Two films by Hope College students have won awards this spring in statewide and national collegiate competitions.
“Ebb and Flow” by a team of seven students was the 2022 winner in the Fiction – Short Form category of the 2022 Student Production Awards presented by the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).
“Don’t Look Back” by a team of five students won an Award of Excellence in the Short-Form Documentary category of the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) Festival of Media Arts National Competition, and second place in the Documentary category of the 2022 Michigan Student Broadcast Awards presented by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB).
“Ebb and Flow” was produced by Matt Severino, Carter Damaska, Sam Joachim, Adrienne Johnson, Tyler Grose, Luke Goral and Emily Mann. The film is a brief story about a boy, seemingly in a lost state, in college, looking for an unforgettable person he saw earlier in the morning.
“Don’t Look Back” was produced by Katy Smith, Caleigh Miller, Rylee Thayer, Trinity Frye and Yailyn Compres. The documentary follows development of the Hope College Department of Theatre’s November 2021 presentation of “Eurydice,” including reflections on the global COVID-19 pandemic on live arts productions.
Both “Ebb and Flow” and “Don’t Look Back” were produced through the college’s upper-level Digital Cinema course taught by Dr. Choonghee Han, associate professor of communication and department chair. Video productions by Hope students have won multiple honors in the awards programs through the years, including a first-place award for Fiction-Long Form in the 2020 Student Production Awards of the Michigan Chapter of NATAS; and a second-place award in the Documentary category of the 2020 Michigan Student Broadcast Awards of the MAB.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is a professional service organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and related media, and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational and technical achievements within the television industry. The Broadcast Education Association is the premier international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals. The Michigan Association of Broadcasters promotes the well-being, cooperation, and prosperity of the owners, managers, employees, and specialists engaged in the business of broadcasting by helping members better serve their community, audience, advertisers, and staff through providing solutions to their problems and satisfying their needs.
The organizations each recognized student work in multiple categories related to visual projects. The categories varied among the three, but included topics such as news, documentaries, features, public service announcements, sports coverage and films.