The Southern Documentary Project
TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION OF STORYTELLERS
Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, answers questions from the press prior to a speaking engagement at the University of Mississippi’s Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College Spring Convocation. Produced by Joe York
Producer Joe York films General Powell.
Prom Night Director Paul Saltzman speaks to the overflow crowd at the Overby Center.
Filmmaker Micki Dickoff and members of the Neshoba Coalition take questions from the audience about her film, Neshoba.
Produced by the Department of History and the Media and Documentary Projects Center at the University of Mississippi. This Oral History based film was produced by history graduate students and documents the experiences of women in Northeast Mississippi who “Made Do” over the course of the 20th Century.
The latest “Are You Ready?” promotional spot produced for the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies at the University of Mississippi.
This weekend we shot scenes for a gag nomination for the 2008 Oxford Film Festival. The category is “Best Reproduction of a Diner Scene from a Motion Picture by Oxford Residents”. The segments were diner scenes from films like “When Harry Met Sally” and “Back to the Future”. Be sure to come out to the Lyric Theatre on the Square for the Awards Ceremony and to see which scene takes home the prize.
As posted earlier, we recorded the audio for a conference on campus and today we mastered out the CD’s. Here’s a look at the software we used to clean up the audio. We primarily use Apple’s Soundtrack Pro to do the basic audio sweetening for our video production work and this pic shows the basic layout of the program. It’s a pretty powerful software allowing us to normalize and compress the audio as well as take out ambient noise and equalize the audio. For more samples of our audio work check out Highway 61’s website.
Entering it’s 10th year, the Filmmaking Workshop at the University of Mississippi will be featured in this year’s Oxford Film Festival. The four-day workshop, hosted by the Division of Outreach & Continuing Education, is a hands-on opportunity for filmmakers to be introduced to the process. From writing, to lighting, to calling “cut”, the workshop puts the class through every phase of production. The end result of this year’s workshop will be premiering at the Oxford Film Festival at 10:00 AM on Saturday the 7th of February. Matthew Graves and I directed the workshop, and we couldn’t be more proud of the hard work and creative energy that the filmmakers put into their project. Come take a look at their work on Saturday the 7th at the Malco Theatre, and if you’re interested, contact the workshop to reserve your chance to be in this summer’s class.
We’d like to thank Robert Fox for organizing an excellent event, and we look forward to this summer!
-Micah Ginn
Here are some stills from the upcoming QEP Writing Center spot we’re producing. It will feature students writing in the library, student center, and a dorm room. I’ve included a few frames of the storyboard of the dorm room scene that’s left to be shot. We have an actress lined up but if there’s anyone with a line down their face like the one in the drawing that’s interested please let us know.
We reworked our promo for the 2009 Oxford Film Fest so as to feature a few more clips from the 95 films that will be playing during the 4 day event. We’re still only able to give you a brief glimpse in the :30 spot, so you’ll have to come to the festival and see for yourself. It is a great line up of films.
UMedia is a proud sponsor/supporter of the festival, using it as an opportunity to bring University students into the mix. This year, we’ll be using students to produce on-screen materials for the festival, as well as “imbedding” some of our documentary-minded students with cameras to capture the sights, sounds, and celebrities on video. It’s a great opportunity for our students as it exposes them to an exciting industry and some incredibly talented filmmakers.
Here’s a look at the first use of our new green screen. We’re interviewing Business students for a promotional video for the School of Business. We had hoped to have the lights installed into the ceiling before today but this set up worked great. So far, the best way to evenly light the green wall is to bounce the light off the white ceiling. The black boards you see behind the chair serve as flags to block the light spill on the shoulders and head of the interviewers. You’ll also notice our new portable TelePrompTer that we’ve begun putting into play. Stay tuned for more updates on the studio and final versions of the School of Business Promo.
Here’s a new pic of the green cyc wall that we’ve constructed in our Kinard Studio. The curved angles will help us to create a full artificial environment. In the coming days we hope to complete the renovations of our studio space by installing our lights into the ceiling to utilize the space. Check back for more updates and photos.
UMedia recently produced the commercial for the 2009 Oxford Film Festival.
Here’s a still from an upcoming spot we’re producing for the Natural Products Research Center. In addition to this spot, we will be producing an “Are You Ready” ad for the Center featuring Dr. Greg Walker. You can check out more “Are You Ready?” spots here.
University of Mississippi Financial Aid office is contacting students who may be experiencing financial hardships during the unsteady economic conditions.
Featured here is a bit of 8mm film taken by Dr. Annie E. Mills in Oxford, Mississippi in 1959. The film shows the production of “Home From The Hill”, which was partly filmed in Oxford in ’59.
This footage is part of the library of 8mm and 16mm transfers done here at UMedia. As part of our documentary projects mission, we work with folks in the community and on campus to provide film transfer services.
Contact us at:
662-915-3475
or
micah@olemiss.edu
Matthew Graves is currently in production on promotional videos for the Graduate School and the School of Business. The Graduate School’s promo is nearing completion and here’s a low res look at how it’s shaping up. The Grad School selected the students and wanted to show the diversity of the varying Masters and PhD programs across the University. What we get is a nice cross-section of University of Mississippi students that highlight some of the exciting programs that are available. The shooting for the spot took place the last week before the Christmas holidays and the video will be premiered in February at an Ole Miss Women’s Basketball game. Check back for the final version and the upcoming Business School promo as well as the QEP Writing Center spot.
First cut of a promotional video for the Graduate School of the University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi’s Media and Documentary Projects Center is proud to announce that it’s feature-length documentary film “Saving Willie Mae’s Scotch House” has earned nationwide television distribution.
Produced, directed, and edited by Joe York, the film chronicles the 18-month effort to rebuild Willie Mae Seaton’s famed Scotch House Restaurant, a New Orleans culinary landmark destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Among those featured in the film are John T Edge and Mary Beth Lasseter of the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) — an affiliate of the University of Mississippi housed at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture –and Chef John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi.
Thanks to the National Educational Television Association (NETA) the film has been made available to over 100 public television stations in over 40 states. To date, the film has aired in California, Georgia, Ohio, Oregon, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Louisiana. With each station allowed to air the film 4 times over 3 years, that list is sure to grow in the coming months.
Click here to watch the film in its entirety.
Matthew Graves is currently in production on a series of promotional pieces for the Graduate School and School of Business Administration for the upcoming Ole Miss Women’s Basketball University Departmental Showcase. Stay tuned for further updates and the finished videos.
The first of the University of Mississippi “Are You Ready?” spots featuring 2008 Olympic long-jumper and Ole Miss student Brittney Reese.