This two-week program is designed for high school students between the ages of 14 and 18.

In recent years, documentary films have truly come into the limelight.  As the technology for downloading and streaming media has greatly improved, so has the distribution and viewership of documentary films. There is a large and growing interest in the real-life characters, events, and stories that are captured by today’s documentary filmmakers.

This workshop is for teens wanting to learn how to find and tell stories using the medium of documentary filmmaking. This intense workshop allows students to use the latest HD cameras as well as professional sound and lighting equipment. Students collaborate in groups to find a local story and develop ideas into a finished documentary short. Students learn proper interview techniques including how to ask the right questions and put a subject at ease. They gain experience documenting events as they happen, remaining apart from the story and getting the best shots on a location that will tell the story once assembled in the editing room.  Proper field techniques for sound and lighting are covered as well.

Students receive a DVD of their projects and leave with an understanding of the documentary process and a sense of their individual talents.

About the Young Artists Program: Young Artists’ days are comprised of both classroom and field/location work: lectures and critique, demonstrations, shooting, editing, writing, computer workflow and/or darkroom work, depending on the workshop. All instructors are talented industry professionals as well as experienced educators, and each works with a teaching assistant, providing additional support for their class. The students are busy all day and into the mid-evening hours, attending presentations from visiting master faculty. All Young Artists reside at a nearby residence (a motel-style building, with four students to a room, gender specific, and private bath) located 3/4 of a mile from campus. The property is controlled by Maine Media Workshops and is used exclusively by students and their counselors. Students are shuttled to the main campus each morning for breakfast and to begin their day, and are driven back at the end of the each day, following their last class or other scheduled activity. All meals are taken together. Parents can indicate any special dietary needs upon registration. Counselors supervise the students 24 hours a day and help make group decisions about weekend activities like swimming, bowling, and hiking. Coin laundry facilities are available on campus. A lobster dinner is served (there are other choices) on the last Friday night of each workshop, and all Workshops students gather for an evening presentation of highlights from the week’s work. Parents are welcome to attend and meal tickets may be purchased in the Registration Office.

We recommend students have access to $150 over the two-week period for incidentals, snacks, movies, field trips etc.

Check-in is on Sunday, between 3 and 6 and departure is on Saturday morning.

Tuition Note: includes room and board.