in the showcase even better when we have work that blows people away. I love it when the community, the deans, the campus director, and potential employers see that and see what we do every day.”
Communications Instructor Keith Mosher’s Intro to Photography and Advanced Photography students will be exhibiting some of their best pieces in the showcase.
“Each of the Intro to Photography students will have one framed and matted photograph on display, as it would be shown in a museum or gallery,” Mosher said. “We pick each student’s best photo of the semester.”
Mosher said the Intro to Photography class also worked in collaboration with the Creative Writing class. He said the writing students wrote stories and the photography students took photographs based on those stories. He said the authors who were selected will read their stories on stage with the corresponding photos displayed on the screen behind them.
“As long as the image quality is good, we let the author pick the photograph to go along with their story,” he said.
Mosher said his Advanced Photography students will have three different things involved in the showcase. He said each of the students who made it into the showcase will have their long-term projects on display. He said the long-term projects are themed photo projects the students worked on throughout the entire semester.
“They worked on these projects individually the whole semester,” he said. “They picked their themes, worked on them, edited them, refined them, and refined them some more. The projects will be displayed on large posters.”
He said the advanced photo students will also have the 360-degree virtual reality experience and display, along with some old school stereo cards with a stereoscope on display.
“The stereoscope and stereo cards are an old process from the late 1800s – early 1900s,” he said. “It’s basically two of almost the exact same image side by side and when you put them in the viewer, it tricks the eyes into seeing one 3D image. It will show people the difference in technology – it’s not necessarily a new process, but it’s in a new media format.”
Mosher said the showcase not only gives students a setting to display their work, but it gives them experience in setting up an exhibit and exposes them to what goes into putting a multimedia presentation together.
“The showcase not only allows students to see what’s produced in other classes, it also gives them a real-world setting in seeing the various works displayed in a professional manner instead of just in a classroom,” Mosher said. “The showcase creates a professional setting for us to show off our work and it also helps us get funding because people can actually see what they’re supporting.”
First-year Communications student Brenton Wiseman said having his photography work in the showcase makes him feel appreciated and the event has the potential to open him up to potential job opportunities.
“The showcase is a really great way for people to see where the program is going and what students are learning,” Wiseman said. “It’s also great for the students because we get to meet people who may be hiring and looking for new faces in the field.”
Second-year Communications student Kristen Jefferson said she has not been to previous showcases, but she has heard nothing but excitement and raves about it from her instructors and fellow students.
“I know it’s a really big deal and everybody works so hard for it,” Jefferson said. “To have my work in the showcase is such a huge honor. It’s so exciting.”
The Milton Theatre is located at 110 Union Street in downtown Milton, Delaware. Admission to the showcase is free and doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Second year Communications student Kristen Jefferson is excited to present her work in this year's showcase. Photo by K. Rohrbaugh
Photo courtesy of the Communications Department
Video courtesy of the Communications Department