TRAVERSE CITY -- Teenagers have a lot they want to tell the world and are more than happy to do so if given half a chance. Now, through an innovative collaboration with several local agencies, area teens have the opportunity to not only express themselves, but to make a difference in their community.
"Teen Voices," a four-week video production workshop, currently is underway at Just Imagine Creative Center in Traverse City. The video production and editing training are taught by Mike Kroes of tctv2. Ariadne Baker-Dunn, a recent graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, teaches acting techniques.
The pilot program for teens ages 12 to 15 is being made possible through a Rotary Charities Good Works Grant and the combined efforts of Just Imagine, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Traverse City, tctv2 and it's new managing agency The Land Information Access Association. Future programs are being planned for older teens.
The workshop's ultimate objective is to have the teens produce an original segment they can enter in the United Way's upcoming Day of Caring video contest.
"What we're trying to do is give teens creative possibilities," Kroes said. The students have elected to focus their video entry on tourism in Traverse City and how it affects the community in general as well as the local economy.
The groups are kept small in order to allow more detailed work with individual students. Six teens originally signed up but after the first week they were encouraging friends to join them. The workshops are free. The only requirement is that students be members of the Boys and Girls Club.
"Obviously the arts in general are a great outlet for kids," Baker-Dunn said. "We gave them almost complete freedom when deciding on their final project. It teaches teamwork. It gives them freedom to address issues through videos that maybe they normally don't feel they have a voice in. And my aspect of it -- acting, just gives them a chance to play, and kids' in general love to play. They love to create characters. They love to pretend. So I think it's great in every way."
So does Adin Harmon. The 15-year-old sophomore at Traverse City West Senior High School got into film and acting as an eighth grader. "I got into it and liked acting a lot," Harmon said. "In this workshop I discovered I liked video even more."
Currently he enjoys volunteering at the concession stand at the State Theatre in Traverse City. He says he gets to see a lot of great films that way.
"Teens have got a lot to say and nobody listens," Harmon said. "They say the are (listening), but they never do." He thinks film allows teens to get their points across. "Everybody watches a film and remembers the key part of it for a long time," he said.
Kathryn Orwig of Traverse City, thinks being in front of the camera is where the fun is. The 14-year-old West Senior High freshman wants to be an actress like her favorite stars on TV.
"I hope the class will get my face out there more and that it will show me what I need to do the get me where I want to go," Orwig said.
She was going to sign up for acting classes at Old Town Playhouse but realized that these were less expensive, would allow them to enter a contest that carries a cash prize and have more fun.
"I think it gives (teens) a lot of confidence. Video is a very important communications medium. If you bought a computer in the last several years, it probably has a video editing program right in it," Kroes said.
The class is using mini- digital video cameras that produce close-to-professional results and are designed to be easy to use. "The idea is not to scare people with the technology," Kroes said. "The idea is to say here's a tool. It's a fancy pencil. Go ahead and create something with it."
Print this story
E-mail this story
