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MTSU students create media for foreign language nonprofit

May 16, 2013 By

MTSU students enrolled in Professor Clare Bratten’s Seminar in Media Issues class took their skills from the classroom to the real world this spring by creating a media campaign for the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute.

Their work came through Seminar in Media Issues: Project Real, an Experiential Learning class for students to produce media that benefits real clients in the Murfreesboro and Nashville area. Students learn theories and strategies that can be applied to creating media for these clients.

This screen shot shows the elstogo.org website created by students in Professor Clare Batten's experiential learning class for the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute.

This screen shot shows the elstogo.org website created by students in Professor Clare Batten’s experiential learning class for the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute. Click on the image above to visit the site.

Under the direction of Bratten, an associate professor in electronic media communication, the class worked in teams to produce and deliver media campaigns. For the foreign language project, Bratten’s students met with program directors for the institute’s ESL to Go program to discuss how best to reach its target audience of those interested in English as a Second Language.

The students then created web content, shot video and wrote scripts to present a comprehensive media campaign to the institute.

“The goal is to ‘enchant’ our clients as well as the intended audience,” Bratten told her students the first day of class.

Dr. Clare Bratten

Dr. Clare Bratten

With that goal in mind, the class began researching ESL to Go. The program has a simple mission: to offer English classes to those who lack transportation. This is done with a 34-foot truck that’s specially designed and engineered to be a fully functioning ESL classroom on wheels. The unit comfortably seats 10 students and includes a teacher’s workspace and cabinetry for storage, as well as amenities such as white boards and a projector.

The students quickly drafted a proposal for the campaign and patiently waited for feedback from the nonprofit.

The class created the website, www.esltogo.org, and also created media to go on the site. Part of the process was meeting with and interviewing current students of the ESL program in Nashville. The interviews will be used as video in the final media campaign.

Meeting the ESL students proved rewarding and educational for the students. Not only did the class gain valuable experience, they have learned about new cultures and the struggles associated with learning a new language in a foreign place.

Seminar in Media Issues: Project Real is for advanced media students — specializing in electronic media production, journalism, public relations. In addition to the ESL to Go program, the spring 2013 class had as its clients the Nashville Symphony and Journeys in Community of Rutherford County.

The class is comprised of students from the College of Mass Communication who learn a broad range of skills, from video editing and web design to interview and script writing.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)

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Mass comm students ‘shoot’ for stars with CMT.com videos

December 5, 2012 By

The work of MTSU mass communication students can be seen now on Country Music Television’s website in a series of music videos for a rising artist.

New country artist Kelleigh Bannon performs at the 2012 Capitol Street Party in downtown Nashville in this video shot by MTSU electronic media communication students and currently airing on CMT.com.

Electronic Media Communication students, in collaboration with Capitol Records Nashville, filmed and produced footage of upcoming country music artist Kelleigh Bannen at her live performances at this fall’s Capitol Street Party in downtown Nashville.

An estimated 25,000 fans on Nashville’s Lower Broadway enjoyed music from the EMI Records Nashville performer and Capitol Records Nashville artists Luke Bryan and Jon Pardi on Oct. 17. Fifty-three MTSU students modulated audio, staffed HD cameras, conducted interviews and recorded the concerts for the label.

Bannen, a Nashville native, was the November featured artist for “Listen Up,” an online feature CMT launched in 2011 to showcase country acts “on the verge of breaking out.”

Fans can log on to www.listenup.cmt.com to watch exclusive performances by Bannen from the Capitol Street Party, including “Sorry on the Rocks,” “Rose Colored Glasses,” “I Wore Green,” “Oh My My” and “Be A Man.”

What they’ll see is top-quality footage provided by Blue Raider scholars.

MTSU’s Bob Gordon, an assistant professor in electronic media communication who oversaw the student effort at the Capitol event, said his students’ footage was given to CMT. The network then had Tackle Box Films edit it into the series of videos for Bannen’s “Listen Up” feature.

As part of the Capitol Street Party collaboration, MTSU students also will post-produce music videos for specific songs by Bryan, Pardi and Bannen.

“Our students will edit one song from each artist,” Gordon said.

They also will produce a promotional video for the department and a “sizzle reel,” which Capitol will use in social media and other marketing efforts. Students worked alongside Capitol executives and technicians to stage the show.

“It’s great, because now they have something they can show,” Gordon said of his students’ professional quality work. “It’s a wonderful opportunity that really helps their resumes and portfolios. That’s what we’re trying to do for these students.”

Gordon served as assistant director for the event alongside director Zack Eagles, a senior radio/television major from Alvaton, Ky. Colby Graham, a senior radio/television major, produced MTSU’s Capitol Street Party efforts. (You can watch a video about their work below.)

Students worked inside MTSU’s 40-foot, $1.7 million HD mobile production laboratory, also known simply as “The Truck.” Students use the lab to cover sports, concerts and other events for local broadcast, cable stations and national cable networks.

MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, the fifth largest in the nation, includes three signature departments — electronic media communication, journalism and recording industry — and specialty centers devoted to popular music and student media. The 2012 Capitol Street Party marks the second year that the university has partnered with the record label to provide real-world experience for students.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)

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