student work

Click on the links below the BTMMie Winners for examples from audio production, Television production, media business, media technology and media studies classes.

BTMMies 2011 Winners

Best Sports Reporting
3rd place: Cherry Confusion by Jeff McDevitt and Matt Goetz
2nd place: Duke Fans by Rudy Mezzy and Patrick Rosenbaum
1st place: I Believe by Tom Daly and Lindsay Bitler
Best Audio Production
3rd place: Mountain Green Coffee Commercial by Stanley Wielosik, Aisha Davis and Tiffany Spraggins
2nd place: TU BTMM Commercial by Terell Watts
1st place: Relax PSA by Jason Miller
Best Research Paper
3rd place: Streaming the Internet by Adam Khalili
2nd place: Ignorance is Bliss by Matthew Flocco
1st place: Revisiting Gallifrey: Images of Utopia in New Series Doctor Who by Anna Aupperle
Best News/Feature Reporting
3rd place: Behind The Scenes at “The Station” by Tom Daly
2nd place: Student Without a Cell Phone by Lindsay Bitler
1st place: TU in Orlando by Josh Rultenberg and Patrick Rosenbaum
Best Music Production
3rd place: Howl Redux by Akhil Kalepu
2nd place: Spirit and Dust – The Tide by Jesse Kennedy
1st place: I can’t Escape by Phil Marselona
Best Studio/On Location
3rd place: President Hart’s TUTV Introduction by Patrick Rosenbaum
2nd place: OwlSports Update by Ryan Parmer and Marcel Moses
1st place: Temple Update in Orlando by Josh Rultenberg and Patrick Rosenbaum
Best Web Production
3rd place: May We Never Forget by Shawn Needham
2nd place: Party Scene by Emily Diego
1st place: Philatopia by Seth Oclatis
Best Editing
3rd place: Multichannel Improv by Emily Diego
2nd place: McDonalds Ads Over the Years by Seth Oclatis
1st place: Temple Basketball: A Different Kind of Motion by Patrick Rosenbaum
Media Analysis
3rd place: To Vaccinate or Not by Kierra Bussey
2nd place: PBS Frontline: Vaccine Wars by Matt Della Vecchia
1st place: Realistic Dreams, Dreamlike Realities: Depictions of the “New World” Utopian Model in Film by Anna Aupperle and Jenn Locko
Best Script
3rd place: Click by Timothy S. Harris
2nd place: The Subway Meeting by Stanley Wielosik
1st place: The Volunteer by Stanley Wielosik
Best Critical Video
3rd place: Seth Oclatis
2nd place: Where is Your Map Taking You? By Ian Jansen and Scott Lambrecht
1st place: Street Art: Culture Jamming Our Surroundings by Ahkil Kalepu
Best Business Plan
2nd place: Rosenzweig Event Coordination and Consulting, LLC by Marissa Rosenzweig
1st place: The Adventures of Walter the Wellness Walrus by Laura Standley
Best Long Form
3rd place: Leaving a Legacy by Fran Duffy and Bill Furman
2nd place: Let’s Move in Together by Sarah Scholl
1st place: A Season to Cherish: Temple Basketball by Patrick Rosenbaum

Video and Digital Audio Production

Recording Artist Kate Tucker Collaborates with BTMM Students

On Tuesday, March 1st, Seattle/ Brooklyn-based recording artist Kate Tucker visited and collaborated with BTMM music industry and video production students.

After chatting with Prof. Jack Klotz’s music industry students about the independent artist’s business model, Ms. Tucker performed a series of songs, which were recorded directly into ProTools by Prof. Klotz’s students, and shot in a four-camera studio setup by Prof. Dustin Morrow’s video production students.

Later in the afternoon, about two dozen of Prof. Morrow’s students, joined by a handful of students from FMA, volunteered to crew for a music video collaboration with Ms. Tucker. The video was shot in HD with three 7D cameras, and included extensive dolly and steadicam work. The video was directed by Morrow, with the equipment office’s John Sedlack serving as cinematographer.

Kate Tucker has released three alt-rock albums, including “Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden,” which was among the top indie releases of 2008/2009, generating the hit singles “Faster Than Cars Drive” and “Everything Went Down.” She has showcased at CMJ, SXSW, and Bumbershoot, and played with Lilith Fair last summer. Her catalog has been licensed to several network television series, including “CSI” and “One Tree Hill,” and to multiple Starbucks compilations. She is repped by the A&R head at Rick Rubin’s label, American Recordings. She recently starred in her first feature film, “Everything Went Down,” which was based on her songs and was written and directed by Professor Morrow.

Television Production

"Sesame Street" Director Ken Diego Visits Dustin Morrow's Class

On Friday, April 8th, Emmy-winning director Ken Diego visited BTMM faculty member Dustin Morrow’s “Producing and Directing” course. Diego spoke to Morrow’s students, and a group of SCT students who joined the class for the day, about his decades of experience in directing for television. Mr. Diego’s credits include extensive work in live event television, such as The Tony Awards and PBS’s Great Performances, as well as work in children’s programming for both PBS and Nickelodeon. For the last 17 years, Mr. Diego has been a director at the legendary children’s series Sesame Street. Mr. Diego screened clips from his storied career, and answered the students’ questions about TV directing, children’s media, live event directing, public broadcasting, and pursuing a career working in television.

Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association Award

Two BTMM students just won a PAPBA award for their sports piece called Cherry Confusion. It was produced in Professor Matt Fine's class and aired on TUTV and owlsports.com. The winners were Jeff McDevitt and Matt Goetz.

According to Professor Fine, "It's a very exciting award for these guys, who were very creative in their approach to a funny topic on campus."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zEER-euFVc

Hollywood Director Mary Lou Belli Visits BTMM Classes

On Friday, February 25th, BTMM welcomed a special guest, the Emmy Award-winning Hollywood sitcom director May Lou Belli. Ms. Belli spent the morning conducting a producing/ pitching workshop with the students of Prof. Dustin Morrow’s course, Producing and Directing. Then Ms. Belli joined about two dozen BTMM students for an informal chat over a catered lunch. In the afternoon, Ms. Belli taught an exciting workshop in directing for sitcoms in Prof. Morrow’s course, Advanced Techniques in Directing. In addition to the course’s students, the workshop was attended by about two dozen additional students from the departments of BTMM and Theater.

With over 100 TV episodes to her credit, Belli has directed such series as “The Game,” “Girlfriends,” “Sister Sister,” "Living with Fran" starring Fran Drescher, "Misconceptions" starring Jane Leeves, “The Hughleys” starring DL Hughley, “Major Dad” starring Gerald McRaney, “Monk” starring Tony Shaloub, and "Eve" starring hip hop artist Eve. She began her career directing the iconic 80s series “Charles in Charge.” She is the author of three books about directing and acting for television.

Broadcast Performance

Voice coach, radio producer and host, Sharon Eisenhour took her Broadcast Performance class to WRTI for a field trip in October to record student radio drama projects in WRTI's fabulous studio. According to Sharon: "It was a great experience for the students;

we have another session, to finish up the last three dramas. Since I was on the air at WRTI (and before that, WFLN and WHYY), I know all those folks and we have a great relationship. It was a nice favor they did, making their production director available for this project."

Temple Smash - Temple University's first student produced variety show comprised solely of university talent.

Temple Update - The television news program produced by BTMM students. View Temple Update programs, as well as examples of student reporting.

Temple Basketball - A project by Kyle Henrick, a student in Professor Matt Fine's Sports Production Practicum.

Welcome to BTMM.wmv - BTMM 4741 Cybermedia Workshop
Producers: BTMM 4741 students
This video presentation provides an overview of the Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media Departments.

Point of View
This short clip from a student project shows two actors explaining their points of view to one another in an effort to better understand one another.

Tragedy
This student project was designed to demonstrate tragedy. Part of the story between a husband and wife is explained, where the wife leaves her husband because he has been accused of being involved in terrorist activities.

I am an American - BTMM 270
Writer/ Director: Nana Karikari
This PSA illustrates an open arms perspective towards immigration to the United States, showing people of various ethnicity and creeds speaking their minds about what America means to them.

Digital Audio Production

Bell Tower Music
Students in BTMM 4890's "Bell Tower Music" record label produced and recorded 3 tracks for the self-titled debut album from Philadelphia-based reggae band, Sonni Shine and the Underwater Sounds, including the single "Airplane". The album was voted the #1 Local Album of 2010 and the #1 Local Debut Album of 2010 by WXPN radio's "The Key" - a website dedicated to the local music scene in the Greater Philadelphia region. Another BTMM connection to the project is BTMM alum and audio lab assistant, Ken Shumski. who is the band's bass player.

"Sonni Shine and the Underwater Sounds" is available on amazon.com, iTunes, cdBaby, and others. Check out the music video.

Students in Temple's "Advanced Topics in Media" class hone their engineering skills while working on real-life projects developed for the university's record label, Bell Tower Music.

Learning the ropes from an industry insider is an experience Temple students enjoy across the university — a successful entrepreneur teaches Fox students, a renowned sculptor works with Tyler students and an Inquirer reporter trains journalism students. There’s no better way to uncover valuable bits on where the jobs are and how to get hired.

Such access is even more critical when the students are aspiring to work in an area as chaotic as the music industry, a field that has undergone radical change since it became possible to download music for free online.

Enter Aaron Luis Levinson and Bell Tower Music. The Grammy-winning music producer teaches "Advanced Topics of Media and Telecommunications," a School of Communications and Theater course focused on music production and recording. Levinson took a concept that had been brewing for years — a Temple-based record label — and forced it into reality with the help of Jack Klotz, Jr., assistant professor of broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media (BTMM).

Last semester Bell Tower Music (BTM) bore its first fruits outside of the classroom. The label signed Danny Janklow, a gifted jazz saxophonist and Boyer College of Music and Dance student, and Sonni Shine and the Underwater Sounds. Shine's bass player, Ken Shumski, is a BTMM alumnus. The label also redesigned its website and started YouTube and iTunes channels, giving it the ability to distribute music worldwide.

Bell Tower Music offers the same services as any commercial label — recording, production, distribution and promotion — but is unique in its focus on finding talent in the Temple community.

“We’re always on the lookout for Temple artists,” said Levinson. “There is a premium placed on talent found in our own backyard.”

Each semester, new students work at the label as part of the class. They benefit from the accomplishments of their predecessors and leave behind their own contributions for their successors — exactly as Levinson and Klotz have planned it. While last year the label centered on signing and recording its first artists, this year’s push is on building the label’s brand.

“One of our goals this semester is to build the image of and word-of-mouth about BTM,” said senior Sasha White.

White and classmate Matthew Smith recently landed a show on Temple’s radio station, WHIP, called the Bell Tower Music Hour, which they will use to promote the label and its artists as well as seek out new talent. Fellow classmate Susannah Welbeck, who works at WHIP, helped open the door. The coup exemplifies what makes BTM work so well: each student in the class brings unique expertise and interests and together they go the extra mile.

“We meet up after class and do things on our own time. We make sure we stay connected,” said Jenn Lacko, a senior BTMM student.

It’s one of the advantages of signing with BTM: the collective creative might of an entire class focused on an artist’s success. Plus, unlike a commercial label, BTM offers the kind of environment where artists can take more creative chances, explains Klotz, who likens the label to an incubator.

During a recent class, more electricity was coming from the students than was feeding the equipment in the recording studio, which occupies space on the first floor of Annenberg Hall. The group is clearly jazzed to be learning from and working with an industry veteran. Even better, they get to do real work for a real business with real challenges and rewards.

“This is so much more valuable than writing a paper or reading a textbook,” said White. “We’re doing stuff we want to be doing in the future. If we’re going into this industry, we have to know what it’s like to really be there.

Temple Opera: “Le Nozze di Figaro"

K.492 (W.A. Mozart) Act I – "Giovani liete, fiori spargete"

Recording Assistants: Kris Larsen, Michael Sacchetti, Dennis Baker, Ken Shumski, & Anthony Radomile
Mixed by Ken Shumski
Supervised by Jack Klotz

Audio Production Sampler

BTMM 3751 and 4751: Intermediate and Advanced Digital Audio

"Do What They Say"

Independent Project
Johnny Cab: “Do What They Say”
Written, Produced, Engineered, & Performed by John Massey

"El Train Girl"

Independent Project
Paul Hocynec: El Train Girl
Written, Produced, Engineered, & Performed by Paul Hocynec

"Still Love You"

BTMM 3751 Spring 2009 Class Project
Paul Bernard w/ Dishona Tatuem
Produced by Paul Bernard
Engineered by members of the class

"SummerSlug"
Courses: Intermediate and Advanced Audio Production
This is an indie folk rock song about summer in the city recorded by students in BTMM 275 and edited and mixed by students in BTMM 374.

"Galilee"
Band: The Beggar's Son
The Beggar's Son is a rock trio from the Philadelphia suburbs. The band consists of three current and former Temple students: Joshua Skinner, Bryan McGee, and Nick Kovac. To date, they have two releases: Spare a Dime (LP) and Temporary Threshold Shift (EP). "Galilee" is a track from Temporary Threshold Shift.