April 8, 2008

Students will film Pope's mass during his New York City visit

Five students and instructor Bill Callison, manager for academic outreach at Purdue's Hall of Music Productions, will leave for New York City on April 15 to prepare to film the April 20 concert and papal mass at Yankee Stadium. While the Pope speaks, the footage will be projected on the stadium's video screens for the expected audience of 60,000, as well as sent on a satellite feed for television outlets.

The students, who will return April 23, will receive internship credit through the College of Liberal Arts' Film/Video Studies program.

"This is more than just another gig on their resume. This is about as high-profile and extensive a venue as they will ever get to experience during their careers," said Callison, who teaches the internship course for third- and fourth-year students. "These students will learn what it's like to work in an environment with very strict security issues. This show is about as detailed and as extensive as they come."

The pope will visit the United States April 15-20. Prior to celebrating Mass at Yankee Stadium, a variety of musical artists will perform at the Concert of Hope. The students also will film the concert, which includes artists such as Harry Connick, Jr., the Harlem Gospel Choir, Marcello Giordani and LIBERA Boy's Choir.

During the filming and the days preparing at Yankee Stadium, the students will be involved in many aspects of the production, including engineering, building six giant light-emitting diode video screens, operating cameras and video graphics computers, and managing. The students learn these skills through the academic program's collaboration with the Hall of Music Productions.

"We believe it is part of our mission to involve students in our work and to provide them with real-world opportunities and experiences in the industry," said Stephen Hall, director of the Hall of Music Productions. "It is critical that students who seek to work in the entertainment industry receive hands-on learning or, as we call it, experiential learning, as part of their academic training. It is our goal to place students in situations where they are exposed to high-end video productions and are expected to work side-by-side with seasoned industry professionals in operating state-of-the-art video equipment with often multi-million dollar budgets at stake.  I have yet to discover any other type of opportunity that can so prepare a student for a job in the video production industry."

The students who will participate are:

* William F. Cabral, from West Lafayette, is a junior majoring in film and video studies.

* Aaron Hebda, from Wheatfield, Ind., is a sophomore majoring in film and video studies.

* Tommy Beardmore, from Lafayette, is a senior majoring in film and video studies.

* Zack Clevenger, from Kokomo, Ind., is a junior majoring in computer graphic technology.

* Stephanie Mae, from Plymouth, Ind., is a senior in mass communications.

These students also assisted with filming the Dalai Lama's visit to Purdue in October, as well as last summer's Country Music Association's Music Festival in Tennessee, where 80 artists including Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisely, Little Big Town, Sugarland and Carrie Underwood performed.

The expenses for this trip will be paid by the event's organizers.

The course is offered by Hall of Music Productions as part of an internship program in the College of Liberal Arts' Film/Video Studies program. More than 40 students have participated in this program during the past four years.

In addition to courses offered in video production and editing through Hall of Music Productions, Film/Video Studies courses include digital video, scriptwriting, history of film, French cinema, literature and the visual arts, as well as a choice of film studies of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Latin-America, Russia, China, Japan, Morocco, Brazil, Portugal and others. Students also explore film and media criticism. More than 80 students are majoring in this program.

"Such up-close and personal experience with world luminaries gives Purdue's Film/Video studies students an edge over other graduates throughout the country," said Patricia Hart, interim chair of Film/Video Studies and the professor of Spanish. "These experiences help our students succeed in professions in the real world."

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Sources: Bill Callison, (765) 404-4393, billc@purdue.edu

Stephen Hall, (765) 494-3937, sdhall@purdue.edu

Patricia Hart, (765) 494-3857, phart@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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