Byron Kimball | Freelancer
Tuesday nights at the Richard Woodcock Education Center might involve mastering a dolly or finagling with lighting — at least for students attending Film School by Q-Loop Productions.
Q-Loop, the College of Education’s video production team, opened its doors in spring 2017. Film School, run by Q-Loop production team members, began this winter.
Film School was the brainchild of sophomore Andy McDonald, who wanted to help aspiring film students at Western find a casual place to explore their interest in video production. Students who attend Film School experience anything from learning basic filming and production terminology to actually working on video projects.
McDonald is quick to stress that students of all skill levels, even those who have never really handled a camera before, are welcome to join in.
“My goal is to keep it fun. It’s never just like a class but, hopefully, you end up learning a lot,” explains McDonald. McDonald has been involved with Q-Loop since spring 2017, during the team’s initial inception. Hailing from a production background, advisor Mary Bucy describes him as “just the person we needed” to join the team.
Bucy, who spearheaded the development of the Q-Loop team in order to make use of the Richard Woodcock Education Center’s new video production lab, remains optimistic about the directions both Q-Loop and Film School are primed to take. “It’s an exciting opportunity for students and a great resource for faculty. I can’t wait to see this grow over the next year,” says Bucy.
Students who have visions of working in film after graduation ideally leave film school meetings with a deeper understanding about how the film industry works. “We’re working as though we’re in Hollywood and we’re using their sort of language,” explains McDonald. “That way, if you want to go to Film School, you’ll hopefully be able to apply those skills directly to Hollywood.”
“We have a lot of repeats that come back every week and they really enjoy being able to talk about film in a way that’s not just with the roommate,” says McDonald.
Interested students can check out Film School meetings every Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in RWEC 129.
Contact the author at bkimball16@wou.edu
Photo by: wou.edu
