Orem » Jordan Pontarelli sat at his editing station, working on his rock-climbing documentary film.
The subject wasn't his first choice, but it was the one that got green lighted. The footage on his screen showed climbers tackling an indoor climbing wall.
"It's pretty good, but if I can get more footage, its going to be better," Pontarelli said.
His film isn't an attempt to break into the Sundance Film Festival. Rather, he and fellow students at East Shore High School are participating in a hands-on media literacy class co-taught by Brigham Young University students.
Amy Petersen Jensen, professor of media arts at BYU, has brought her media students into classrooms at East Shore for the past four years, as well as other schools. The program, Hands On a Camera, gives the BYU students a chance to put their classroom training to practical use, as well as help teens gain media literacy.
"I see media literacy as important vas reading and writing," Jensen said.
The BYU students show the teens how media are used to influence people, and how to send messages.
Their teaching method? Have the students make a short documentary film.
Jensen said students are encouraged to tell a story about their community, be it skateboarders, baseball teams or living with diabetes.
The students use consumer-grade digital video cameras and the iMovie editing software that comes bundled with all Macintosh computers.
Scott Willis, who teaches English at East Shore, welcomes the help from BYU.
"It's so good to have an expert in the field," Willis said. He said the BYU crew helps reinforce what he teaches the students about literature and storytelling.
BYU junior Becca Potter, one of the student teachers, said the teens are tech-savvy, having grown up in the age of Youtube videos and social networking Web sites. The challenge is teaching them how to use the technology to effectively tell stories.
"We teach them the impact of telling their stories, and how media can impact people for good or bad," Potter said.
Judy Simmons, a BYU senior, said she tries to help the students focus their stories. Sometimes they have an overly broad idea that needs to be pared down to be meaningful.
Carlos Ramirez, a senior at East Shore, initially wanted to do a story about an allegedly haunted house in his neighborhood. Local legend has it that a past owner committed suicide within its walls, making it the perfect place to go for a Halloween thrill.
"The paranormal is something that attracts my attention," Ramirez said.
But, as he worked on the project, he decided to look at the history of the run-down pioneer-era home, and make that the focus of the story.
