User:WWB Too/StudentCam
| StudentCam | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary filmmaking competition |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | United States, Guam |
| Years active | 2006-present |
| Participants | Middle school students (grades 6-8) High school students (grades 9-12) |
| Patron(s) | C-SPAN |
| Website | StudentCam.org |
StudentCam is an annual competition selecting the best video documentaries on current-affairs topics created by middle and high school students. It is sponsored by the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network's (C-SPAN) Classroom project.[1] All winning documentaries are available to watch on the StudentCam website. The top 25 winners are interviewed for television broadcast and have their documentaries aired on C-SPAN.[2]
Overview
[edit]The aim of the StudentCam competition, as stated by C-SPAN, is to provide an opportunity for young people to voice their opinions on current events.[3] For the competition, middle and high school students can enter alone or in groups of up to three and must create a video documentary between 5 and 8 minutes in length, which presents more than one side to the selected topic and includes related C-SPAN programming.[1] Each year a new theme for the documentaries is provided, related to current affairs, and entrants in the competition must use this as the basis for their entry.[4] Subjects of the winning documentaries have ranged from video game violence to illegal immigration.[2]
The deadline for entries is in January each year[5] and the StudentCam winners are announced live on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, usually in March each year.[6] Following the announcement, the top 25 StudentCam entries are shown on C-SPAN,[7] with one documentary shown each weekday morning, accompanied by a telephone interview with the student filmmakers.[2] All of the winning documentaries are available to view on the StudentCam website.[2] The winning filmmakers receive cash prizes typically totaling $50,000, with the grand prize-winner receiving $5,000, in addition to being featured on C-SPAN. As of 2010[update], 75 entries each year are chosen as prize-winners, and 11 teacher awards are given to teachers who incorporate the competition into their classes.[6]
The sponsor of the StudentCam competition is C-SPAN Classroom, a free membership organization providing teachers with C-SPAN materials for classes and research.[6] Promotion of the competition is often supplemented by local cable providers.[8]
History
[edit]The StudentCam competition developed from a documentary competition called CampaignCam, run by C-SPAN during the 2004 presidential campaign as a way of including students' views about the election. The StudentCam forerunner won a Beacon Award in 2005, conferred by the cable industry for excellence in communications and public affairs.[9]
In 2006, StudentCam was launched by C-SPAN, adding a requirement that students include relevant C-SPAN programming in their documentary.[1] The 2009 competition received the most entries to date, when nearly 2,000 students[1] from 41 states, the District of Columbia and Guam[3] submitted a total of 921 submissions.[10] The grand prize winner of the competition, Sawyer Bowman, a 10th grade student from Davidson, NC was congratulated by President Barack Obama via a specially-recorded video message.[3] A first-prize winner in the 2010 competition, Matthew Shimura, met First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in April 2010 during a Town Hall for her "Let's Move!" initiative, to talk about fighting childhood obesity, which was the subject of Matthew's video.[11]
Grand prize winners
[edit]| Year | Students | Film title |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Anthony Hernandez and Dustin Gillard | Anywhere USA[2][7] |
| 2007 | Zach Chastain, Bryan Cink and Ryan Kelly | Jupiter or Bust: The El Sol Solution[12] |
| 2008 | Scott Mitchell and Nick Poss | Leaving Religion at the Door[13] |
| 2009 | Sawyer Bowman | Cancer. It's Personal[3] |
| 2010 | Madison Richards, Samantha Noll and Lauren Nixon | I've Got the Power[14] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Amanda Lynn Porter. "C-SPAN StudentCam 2010". School Video News.com. School Video Systems, Inc. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Patrick Gavin (17 May 2006). "Students tune in through film". USA Today. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ^ a b c d Michael H. Hodges (24 November 2009). "C-SPAN lets area students have a voice". The Detroit News.
- ^ Anne Pick (13 January 2010). "Behind the Lens: Local teen filmmakers tackle C-SPAN's StudentCam Documentary Contest". The Source Weekly. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ "C-SPAN Student documentary contest open". The State Journal. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ^ a b c "Latham, NY Student Wins Third Prize in C-SPAN's National StudentCam Video Competition". TimeWarnerCable.com. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Rep. Walz Congratulates C-SPAN Documentary Contest Winners". US Fed News. 7 May 2007.
- ^ Charles Lussier (10 October 2009). "C-SPAN promoting student documentaries". The Advocate.
- ^ "2005 Beacon Awards: Education: Full Campaign/Single Activity; Cable Network III". Multichannel News. 9 May 2005.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Emily West (20 March 2009). "C-SPAN surprises PMS students with award for StudentCam video entry". Pleasanton Weekly. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ^ Andrew Malcolm (7 April 2010). "Michelle Obama explains how the First Family fights fat; Now, yours can, too". L.A. Times Top of the Ticket. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ^ "C-SPAN Announces Winners in 2007 "StudentCam," a Political Student Video Competition". eSchoolNews.com. eSchool Media Inc. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ Alexander Carpenter (19 February 2008). "C-SPAN's StudentCam Winner: Leaving Religion at the Door?". Spectrum Magazine. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ^ Lindsey Fiori (10 March 2010). "McKinley students win national documentary competition". The Journal Times. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
External links
[edit]- StudentCam official website