The McDaniel Approach to Film & Video StudiesWe provide instruction in fundamental skills so that students can express themselves for their own satisfaction and to the larger community. --Excerpt from McDaniel College’s
First Principles
All technology is transitory. New high tech edit systems and software are introduced every year. New video formats and film stocks flood the market, then vanish.
The only hardware that doesn’t become obsolete every six months: The human brain and the human heart.
And so Film & Video Studies at McDaniel doesn’t embrace the typical button-pushing, widget-obsessed approach to producing media. Instead, we emphasize fundamental skills at the core of the liberal arts: strong research and writing; understanding character, narrative development, and historical context; all the while nurturing teamwork, critical thinking, and creative problem solving.
We’ve all seen Hollywood films with awesome stunts and special effects, great costumes and mega-star talent. But do the stories even make sense? Are a character’s motivations remotely believable? What is the filmmaker saying and why is she or he saying it? When you walk out of the theater, does the film’s emotional impact – if indeed it even has one – evaporate instantly?
Our goal, then: Solid stories, smartly told.
And you don’t need million dollar edit systems to do this. All of our students shoot on the most user-friendly cameras available (Sony mini-DV handycams), and edit on easy-to-use digital, non-linear edit systems (Casablanca Avio, Final Cut Pro). We don’t want our storytellers to spend years mastering soon-to-be-obsolete equipment, overwhelmed with hundreds of ALT-SHIFT-WHATEVER function keys. We want them to start telling stories that are important to them RIGHT AWAY, making mistakes, learning from them, and moving on to master “writing” the 21st century way – by assembling narratives of images and sound.
Undergraduates who complete the Film & Video Studies Minor can then apply in their junior year to our Filmmaking Apprenticeship. These select few, under highly individualized faculty mentoring, spend a semester writing and directing 30+ minute digital video featurettes (fiction or documentary) during their senior capstone experience. These projects are then screened for the public during our annual VideoPalooza festival.
We also highly encourage Film & Video Studies Minors to pursue internships in their areas of interest – and we’ve had students earn credit working at VH1 in New York, Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, BET in Washington DC, NFL Films, Comcast SportsNet, The Baltimore Ravens, The History Channel, Maryland Public Television, WSAV Savannah, as well as at a number of regional production houses and local news affiliates.
We truly are preparing the next wave of creative thinkers and storytellers – people who communicate powerful ideas by using images and sound -- graduating well-rounded “citizens of the world” who have something interesting to say.
Upon completing the Filmmaking Apprenticeship, seniors receive a certificate that congratulates them for demonstrating “passion, ingenuity, tenacity, and humanity in storytelling.”
We think this says it all.
A selection of senior capstone projects completed as part of the Filmmaking Apprenticeship:
Documentary
Behind the Lens. 20 min. Michael Chittenden ’08.
An interview-rich, behind-the-scenes documentary about what it really takes to put together a television program. Filmed at Maryland Public Television in Owings Mills, MD.
2008: An E.A.C. Odyssey. 20 min. Steven Eggers ‘08.
Portrait of environmentally active student Connor Rasmussen and his merry band of Trash Questers.
Playing in the Dark: The Story of a Boy and his Guitar. 20 min. Taylor Hebden ’08.
Profiles the life and music of Baltimore punk guitarist Scott Rader.
Optional Start: A Wrestling Team Rebuilds. 35 min. Aaron Janowski ‘08
Chronicles a season of triumphs and challenges as a team pushes for a championship.
Elet Kulfoldon: Life Abroad. 40 min. Maggie Ross ’07.
The filmmaker documents the challenges and rewards of studying in Budapest, Hungary for a semester.
Determination: Building the Cannon. 30 min. Greg Wagner ’07.
The filmmaker documents his own six-month weight loss and body transformation as he prepares himself for a professional baseball tryout.
Say What? 30 min. Suzanne Lester ’07.
Slang over-runs everyday discourse.
The Lost Connection. 30 min. Marcia Robusto ’06.
The filmmaker explores the impact of her grandmother’s Alzheimer's on the family.
A Rose by Any Other Name. 30 min. Joe Evaristo, '06.
Words can be powerful tools and weapons.
Stepping Foot on New Ground. 40 min. Brigid Seay, '06.
Four international students describe life at McDaniel as they see it.
Dying to Get High. 30 min. Greg Raeder, '05.
Parents who’ve lost children to heroin talk about how this drug has irrevocably changed their lives and their county.
Fiction
Player’s Thumb. 20 min. Billy Duffy. ’09.
A student attempts to negotiate the challenges of college: Love , weed, and too much gaming.
How You Land. 30 min. David Nasongkhla ’08.
How do you break out of a dead end life without betraying your friends?
Hear/Say. 70 min. Thomas Shortridge ‘07 & K.C. Delp ’07.
Words spread like wildfire. Do you feed the flames?
William Tells All. 60 min. Thomas Shortridge '07.
A low-key sportswriter looks for love with the help of his belligerent friend.
Small Time Hoods. 30 min. Scott Koleszar ’07.
A lost bag of cash and the ol’ double-cross.
Term Paper of the Damned. 30 min. Joe Evaristo, '06.
The "cult of sloth" kidnaps a procrastinator.
Film & Video Studies is flourishing at McDaniel. Check out these related stories in our archives:
Belida: Alumnus teams up to win 72-hour film contest
Franko: Grad’s arresting performance on HBO’s 'Wire'
Hampson: Alumna travels the world as NBC producer
Miko: Hungarian film crew on campus
PBS: PBS ‘History Detectives’ filmed in college library
Roberts: Journalists offer look behind the scenes
Ross: Film documents semester abroad
Slade: College cable to air only campus-produced programming
Slade, Lemieux: Profs Spend Summer Sweating Over new TV Studio
Slade: Video storytellers capture life in Budapest
Thomas: Helen Thomas wows crowd
Ubaldo: Film student is finalist in international competition
Vance: Students find new meaning in TV
VideoPalooza: Fledgling filmmakers showcase their skills
Minor in Film and Video Studies Guide (.doc)
Theatre, Film, and Video Production Dual Major Guide (.doc)