Lincoln County - Charter School Debuts New Filmmaking Program
LINCOLN CITY – Four high school students talked script and technique as they prepared to hold their first-ever auditions, which will be for an infomercial about their school, Career Tech.
“We’re building a film program,” said instructor Lucinda Ulrich. Prior to coming to Lincoln City, Ulrich was an independent film maker in
Albuquerque, N.M., where she also started a high school film program that is still running.
Funded through an Oregon Department of Education grant, which was possible because of the passing of Measure 98 – the High School
Graduation and College and Career Readiness Act of 2016 – the video program started at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year and
meets once a week.
“We’re still working out all the details, the money just became available
this month,” Ulrich said. “This is kind of like a start-up experience,
we’re kind of building the ship as we’re sailing it.”
Currently the equipment being used works as a learning tool, but it
won’t get the students very far.
“There’s a list of acceptable cameras that are considered broadcast-
quality. If you don’t own one of those cameras, you can’t distribute to
Netflix, you can’t distribute to any of the major studios,” Ulrich said.
New equipment is forthcoming.
“Long term I really want to get to a point, maybe in the summer,
where we’re shooting actual short films and then we’re partnering with
union film people, that’s sort of a long-term goal,” she said.
Because of past experiences and contacts, Ulrich has been able to line up mentors from almost all aspects of the film industry. As students
advance she will connect them with those who will be able to guide
them in advancing their film careers. “These are people who are
professional, who are working, who can mentor,” she said.
Of the four students in this first course, two students have no video
experience and two students have made skate and music videos using their home equipment.
Trinity Shamberger, 15, said, “I don’t have any film experience, but I
take photos.” Mostly she takes pictures of her cat and nature such as
sunsets and raindrops on the grass. Shamberger said she would like
to make videos featuring animals.
Faith Bennett, 17, said, “I don’t really have any film experience. I’ve
learned a lot from Lucinda, she really enlightened me about the whole
cinematography world.” Bennet said she would like to make videos
featuring nature.
Jeremiah Surber, 16, said, “I started filming skateboarding with my
friends probably a year and a half ago on my iPhone. I found out I
really liked it and purchased my first camera about a year ago. When
I found out we got this video program this year I was super excited.”
Surber said he intends to go to college and study everything he can for
videography.
Tyler Rini, 16, said, “I’ve filmed music videos for my brother, because
he’s an artist. Also, I’m a big editor – I like to edit stuff.” Rini said his
aim is to make music videos professionally.
“Next semester (each student) is going to have their own project and
they’re going to have their own pieces,” Ulrich said.
For next year she hopes to run the class like a crew, and take on
projects that students would get paid for. “We would be Career Tech’s
production company.”
Contact reporter Joan Brown at 541-265-8571 x211 or
jbrown@newportnewstimes.com
