Press Release: May 27, 2008
[Press queries go to Suzanne Miller, Director, City Voices City Visions Digital Video Composing project at smiller@buffalo.edu or 645-2455 x1122]
Festival Screening & Awards for Student-Made Digital Videos
The first annual City Voices, City Visions Digital Video Awards Festival for students in the Buffalo Public Schools (BPS), will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 5 at the Market Arcade Cinemas at 639 Main Street in Buffalo.
More than 40 short digital videos were nominated by BPS teachers as their most successful student-made productions that communicated an important message while sustaining audience interest. The nominated digital videos are being evaluated by an independent panel of judges.
The best videos will be shown in several categories, including traditional ones such as Most Effective Soundtrack, Best Cinematography, Outstanding Editing and innovative ones related to the curriculum-based focus of the program, such as Best Literature-based Video and Best History-based Video. A total of 12 videos will be recognized, including three grand prize awards-for Best Middle Grades Video, Best High School Grade 9-10 Video, Best High School Video Grade 11-12. Student creators will receive engraved trophies.
The event is sponsored by the City Voices, City Visions (CVCV) Digital Video Composing project, a partnership between the University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Public School District. The CVCV project focuses on supporting teachers in learning to use digital video composing as a powerful tool for students to learn in the school curriculum.
The three judges for the festival are Dorothea Braemer, Executive Director of Squeaky Wheel; Jonathan Federick, English and media teacher at Cheektowaga High School; and Paul Lamont, Senior Producer at WNED, the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association.
This festival and awards event is designed to showcase talents and achievements of middle and high school students in BPS who have created digital videos in classrooms to learn concepts in English, social studies, science, and other classes. It is funded, in part, by the John R. Oishei Foundation.
A drawing for a door prize of a new digital video camera will be held at the end of evening. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 645-2696
or visit www.CityVoicesCityVisions.org