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The Buckingham Young Image Makers
Foundation is dedicated to supporting the Visual/Media Arts and Information
Technology elective strands of Buckingham Charter Magnet High High School.
It is our goal to provide funding for these programs so that Buckingham
students will benefit from state-of-the-art equipment and become a
competitive force in their chosen career pathway.
VISUAL MEDIA ARTS (VMA)
Showcase Activities
Young Image Makers Film Academy
The Course
The Young Image Makers Academy is rapidly becoming an
elective highlight for many students at Buckingham Charter Magnet High
School. Armed with hopes and dreams, students are being offered an
opportunity to experience the art of filmmaking at its highest level.
In The Can
Students of this unique course can be very proud of their accomplishments
over the past few years. The students have completed three short films to
date. “Sanctuary”, “Ashes”, and “Little Star”. The films have been made
possible impart by Northern California professionals and companies such as
Frances Ford Coppola’a American Zoetrope, the Eastman Kodak Company,
Chapman/Leonard Company, and Monaco Film Labs.
The Premiere
Each of the short films, Sanctuary, Ashes, & Little Star, have had the
privilege to be shown on the big screen in a Hollywood Style Premier. With
the generous support from the Brenden Theaters in Vacaville, students were
able to view the five-minute short films they produced. Attending these
events to honor the students’ accomplishments were local dignitaries, such
as Mr. David Fleming, past Mayor of Vacaville, and representatives from
Assemblywomen Helen Thompson and State Senator Maurice Johannsen, along with
friends, family, and local film enthusiasts.
“Little Star”, the last short film produced by the students was honored to
have been chosen to be screened at the prestigious New York International
Film & Video Festival. The film was one of the 150 films chosen to screen in
New York in September, 2002. The film was chosen out of 13,000 films entered
into this very important festival.
The Newscast
A new addition to the film strand at Buckingham is the Buckingham Broadcast
News. This is a live broadcast that transmits pertinent student news and
information, school-wide, once a week. It is completely generated by the
students. They operate the camera, lighting equipment, sound equipment,
special graphics on the green screen, and act as news anchors in front of
the camera. Improvements are being made all the time and thanks to our new
graphics team, the broadcast is looking more and more like the news you see
on network stations every day. This newscast has provided just one more
exciting way for students to get a “hands on” experience in a field they may
wish to make a career some day.
A Continued Bright Future
Students enrolling in the Young Image Makers Film Academy as freshman have a
future in the film industry. Upon completion of their senior year, they will
have worked on four short films as a class project and at least three of
their own produced short projects. Working on their own short films allows
them to employ all the elements that they have learned throughout the
course. This process allows the students to write, direct, edit, and produce
their own short film using digital cameras and equipment.
Successes In The Business
To date, eleven graduating students have gone on
to further their careers in the film industry enrolling in area colleges
that specialize in film and media classes. Four of those graduating students
have been employed in the film industry in the past with such companies as
Nike, BMW, and Pellow Window commercials. As a result of the standards set
and requirements met in Buckingham Charter Magnet High Schools’ Young Image
Makers Film Academy, students have used the training provided and have
applied these skills to “real world” vocational and career opportunities.
4th Annual Film Festival
Last year, (2005), the Buckingham Young Image
Makers Foundation hosted its 4th annual film festival. It was expanded to include filmmakers of all ages nationwide
and was a four-day event—March 10-13th. Buckingham students continued to be involved in this event by submitting self-produced films in
their age group. This is an opportunity for our students to get a glimpse at
the “real world” and to meet filmmakers of varying experiences.
Entries were submitted by students and adults from all over the
country and even abroad. We were anticipating great success with last year’s
festival and we hope that this will become a major event for students as
well as adults from all over the country and the world.
Other Events
Other Showcase Events in our Visual Media Arts (VMA)
strand include student recordings and student produced albums, and a student
produced drama from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”. Digital Imaging,
which adopted a class from Paden Elementary School, won local blue ribbon
photo competition, sponsored by our local art gallery. Mass media and
Independent Projects are actively engaged in state-of-the-art 3D animation.
Students are using the same professional tools used for “Shrek” and “Toy
Story” by Pixar. |
