Fifteen upper school students hit the streets of Philadelphia on April 19 with cameras supplied by the WHYY studios as part of a day-long video production workshop.  After a morning of preparation, the aspiring journalists stopped pedestrians on Independence Mall and conducted short interviews about sleeping patterns and reading habits.  Later, they critiqued their footage back at the studio.

"The day was definitely a hands-on learning experience," reports upper school English teacher Jim Miller, who plans to make the workshop a regular part of his media studies elective.  The students walked from Friends Select to the WHYY building on Sixth Street and began the day with a tour of the facility that included glimpses of well-known syndicated radio show host Dan Gottlieb (“Voices in the Family”) and the offices of Mike McGrath (“You Bet Your Garden”) and Terry Gross (“Fresh Air").

Then the students were given camera equipment to use (with minimal guidance) and some prep time to discuss interview topics and do a few mock interviews.  Before heading outdoors, they also got some basic tips on filming interviews, including:

• Don’t center the interviewee in the frame. 
• Don’t point the camera into the sun.
• Position the camera operator so he/she can shoot over the interviewer’s shoulder.
• Hold the microphone a hand’s width below the mouth.
• Ask open-ended questions that won't result in simple yes or no answers.

With those basic instructions in hand, the students tried out their newly minted skills.  For senior Grace Jackson, who is planning to attend art school in September, video is not her medium of choice.  “But it was fun to try it out for a day,” she says.  “And I’ll definitely consider taking a video course in college.” 

Touring a television/radio station, developing story ideas and interview questions, learning to use professional video equipment, practicing new skills in the “real world” and working as a team…For Miller and his media studies students, it was a day well spent.