Two leading filmmakers came to DTU from Dixie State University (DSU), in Utah. They were digital film director Phil Tuckett, who has won many Emmy awards, and producer and cameraman Dan Malloy. They taught students techniques to produce, edit and exhibit documentaries from June 24 to August 11. The course was a rare opportunity for DTU film-lovers to work with advanced international film production technologies and hone their skills.
DTU students study filmmaking with an American digital film director
The course will be updated annually to cover the latest ways of perfecting the students’ abilities. Mr. Tuckett and Mr. Malloy presented basic movie techniques, such as assembling, recording, controlling the lighting, film shooting practice and interviewing skills in documentary production. Students were divided into groups and taken on field trips to famous tourist sights, like Marble Mountain, Monkey Mountain and Hoi An to shoot and produce shorts.
The two teachers assessed and graded them the student productions to award course credits and four students were selected to go on practice field trips to historic monuments such as Khe Sanh and the Vinh Moc tunnels in Quang Tri to shoot authentic footage about Vietnamese history. These will be used in a DTU 3D movie project about the Vietnam War, in conjunction with DSU.
At the end of the course, the two best students won scholarships to go on a three-month exchange program to Dixie State next Spring. Students with filmmaking potential will work with Mr.Tuckett and Mr. Malloy’s as editors and to take part in the next DOCUTAH International Documentary festival. The students will be able to develop their skills in a professional environment and to once again confirm the increasing recognition of DTU students internationally.
“This documentary production course is vital for Graphic Design students,” says Tran Hong Quang of class K-20 ADH and a member of the course. “I also improved my English by speaking with the foreign teachers. We were shown how to use the newest modern filmmaking equipment, which I had never seen before. We were assigned different roles in the production of a movie, as cameramen, assistants, lighting and sound technician and learned many new and interesting things about quality filmmaking with our classmates.”
DSU is one of the largest public universities in the US and over a hundred years old. It offers an education in many disciplines and owns its own digital film production studio, by Mr. Tuckett, who has won thirty Emmy Awards as a producer, director, scriptwriter, editor and cameraman. By working with these famous filmmakers from DSU, who regularly produces documentaries, DTU students experienced the latest modern filmmaking techniques to begin creating their own memorable movies.
(Media Center)