Professional Development: Visual History Summer Institute at Georgia Southern University
In February, I applied to the Visual History Summer Institute at Georgia Southern University. I was accepted and gladly paid the nominal fee for the program and housing. What does this has to do with foreign language you ask? Everything. After attending the "They Are We" workshop at Vanderbilt University, I was inspired to investigate how to film all of the cultural interactions that I experience in my travels. Many a times I have thought about using my creative side to make a documentary or film to make a concept more relevant to my students.
The study of language itself is not just relegated to linguistics. We also need to look at the cultures that speak them. Some of our children may never go and see the places we have seen, so filming our travels is one of the best ways to bring the world to them.
In the Visual History Summer Institute, essentially a group of strangers met for the first time and were divided into two groups to take on two different projects. My group was assigned the project to make a short film about a cotton gin, a recent acquisition to the university's museum. The director, a fellow Hoosier arranged places for us to film and interview. They were some of the most exhausting and intense two weeks of my life.
link to youtube channel https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCYuuKUAp8ZwsVTeUVfBoZhQ
Day 1: I drove to the campus
The check in process was very accessible. The dorms were up to date and very comfortable. We had a living room and a full kitchen.
Day 7: We were given the option to have the weekend to go to Savannah, or to go home. I opted for the latter. It's about a 2.5 hour drive back home.
Day 14: This was the day of final and we were able to present our projects. It was an awe inspiring presentations. We watched each other's projects and even though there were only two topics to choose from, each producer brought something different to the project. This is an awesome program that should be replicated on a national scale. It is in every way worthy of a certification or some type of formal recognition of learning as it is intensive and very thorough. Participants recommended that there should be a follow up institute for previous attendees to come back and take an intermediate course, to start a conversation with budding filmmakers in Georgia.
I think the project is awesome and technical in ways that I found tedious and learned that I want nothing to do with the editing room. I want to be on the creative end, writing the script maybe even casting, but the editing part I will leave to the true professionals. I will never look at movies the same. It is a skill and an art that I have grown to respect!
For more information click here
The study of language itself is not just relegated to linguistics. We also need to look at the cultures that speak them. Some of our children may never go and see the places we have seen, so filming our travels is one of the best ways to bring the world to them.
In the Visual History Summer Institute, essentially a group of strangers met for the first time and were divided into two groups to take on two different projects. My group was assigned the project to make a short film about a cotton gin, a recent acquisition to the university's museum. The director, a fellow Hoosier arranged places for us to film and interview. They were some of the most exhausting and intense two weeks of my life.
link to youtube channel https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCYuuKUAp8ZwsVTeUVfBoZhQ
Day 1: I drove to the campus
The check in process was very accessible. The dorms were up to date and very comfortable. We had a living room and a full kitchen.
Day 7: We were given the option to have the weekend to go to Savannah, or to go home. I opted for the latter. It's about a 2.5 hour drive back home.
Day 14: This was the day of final and we were able to present our projects. It was an awe inspiring presentations. We watched each other's projects and even though there were only two topics to choose from, each producer brought something different to the project. This is an awesome program that should be replicated on a national scale. It is in every way worthy of a certification or some type of formal recognition of learning as it is intensive and very thorough. Participants recommended that there should be a follow up institute for previous attendees to come back and take an intermediate course, to start a conversation with budding filmmakers in Georgia.
I think the project is awesome and technical in ways that I found tedious and learned that I want nothing to do with the editing room. I want to be on the creative end, writing the script maybe even casting, but the editing part I will leave to the true professionals. I will never look at movies the same. It is a skill and an art that I have grown to respect!
For more information click here
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