hansonjl, Author at Communication Studies, Film, and New Media - Page 2 of 2

Film Program extends support to Walker’s “Women with Vision” Series

Posted on March 5, 2020August 24, 2023

Written by Jenny L. Hanson

March is Women’s History Month. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is hosting some pretty awesome women and featuring their film, media, and artworks all month long. After closing out February with an event series on acclaimed filmmaker Julia Reichert, March brings the work of an early queer film influence of mine, filmmaker Cheryl Dunye to the screen. The Walker will also take a look back at the Women with Vision series, and continue the Indigenesis series focusing on indigenous film that opens with what reasons to be a fun new media adventure curated by Missy Whiteman.

A key component of this year’s programming is “Women with Vision: Then and Now.” The event series features the cinematic work of some of the women who participated in the Women With Vision showcase (also known in its early years as Women in the Director’s Chair). It also celebrates the curatorial work of Walker Senior Curator of Moving Image Sheryl Mousley. Minnesota’s own Film Fatales Melody Gilbert and Kelly Nathe, who curated many of the events in the series, will also be hosting a candid conversation with filmmakers about their journey. I might also note that among the filmmakers is Augsburg instructor Jila Nikpay!

Computers encoding media — Hanson is utilizing the program’s media lab to encode media for Walker Event.

Curating the work of filmmakers who identify as female, who are persisting as directors, cinematographers, and storytellers and creating space for people to see the films is important work. The film industry has notoriously discounted the work of women and persons of color. Movements like #MeToo and #OscarsSoWhite have sought to bring about change. Events like those at the Walker this month are part of what is needed if a systematic change is going to occur. I know this first hand, as the Walker gave me one of my first film screenings as part of the Women in the Director’s Chair and the Jr. Home Girls Series many, many, years ago. It gave me hope as a young queer filmmaker that I could make a living creating films.

So, when we were asked to help transfer work for the event series, we were happy to offer our support. This kind of equity is exactly the kind of thing our program embraces and seeks to live out.

Please show your support at these events, many of which are free. Visit: walkerart.org for more details.

Department Majors Collaborate on Music Video “Be Saved”

Posted on February 29, 2020February 29, 2020

Written by Preston Peterson | Album Artwork provided by Kirby Gage

I had a chance to talk with Kirby Gage about a collaboration he did with other Augsburg students. The project “Be Saved” is an original song and music video by Kirby Gage featuring Zayguap. See what Gage and I talked about in my recounted interview.

Preston: What are your majors?

Gage: I am a New Media: Game Design & New Media: Promotional Communication double major, for the time being at least. My videographer Finn Elsmo is a Film Major. Isaiah (Zayguap) has taken this semester off, however, is pursuing a New Media: Promotional Communication major.

Preston: What Augsburg spaces or equipment were used to make the video?

Gage: We rented cameras from Augsburg a few times, for several different shoots. Thanks to Jenny Hanson, we were able to use the black box facility in the chapel on campus. In this room, there is an option for complete darkness and it allowed for interesting shots with different lighting.

Preston: What is “Be Saved” about?

Gage: I have a lot to talk about when it comes to the video. After I made this song, for my upcoming album Story Time I realized that I had something special to work with. The connection with Finn began when I was working with my partner Kim Lindgren. Together we run a clothing brand called Kold Heart Clothing. She suggested that Finn and I talk about making a music video together. The first time we met we did a shoot at Minnehaha Falls. It went super well and Finn and I knew we were going to have something cool here, we did some editing right away and sat on it for a while. We did this 4 more times before landing on a final edit. We then went to my home studio to record Isaiah’s section of the video. After a long process of editing and color correcting with Finn, the real challenge began. For this video, we wanted to try and do something unique. I decided to do hand-drawn animations and line edits throughout the entire video. Something I will do more of in the future. For the Animations, I would draw in my notebook whenever I had the chance, even in class sometimes. I then put those drawings into Photoshop and animated them frame by frame. I did the same thing in After Effects for the line edits going frame by frame and added the finalized edits there as well. The entire process of the video took a few hundred hours to complete. I had a lot of firsts here. I’m extremely happy with the way it turned out, and I’m super happy that people enjoy it!

None of this would’ve been possible without Finn Elsmo, Isaiah Lindsay, Kim Lindgren or Ben Poole. Also, a special thanks to Jenny Hanson and the New Media Department let us use their equipment and space for recording.

Preston: Where can people find you and the people involved online?

Gage: I have a few links if people are interested.

Spotify: Kirby Gage (Also on Apple Music, Sound Cloud, etc.)

Spotify: Zayguap

Instagram: Kold Heart Clothing

Instagram: Kirby Gage

Instagram: Finnr Sverre

Instagram: Zayguap

Instagram: Ben Jammin’

Inside the Speaking Lab

Posted on February 18, 2020February 18, 2020

Written by Preston Peterson

Have you been to the Augsburg Speaking Lab yet? It has been recently revamped and is open for Spring Semester. I spoke with Speaking Lab tutor John DeWitt to talk about the lab and his experience.

When it comes to giving your speech, being comfortable and being yourself is key. According to John, your speech is “just words on a piece of paper” if you don’t actually give it. The diamond method is a more technical but very useful tip to help your speech. Speaker Michael Hudson wrote an article on LinkedIn explaining exactly what the diamond method is. Dressing for the occasion is also important when presenting a speech. John told me “when in doubt, dress well.” We also talked about the significance of ethos in a speech. You want to make sure you have authority and credibility on a topic so that the audience will be more open to your message. The last tip is one of the most important ones, practice. Practicing your speech and becoming extremely familiar with it is key to giving the speech effectively.

John’s 5 Quick Tips for Public Speaking

Be yourself and make sure to showcase your personality.
Use the diamond method when giving a speech.
Dress for the occasion.
Make sure you have ethos on a topic when choosing what your speech will be about.
Practice, practice, practice.

You can bring your finished or unfinished speech to the Speaking Lab to work on presentation or content of the speech. The Speaking Lab is open from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Make an appointment on the Speaking Lab website or walk-in during lab hours.

Reflections from a Speech Tournament

Posted on February 12, 2020November 22, 2021

Written by John Dewitt | Photos by Marceleen Mosher

“The level of professionalism– far too much.” – Latrice Royal

So, you want to enter a speech competition? Great! Competitive speech is a great way to improve your speaking skills (other than coming in to meet me at our Speaking Lab in Foss 171C). It offers a healthy competition for those who are looking to push their speaking skills to the next level. I would like to inform you about how these tournaments play out.

In high school, I participated in competitive forensics. Common categories include but are not limited to prose, duo, poetry, persuasive, informational, after dinner, and drama. I participated in prose and duo. However, be fair warned about the professional, competitive culture within speech tournaments. We’re not in high school anymore. The competition is high and the competitors have been training with a coach for months (Don’t worry! We have coaches at Augsburg too! You can speak with either Bob Groven or David Lapakko for more details!). If you think you can go into the tournament by yourself with no help from a coach, I salute you.

Teammates pose for a quick picture — Speech Competitors

competitors taking a break in-between rounds — Speech Competitors

Every speech is 10 minutes long. So, it is best that you drill (aka practice) your speech as many times as you can with a timer. They will dock points if you are not fully memorized. In the real world, when you are publicly speaking, the audience wants you to do well. No one goes into a speech waiting for you to fail. However, in this competition, everyone is waiting for you to slip-up. Well, it is a competition after all. They want that trophy! The culture is to be professional. In high school, this was a looser term. Now, in college, on our way to adulting, professionalism is the game. It is deemed as unprofessional to even talk to each other at these events. Unless it is a compliment loud enough for your judge to hear. Everyone is hyper-focused on themselves and doing well in their own speeches.

That said, competitive speech is a fun experience when you play the game for what it is. This is a competition! I loved speech in high school because it got me out of my comfort zone. Participating in Speech in college will not only heighten your public speaking skills but, at Augsburg, it will heighten your will power to trust yourself and build professional skills. You’ve got this!!

TCFF to Support the Intercollegiate Film Festival

Posted on April 15, 2019December 2, 2021

The Twin Cities Film Fest demonstrated an extension of their partnership with Augsburg’s Film and New Media programs Saturday evening with exciting news for festival winners.

“Best of Show” was granted an automatic spot in the festival’s short program happening in October. Winners in several other categories were granted a free submission to the festival and an industry membership to the organization. The Twin Cities Film Fest is celebrating its 10th year supporting film and filmmakers in the Twin Cities.

Executive Director Jaitin Setia made the announcement to eager students, friends, and families to kick-off the screening. Also present, was Josh Dahlman, shorts programmer of the Twin Cities Film Fest, who served as a guest judge for this years Intercollegiate Festival.

For a complete list of the festival, winners check out our post “Intercollegiate Film Festival 2019 – Winners Announced“.

Intercollegiate Film Festival 2019 – Winners Announced!

Posted on April 15, 2019January 24, 2023

Despite our technical difficulties, the Intercollegiate Film Festival delivered in a big way. This year’s festival received nearly 60 entries. Seven colleges were represented in the festival.

Entrants were judged on technical, creative, and aesthetic elements. David J. Buchanan and Josh Dahlman served as our guest judges.

Augsburg very own Lucia Davila served as our MC and a special guest from the Twin Cities Film Festival shared some exciting news with attendees (see our post TCFF to Support the Intercollegiate Film Festival). We are so proud to have the Twin Cities Festival as a partner and we look forward to celebrating their 10th Anniversary all year long, especially during the TCFF in the Fall.

WINNERS

Best of Show “#GAYBOY2019” by Noah Causey, University of MN

Best Narrative “Cycle” by Winston Heckt, Augsburg University

Best Documentary “On Writing” by Alya Ansari, Macalester College

Best Experimental “#GAYBOY2019” by Noah Causey, University of MN

Best Animation “The Silent Enemy” by Karina Kafka, Augsburg University

Best Screenplay “Fuck Public Restrooms” by Benjamin Kreibich, MCTC

Best Direction “Spies!” by Winston Heckt, Augsburg University

Best Sound “Amusement” by Joel Myers, Augsburg University

Best Cinematography “Call-in” by Ethan Vander Broek and Curtis Craven, MCAD

Best Editing “Call-in” by Ethan Vander Broek and Curtis Craven, MCAD

Responsible Filmmaking “It Was Just Love” by Anna Albitz, University of Minnesota

Audience Choice “Spirit of the Rubix” by Ezra Bebop, Augsburg University

The submission deadline for next year’s fest will be April 1st. The festival will be held on Saturday, April 18th. Visit FilmFreeway for more information.

TCYMN Walker Event

Posted on March 30, 2019December 2, 2021

The debut of the new banner at TCYMN – Walker Art Center.

Written by: Preston Peterson

Jenny L Hanson, director of film and new media, and Preston Peterson, new media major, represented Augsburg’s Film and New Media Department at the all youth film and video showcase put on by the Twin Cities Youth Media Network (TCYMN) and hosted by the Walker Art Center.

Augsburg met students from local high schools and TCYMN member organizations and learned about their work and interests. The event was held at the Walker Art Center on March 28 and featured work from member organizations CTV Teens, FilmNorth, MIGIZI, Perpich Center for Arts Education, Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, TPT, and WACTAC.

We are a proud supporter of TCYMN and love it when TCYMN students consider Augsburg as their place to tell stories.

Join the Speech Team

Posted on March 4, 2019

If you’ve ever wanted to perfect your speaking skills, travel to different schools and meet students from other schools, and have a lot of fun in the process, then Augsburg Forensics is for you! We encourage you to check out what being on the “speech team” has to offer. And–new for incoming students–we have forensics scholarships, from $3000 to $5000!

Augsburg’s Speech Team participates in 8-10 interscholastic speech tournaments each year in eleven different events, which include:

Interpretation Events

Dramatic Interpretation – Students interpret a piece of dramatic literature performed by one individual utilizing two or more characters.
Duo Interpretation – Two students interpret a cutting from a play.
Poetry – Students interpret a poem or a selection of poems.
Program Oral Interpretation – Students interpret a themed program containing two of the three interpretive genres (prose, poetry, drama).
Prose – Students interpret a piece of prose literature using a manuscript.

Limited-Preparation Events

Extemporaneous Speaking – Students give a five- to seven-minute speech on a domestic, international or economic topic, delivered after a half-hour preparation period.
Impromptu Speaking – Students have seven minutes to prepare and deliver an impromptu speech, usually on a familiar saying or significant quotation; may also be an object or cartoon.

Public Address Events

After-Dinner Speaking – Students deliver a humorous speech designed to entertain the audience while persuading or informing.
Communication Analysis – Students deliver a speech in which the speaker describes, interprets, and evaluates a speech or other rhetorical artifact.
Informative – Students deliver a speech that heightens the audience’s awareness of some subject.
Persuasive – Students deliver a speech designed to persuade the audience.

At Augsburg, you are welcome to set your own level of participation in the activity. If you only want to attend one or two speech meets per year, that’s fine, and if you want to go to 7 or 8, that’s good too! We are here to serve your needs and make being on the speech team a manageable and worthwhile experience.

If you’re interested in being involved with contest speech activities, contact David Lapakko, Director of Forensics, at lapakko@augsburg.edu

Intercollegiate Film Festival

Posted on March 4, 2019

Augsburg University welcomes undergraduate students from around Minnesota to the annual Intercollegiate Film Festival.

The festival recognizes the work of student filmmakers and writers as part of an interconnected statewide film community. The festival provides networking opportunities and juried merit awards of distinction. The festival is organized by Augsburg University film scholars and juried by professors and industry professionals.

Entry Fee: $5.00 (free for Augsburg students with waiver code)
Submission Deadline: April 1st.

Intercollegiate Film Festival proudly accepts entries on FilmFreeway, the world’s #1 way to enter film festivals and creative contests.