By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Creative minds are hard at work at Union City Middle School.
Students in Allison Butner’s Media Arts class can be counted among that lot by regularly producing videos that are part of Youtube television under the heading “EF-5 Show.”
Students write the show’s content and are also involved in filming and editing in the process of putting the show together in its entirety, Butner said. All have specific duties and the group uses multiple programs in addition to new/complex software, purchased this year.
“I just decided that instead of doing actual theatrical productions, that we’d create videos where they could combine many different talents and experiences,” Butner said of her class that includes 11 seventh- and eighth-graders.
This marks the fifth year Butner – who teaches drama and oversees the many successful UC High School theatre performances – has been producing videos. The other four seasons of “EF-5” are also on Youtube.
“Filming is a part of theater arts, too, and the kids really have gotten into what we’re doing,” she said. “In the past, I’ve done a lot of the editing myself. This year, with each of them having their own individual computers, they’re taking more responsibility.
“Today’s youth see software and phones as either games or social media. This stuff isn’t easy to learn and it takes some time, some effort and some focus. Once they get the hang of it, though, they really get excited about the process and being involved.”
Currently, the group is putting together song lyrics promoting Union City Schools’ attendance incentive to the tune of “Old Town Road.” In the past, the class has produced TNReady videos and another using the “Baby Shark” music to different words.
“They’re really having fun with that,” Butner said. “We’ve filmed several video clips that had both singing and rapping. There are a lot of parodies, like Weird Al (Yankovic) used to do.”
Butner believes the classroom experience could also be beneficial to her students down the road.
“If they have to present a project for either another class or a job, they can say they know how to create a video,” she said. “Along with the obvious, they also have to use their imagination and creativity with what we’re doing.
“They have to know what angle to film from and use a number of different concepts and mesh them together. It’s really complex, but I do believe it can be beneficial in so many ways – both now and down the road – for our students.”
Photo by Mike Hutchens.
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