February 2002 — Applications
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Osborne High's Mass Media Digital Transformation
"We decided to hold a side-by-side demo and let the students see what each had to offer, since they were the ones who would have to use the systems every day," says Page-Quail. "It was unanimous. After the students saw that they could view their transitions and effects instantly in full screen mode on the ScreenPlay, learned about the multi-user storyboards and password protection features, the demo ended."ScreenPlay is a PC-free video editor designed to eliminate the high learning curve, system conflicts and hassles that teachers and students often encounter with computer-based video editors. It is ideal for creating video content for informing, inspiring and educating students, teachers and others. ScreenPlay also offers many of the features and benefits that students and teachers want most from a video editor, including:
- An interface that is easy to learn and use;
- Real-time functionality - no render viewing of transitions and effects;
- Drag-and-drop simplicity;
- Multiple storyboards;
- Project password protection (administrative oversight with administrator password);
- Shared media capability; and
- The ability to interface with a television, computer monitor or broadcast monitor for viewing projects.
With ScreenPlay, administrators and teachers can easily create quality videos for educating, training, distance learning, coaching and archiving. In addition, students can create videos for class projects and reports, event/sports documentation, scholarship applications, career exploration, community service and entertainment.
The Secret Weapon
Today, after receiving grants and funding from various sources, Osborne High School's mass media program is one of the most up-to-date in the county, offering three new wireless microphones, four new Panasonic PV-DV100 digital mini-DV camcorders, and three new 3 CCD Canon GL digital mini-DV cameras. The power engines of the school's newly upgraded post-production capabilities, however, are the five new ScreenPlays. "ScreenPlay has become our secret weapon," says Page-Quail. "When the systems arrived in February 2001, we had only three months left to produce the annual video yearbook and tapes of the high school beauty contest and prom. We also had to accommodate requests for tapes for many other school events and activities, such as the sports banquet, sporting event highlights, athletic resumes, dramatic performances, band and choral events and Black History Week. Without the ScreenPlays, we could never have produced so much good video in such a short time," she says.
Teaching video editing using ScreenPlay is also easy, says Page-Quail. The unit is lightweight and portable, there are no cards or drivers to install, and no complicated cabling - all connections are illustrated for easy, error-free hookup. Applied Magic offers a ScreenPlay Academic Package designed specifically for schools. Touted as the "First Easy Editor for Education," the Academic Package offers: royalty-free video and music, a tutorial video, 12 storyboards/project capacity, Digital Juice Effects package, Luma Key Ray-BYTE Effects package and curriculum.
