Lights, camera, learning! Students produce short film at Millikin camp

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — Millikin University is bringing local high school students together to find a love and appreciation for the arts.

The university is providing an immersive experience for students to learn more about the film industry with one-on-one interaction with instructors. The new program allowed students to put together a short film from start to finish.

Johnny Power, Instructor of Arts and Creative Media said, "Anyone who has any interest within that broad range of topics can feel like they are involved with it — even if running a camera isn't exactly what you wanted to do."

The camp encourages students to try every aspect of film making and have new experiences. The students were responsible for writing, acting, directing, editing, and even creating promotional material such as posters for their film. At the end of the week, the film created by the students was shown to family, friends, and members of the community during a premiere.

Jillian Bacon a film camp participant said, "Working in front of the camera as an actor is a new and fun experience and definitely something I'll probably do more in the future because I am quite enjoying it."

While the camp is pushing students out of their comfort zone to try new things, it also is helping students hoping to work within the industry to find their path.

Film camp participant Robin Rinchiuso said, "It helps direct me to what I like doing and I know some of the basics now."

Overall, organizers are hopeful that the students will walk away truly loving the arts and a drive to keep creating.

Powers said, "I hope they want to create, help people create if they want to be writers or directors or graphic designers or whatever they want to be."

This was the first year that Millikin University hosted the film camp. In the future, organizers hope to be able to host more camps to empower students and help them build their confidence while finding their passion.