Hamblen TV Students Try Their Hand At Producing Weekly Program For School

Education

Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen, even George Lucas should beware.

There is a new breed of filmmakers coming out of Hamblen Elementary.

Under student teacher Emily Frumkin’s guidance, fourth- and fifth-graders have been producing their own television broadcast called WHHN.

Using only a camcorder and wired microphone, the 17 students involved do their own filming, acting, and even closing credits for a program that airs on Fridays for the whole school.

This is the first year this has been done at Hamblen, thanks to efforts by Frumkin, who made independent films in college.

“This is the only extracurricular activity that isn’t sports based, and it is gauged by their creative voices,” Frumkin said.

One of the most important elements of production is the democratic process, Frumkin said.

All the students have a job, in front or behind the camera, and all ideas are welcomed. They have done programs on topics ranging from the 1950s to the coming millennium to pets. The latest program was a who-done-it thriller.

“They have gone from a television news program to fictional storytelling,” Frumkin said. “And the camera work and writing has evolved.”

With 10-year-old director Jenny Peterson in charge, the creativity is never stifled.

“They have creative energy I never would have imagined as an adult,” Frumkin said. “Jenny keeps everything going.”

Peterson puts it simply: “My job is saying action.”

With cameraman - er, cameraboy - Zack Spear at her side, there is plenty of room for fresh perspective.

“I like filming because you get to do different shots, weird close-up shots. You can shoot from down, up and all different ways,” Spear.

Fifth-grader Travis Johnson is the resident comedian of the film troop. His range has recently expanded to playing the bad guy as he portrayed the culprit in the final who-done-it episode.

“It was fun being the bad guy because no one knew it was me,” Johnson said.

Catherine Topping is in charge of sports. For the millennium show that meant coming up with the sporting event of the future - kickbaseball.

Kelsey Petrie is one of the art designers, and she sees WHHN as an outlet for her artistic side.

“I like splatter painting and sponge painting and helping out,” Petrie said. “Once I ruined my pants and got green paint in my hair, but that’s OK.”

As special assistant, Jennifer Hougham helps with research and script writing. She has found that television is a lot more work than it might appear to be.

“I takes a lot of work to put together a 10-minute show,” she said.

Frumkin said her students are learning how to communicate their ideas to each other and respect their different views.

“My goal is to constantly push them to engage their hearts and minds in a way that also challenges them to discover new perspectives and implement divergent creative expression,” Frumkin said.

“I want them to learn from themselves and each other. But mostly I just want them to have fun and feel valued.”