Newswise — EMC Productions is now the official name of the student-run production company in the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University, where experiential learning—hands-on learning—is gradually becoming a tradition in several fields.
An MTSU student can even become an EXL Scholar and receive an EXL Scholar’s designation on his or her diploma, signifying for a prospective employer that this applicant has worked in the trenches of the real-world workplace and is job ready.
TV production students at MTSU will be among those job ready. EMC Productions is already broadcasting select Sun Belt Conference football and basketball games and also will be available for hire for concerts, theatrical performances, telethons and more.
For the last 20 years, students have produced what they call truck productions, noted Dr. Dennis Oneal, chair of the college’s Department of Electronic Media Communication.
“We even call it the ‘truck class,’ but it’s really the Mobile TV Production class,” Oneal said. “We’ve always done some athletic events. But over the last few years, the athletic department really started to pay attention. They asked us if we would mind if they took our signal and put it on ESPN3. We couldn’t figure out a good reason why not.” ESPN3 is a broadband network for live sports programming.
“So we worked out a rate card,” Oneal said, deciding that the students needed some modest compensation. “It’s not a lot of money, but we’re already trying to put together a crew for next year.”All the games produced by EMC Productions this year were either on ESPN3 or Comcast Sports South or both, Oneal said.
“From an academic standpoint, what a fantastic experience for the students,” he said. “How many kids in college can say they have their class assignments on ESPN3?”
“It has been a very successful venture,” said Mark Owens, director of athletic communications. “The fact that ESPN has agreed to take these games is a strong statement of our students’ quality of work. The students have been tremendous, and it will only get better as we continue to grow the program.”
There are several open positions available in EMC Productions for next fall, Oneal noted, and they will be accepting applications.
“We’ll come up with job descriptions and minimum requirements,” he said. “We want to make something where students aspire to be part of this team.”
Jobs will include producer and director to camera operator and grip—and everything in between.“There are several universities starting to use production students in their sports production,” Parrish added. “I believe we’re different in that our students fill all production positions except announcers. Other universities have professional producers and directors.”
Sarah Fryar, a senior from McMinnville, Tenn., double-majoring in electronic media journalism and business administration, can vouch for the hands-on experience that she is gaining through her work with EMC Productions. Already she works as the sideline reporter for the Blue Raiders and hosts her own sports show on Athlon Sports.
“Producing is my strong suit because that’s what I spend the most time doing,” Fryar said. “I can run a camera, and I can run the board. Graphics, maybe not so much and stats, I usually hire someone to do that. I don’t have a problem making decisions, but it can be very intimidating.”
With the anticipated arrival of a new mobile production truck, Fryar wants to familiarize herself with the entire range of equipment.
“I’ll be in the last class that will get to use the old truck and the first to use the new truck,” she said.
Regarding experiential learning, Fryar refers to what she calls an ongoing joke in the halls of mass comm. “There are book learners and there are doers. We’re fortunate here at MTSU. We’ll get a degree in doing it—not a degree in book learning.”
Where Fryar says her interest is about 50-50 between being in front of and behind the camera, senior Sabrina Tucker, from Chattanooga, Tenn., prefers the EMC Productions editing room.
Tucker graduated from UT-Chattanooga with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and worked in hotel sales for two years. Her work with marketing and sales videos reinforced her dream of being a film editor. She came to MTSU and will graduate this spring with a degree in media production.
“It’s basically playing God,” Tucker said of the editing process. “You can shoot as much footage as you want, but it’s how you actually piece it together that makes the show—and where you make the cuts to portray the director’s vision.”
Tucker’s first internship was with rootsHQ in Nashville, where she worked on Sen. Jim Tracy’s (R-Shelbyville) video when he was running for the Tennessee General Assembly. Currently she is interning at Ground Zero in Nashville.
“I love the EMC department here because you pretty much get your hands on everything as far as doing concerts, truck work, single-camera, music videos, short features—it’s so diverse. I also like the fact that we have to take media law. You get to explore every aspect of media,” Tucker said.
“In ten years, I hope to be editing Quentin Tarantino movies,” she added. “If I can’t find an editing job, I want to be director of continuity. It’s all about continuity.”
“EMC Productions is another great example of a successful collaborative effort of students and faculty members,” commented Dr. Roy Moore, mass communication dean. “The students will acquire real-world experience, skills and knowledge that will enhance their ability to find career opportunities in the mass media industry.”
For more on MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/masscomm. For more information about MTSU extensive experiential-learning initiative, visit http://frank.mtsu.edu/~exl/.
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