Taft Students Take Field Trip to Loyola
Photos by Jamason Chen
What is your favorite holiday movie?
This is the question students from Taft High School asked passersby during a recent field trip to Loyola’s School of Communication.
Nearly 30 Taft students used professional video cameras and microphones to interview people near Chicago’s historic Water Tower, brightly decorated for the holidays. The students also were recorded on camera reading news stories at the anchor desk of the School of Communication’s state-of-the-art convergence studio.
Since the Taft students are all taking film courses, the field trip focused on holiday movies. During their interviews, students learned that many people like movies such as “Home Alone,” “Elf,” and ‘The Grinch.” They recorded the conversations using professional-quality video cameras.
Meanwhile in the SOC studio, a different group of Taft students produced an introduction to the holiday movie theme. They worked in the studio control room, manned the cameras and sat at the anchor desk, reading the introduction off a Teleprompter.
Ultimately, the studio introduction and on-the-street interviews will be edited into a holiday-themed package.
The trip was a wonderful opportunity for Taft film students,” said Taft film instructor Benjamin Bateman. “My students were able to be college students for the day, working with Loyola faculty and resources. The hands-on experience in the studio and the field allowed students to express themselves and gain confidence as young filmmakers.”
Taft, a Chicago Public School on the city’s Northwest Side, serves nearly 4,300 students who take general courses, advanced placement classes, and International Baccalaureate courses. Taft also has an extensive film studies program, including a dual-credit course through Loyola.
Taft students on the field trip were part of the film studies program. They said working with Loyola’s video cameras and other equipment was a great addition to their education.
“The field trip was a fun adventure,” said Sydney Juliano, a Taft junior. “Talking to people was fun and helped form communication skills while being able to put yourself out there. Very unexpected, but was exciting and I would definitely want to do it again next year."
Taft junior Raila Gonzales agreed.
"I thought the trip was really fun,” Gonzales said. “It was an enlightening hands-on experience, and it goes to show the process of filming (videos) requires teamwork and every person has a specialized role. We were able to use what we learned in film class in both activities and how these concepts can be applied to different types of film like interviews, documentaries or reporting news.”
School of Communication Dean Ginny McDermott said she was impressed with the maturity and dedication of the Taft students.
“I was impressed by the enthusiasm and professionalism displayed by the students from Taft High School during their visit to the School of Communication,” McDermott said. “Watching more than 30 students work in our broadcast studio, perfect their on-camera delivery in the control room, and conduct interviews at Water Tower Plaza showed me that the future of filmmaking and journalism is in capable hands.”
If your high school would like to schedule a field trip to Loyola’s School of Communication, please contact Associate Dean John Slania at jslania@luc.edu.