While Pentucket High School students engage in many traditional content classes and take on various AP classes and Dual Enrollment College classes, some of the most popular and sought after classes are part of the video production courses that are offered. For over 15 years, Stevin Bartholomew has been teaching video production at the high he graduated from and first learned video production.
Each year around 100 students are enrolled in semester long classes such as Video Production I and Video Production II with more advanced options such as Advanced Video Production. These students learn the basic principles of creation of film requiring them to conceptualize and generate videos to be presented in a public venue. As students move into the more advanced classes, the expectations increase and students are required to film outside of class, on a story within the community. Students are encouraged to think innovatively for their independent video proposal and work closely with the instructor from the planning stage through final edits and exhibition stages.
These students also create their own films learning to edit and present their final product. For some students one such class is all they need to dip into their creativity and apply what they have learned. For others, one class is just a starting point to hours upon hours they will spend on school projects and their own film projects outside of school. One such student is Aidan Blot, class of ‘25.
Aidan first became interested in video and film work when he was 6 years old.
“When I was younger, I recorded stop-motion movies with my Legos, then skits with friends, into what I’d now label - short films.”
Aidan was very excited to take advantage of the film and video classes offered at PRHS. In particular he has been able to reflect back on what course has allied him to do with his own creativity. As Aidan explained,
“Video Production at Pentucket is a great outlet for student creativity, because all students are granted creative freedom to make whatever they can imagine. Neglecting a set of boundaries or standards has helped me exercise numerous aspects in the filmmaking process. Mr. Bart’s decision to teach the course in this way has given me an uncountable amount of opportunity and freedom to execute any vision I may have.”
Aidan has poured his energy into numerous projects and some of the images from those projects are captured below.
Mr. Bartholomew, who is known as Mr. Bart for short by his students, enjoys working with all of the students but shared this in particular about Aidan as an example of how some students find themselves through the classes and opportunities that the video production provides.
“The really fun and unique thing about having a student like Aidan is that it's not so much teaching him what to do it's trying to direct his passions to go in the right direction so that he is continuing to improve and refine his skills” - Mr. Bart
Aidan created a short film about 10 minutes long titled Live Free or Die which he released on YouTube. A projects Aidan has been working on more recently include a film called Odd Jobs which he incorporates many of his friends from Pentucket and of course the staff too. Aidan has been able to reflect back see how the classes he took with Mr. Bart gave him some of the skills and a window into what was possible.
“My newest short film includes a great number of staff members. My greatest privilege at Pentucket is having a community of staff and students that are willing to trust and support a vision I have. I think this newest project reflects that best, because the variety of characters made up by the staff are only an example of the contribution and support I get with my films.” - Aidan Blot
Through Mr. Bart’s years teaching the courses he has had other students like Aidan who find their passion and seek out a future in the industry. Mr. Bart remembers several students who have gone on to pursue careers in film, video and production attending prestigious film schools such as NYU and Emerson.
Of course not all students pursue future careers in the field but many do some amazing work and find that they do have some skills with video and editing. Mr. Bart has students filming almost daily and they can be seen in the halls and on the grounds gaining experience with the equipment and the concepts he hopes they can expand on. Below are some photos of the students working on projects during class, from creating ideas, to filming to editing.
Social Media, such as Instagram, TikTok and some others have students engaged in the creation of videos at a much earlier age than before. No longer do students need high end and bulky equipment to make videos and they certainly don’t need expensive or industry grade editing software programs as most of it can simply be done on their phones. The creativity can be amazing to see but learning more formal aspects of video creation and production requires some direct instruction, support and feedback. Mr. Bart doesn’t grade his student’s work based how many “likes” they get when they post something. Mr. Bart explains the expectations related to the projects in school.
“One of the reasons why I love teaching this class so much is because instead of teaching the same thing you have a unique feedback system every single project students do. Because once students grasp the basics it becomes a process of giving feedback specific to their project rather than go out and do this one specific thing. To that end I try to focus on the more technical aspects because if it's more of an artistic expression it's very much open to interpretation however on a technical level things could be right or wrong.”
Turning what may have been a hobby, interest or even a passion into future careers holds promise as well. The video production industry is expected to see 3 percent from 2023 to 2033, about as fast as the average for all occupations according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Beyond a full career in video production, having the skills and knowledge has become incredibly helpful to a variety of professionals who use video for sales purposes, communications and in a variety of methods where being able to create your own content without hiring additional professionals can be a great asset. There are 4 million podcasts worldwide with an estimated 500 million listeners in 2024 according to Demand Sage Podcast Statistics 2024. While some are just audio, the video aspect adds another element that draws an audience. The Kelce brothers, while earning their fame and fortune on the football field (Swifties may argue that point) just signed a $100 million podcast agreement to continue their weekly podcast called New Heights. That podcast started a side hobby for two pro athlete brothers and will likely make more money than their professional football careers.
When high schools started creating video production classes in the 1980s and into the 1990s, the equipment was large, required a great deal of dedicated spaces and it was expensive to purchase and maintain. Some of those elements have changed. Certainly the new Apple Mac Lab the students use is not cheap, but the students are able to use equipment and editing software that is not prohibitive and can closely resemble professional tools. The video classes remain very popular among the students and the future looks bright for creativity to expand through the camera lens.
In Aidan's new film, Odd Jobs, he is able to highlight some of his peers but also feature several of the staff who are more than willing to take part. Take a look at some more still images with some familiar faces from his upcoming release.
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