This spring, students at Kauaʻi Community College ACM in the Event Tech and Video Production classes wrapped up their final projects and celebrated their hard work with fellow students, friends, and family in a private showcase event.
These projects are a collection of student experiences in the form of inspirational stories, inspired by 17th century Japanese Poet and Samurai, Mizuta Masahide, who wrote: ‘Barn’s burnt down — now I can see the moon.’ With this prompt in mind, students were able to work either alone or with a partner, showcasing their individuality through their projects. In creating these films and running the live event, students utilized ACM-funded equipment, such as cameras, sound equipment, and lighting fixtures to convey and present their stories.
Kaimana Poulton, a creative media student at Kauaʻi CC and active member of the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), created an inspirational film depicting his view of the world’s beauty. “A self narrative that reflects my outlook on life, the video acts to remind us to not overlook our blessings while also showing us a glimpse of our planet’s natural wonders,” Kaimana shared. “It took weeks of several late nights, but for creating something completely from scratch, I felt that the time spent was a worthy learning experience.” In taking classes with the ACM program at Kauaʻi CC, Kaimana has been able to learn and practice operating various types of equipment, the video creation process from preparation to post-editing, and other hands-on experiences. Kaimana also acknowledges the valuable help and support he has received from his instructors, namely Steve Watkins and Maria Stice, for “(helping) to take (his) creativity into a whole new direction.” Kaimana’s final project can be viewed here, at his Instagram @kaimana_creative.
After all final projects were completed, the students and their guests commemorated the Video Production students’ works at a private live showing run by students of the Event Technology course.
Instructor and ACM Campus Coordinator Steve Watkins teaches both the Event Technology and Video Production courses at Kauaʻi CC ACM. He spoke proudly about this year’s cohort of students, saying that this year’s video programs were the “best I have ever seen from production students who worked on their own (or in groups of two) outside of the scheduled class time.”
The Event Technology course at Kauaʻi CC ACM teaches students how to set up and operate video, lighting, and audio technology and equipment for live events. The course also provides them with hands-on experiences, allowing them to practice their skills in safety and troubleshooting for real events. In addition, course content was developed in partnership with ENCORE GLOBAL, the largest event tech corporation in the world. Kauaʻi CC ACM graduates are able to automatically qualify for internships at ENCORE GLOBAL.
The Video Production courses at Kauaʻi CC teach students how to create and share compelling stories using advanced video, lighting, and audio equipment. Hands-on lessons allow students to gain experience that can be applied in corporate video productions as well as independent digital cinema projects, such as this project.
For more information on Kauaʻi CC ACM’s Creative Media program, contact Stephen Watkins at watkinss@hawaii.edu.
Comments ( 0 )