Village of Arts and Humanities uses digital production to highlight youth issues

The colorfully painted walls at the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia allow the students to forget their day’s troubles and concentrate on their creativity.
Before class begins, students sit around sharing the latest gossip and brag about their day. The smiles on their faces and the energy of the room prove that the kids are enjoying themselves. At the neighborhood center, just north of Temple University, there are many classes and activities for the students to get involved in, ranging from fashion design to gardening.
“I’ve been coming here for five years,” Leon Sanford, 18, says. “It keeps me sane and out of trouble.”
The Village also has a Digital Media Program that includes video production, photography, writing, and graphic and web design. The program began in 2003 with four students and two computers. At the beginning students strictly learned video editing using existing footage. Since then, the program has expanded to over 20 students and now includes many aspects of digital media production.

El Sawyer, the Village’s program director and one of the film production instructors, says that the students get involved in the program for many reasons, ranging from wanting exposure to the mediums to wanting to pursue production on a professional level. These programs give teens an opportunity to express themselves through video, photography, design and writing while learning various software including Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Dreamweaver.

“We want to bring it to a level that each student can have work for a portfolio,” said Jonathan Kaufman, a film production instructor at the Village. “[This class] provides a way for students to learn a skill that can provide a job opportunity.”
In a film production class, students collaborate to create short films that range in length from 7-12 minutes. The students brainstorm ideas, write scripts, create storyboards, choose locations, act, film the video and edit scenes. Most of the films are narratives but they also produce some documentaries.
“Our topics are things that are issues for the kids,” Sawyer says, like “dating, sexuality, molestation, bullying. The point is to educate people who don’t know.”
The kids’ work is screened through the year at various venues including during the Philadelphia Film Festival. The latest film, “Bullying,” was a narrative about a boy named Ian and how he overcame being bullied by a group of boys.
Sanford, who worked on the film, hopes that it teaches teens that “you can talk it out,” and use words instead of violence to get your point across. The film was finished in December was screened at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art.
Below, watch Chelsea Leposa’s video package about the Village of Arts and Humanities.
http://www.viddler.com/player/54593568/