What’s a Student Production Studio doing in the Library?
Plenty, and the space is really starting to take off just by word of mouth.
The Student Production Studio, located on the 1st floor of Woodruff Library, has three specific functions: video, audio and photography production. Alex Kyrychenko of Academic Technology Services/Student Digital Life is the coordinator of the space and has worked to ensure state-of-the-art technology that is easy to use (with some guided instruction).
The studio is available to all Emory students and was used this past fall to record 14 interviews for the Emory First-Generation Oral History Project. It was also made available to Professor Aubrey Graham’s Visual Arts students, who were tasked to perform visual experiments throughout the semester and then complete a final project that uses the visual product to make an argument. Professor Graham is making plans to conduct small group projects for her Fall 2018 class: Anthropology of Social Movements, and she said, “My students are thrilled with all the resources Emory has on hand!”
In the Podcasting for Health class, Professor Sheila Tefft is planning on pairing 18 students to produce an 8- to 10-minute multi-host podcast, recording their own two-person commentary to mix with sound bites from interviews beginning in March.
The PACE (Pre-Major Advising Connections at Emory) Program, run by Tina McDowell in the Office for Undergraduate Education, wants to use the production studio for PACE 101 (required class for all first year students in the fall). The vision is to have peer leaders make a 30- to 120-second video on the ‘topic of the week’ for the class to discuss. Tina’s team works with each cohort of 1st years, seeing them through until the students declare a major. The Peer Leaders provide resources to help our newest students explore Emory academically and with extracurricular activities.
Abby Holst, the Emory Scholars Program Coordinator used the Student Production Studio to film five Emory College Dean’s Achievement Scholars and members of the Emory Scholars Program. The videos will be used to help publicize the program and the scholarship it provides to current and incoming students. There will be a series of videos featuring the Scholars that will be embedded on their website to invite students to apply. Abby said, “The equipment was excellent and Alex’s guidance was very helpful! We had a lot of fun with the process . . . we will definitely keep this resource in mind going forward.”
The MediaLab in Woodruff Library opened in 2015 and its use has grown dramatically as students take advantage of the software and equipment needed for graphic design, web development, 3D modeling, and for post-production of video, audio and images. The Student Production Studio is an exciting new offering of Emory Libraries and LITS that will enhance digital production, provide new ways to explore academic subjects and result in a rich archive of Emory University going forward.
Having opened on March 26, the studio is now available for students to schedule once they receive the online instruction.
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