Roberto Clemente World Media Center at RCCA
The RCCA World Media Center is an area within our school housing multiple tools to assist our students in creating dynamic, media-driven projects. Within the Media Center, students can explore different tools related to musical recording, video and film production, graphic arts, photography, and mixed media art. To differentiate for these various pursuits, the Media Center is divided into 4 separate lab areas: the Film Lab, Audio Lab, Production Lab, and Art Lab.
- The Audio Lab engages students in the art of sound engineering. Here students are able to use studio tools like Pro tools, Sure brand studio microphones, and a 24 channel Avid sound controller for mixing and engineering. All of these tools help the students in creating podcasts, film scores, and music albums. Many students appreciate this creative outlet as a way to express themselves in non-traditional forms. They can also channel this passion toward class projects or the sophomore-year Personal Project.
- The Art Lab introduces students to digital tools that will help them create traditional and computer-generated artwork. Here students can utilize industry tools and programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create digital artwork and graphics. The Art Lab also doubles as an art gallery where students can proudly display their favorite artwork, and have creative spaces to produce physical art like drawings or paintings. Knowing that others will see their artwork provides great motivation for the students to create.
- The Production Lab helps students explore scriptwriting and gives them a place where they can research their ideas. The Production Lab houses a fleet of Mac computers with software to support research, word processing, and video editing through Adobe Premiere.
- The Film Lab uses the medium of video to help express a student’s idea visually. Here they can create newsroom style podcasts episodes, or even create short films. The film Lab also has access to cameras that can be used for photography or even documentary style film projects.
The RCCA World Media Center is not only a tool for individual students. It is also a resource available for teachers who wish to enrich and expand the classroom. The tools can be easily implemented into lessons and give an interactive edge to learning, as well as providing areas for different presentation formats. It is a space that can evolve to support a wide range of projects, and can help student tap into their innate creativity to strengthen their learning experiences. The possibilities are endless!