Welcome to the visual and oral history page for the Center for Creative Media. This page was started by Professor Steve Jackson in August of 2004 on the suggestion of Dr. Thea Harrington of the Department of English (who is at the time of this writing also the department head for Communication Studies) in order to preserve the early history of this Center.

Readers of these pages should be forewarned, this is not a page designed to act as some sort of public relations tool or to tell a glossy story of the Center for Creative Media. This is an academic project by the founder of the Center and others interested in its history the purposely records events 'as they happened.' These documents are purposefully written as rememberences of events by the people involved.

-Steve Jackson, August of 2004

2006

February 24th, 2006 - Hilbert College Communication Studies student William Haas wins the prestigious R. John Oishei Scholarship

February 23rd, 2006 - The crane has moved, and the frames have been put in place for the lab

February 19th, 2006 - It's snowing in the Center for Creative Media, and they still have a crane parked in edit three

February 15th, 2006 - The new Paczesny Hall is going up rapidly now...

January 27th, 2006 - Students volunteer to produce Firefox and MPAA commercials

Janurary 23rd, 2006 - An image of the broken ground

2005

December 4th, 2005 - Students Documentaries show that the program has arrived

October 27th, 2005 - Steve Fox presents his Junior Symposium on his Monster and Alien movies

October 15th, 2005 - The Second Annual art show is a great success

April 21st, 2005 - The Departmental trip to Gettysburg is education and a 'bonding experience'

January 15th, 2005 - Spring Steadicam Workshop

November 27th, 2004 - Creating an ethic of pride in a new department

November 10th, 2004 - The Center as a place for creative collaboration

August 24th, 2004 - Look at the lab before it was a lab

January 15th, 2005 - Spring Steadicam Workshop. Hilbert College is lucky to have one of the only steadicams (that we know about at least) in Western New York. As a creative tool, the steadicam, made by Magiqcam, is an excellent way to make smooth shots on the go. Unfortunately, it takes a bit of practice, and it is a bit heavy, even though we have a smaller model. As a result, the Center had an introductory course on how to set the camera up, how to keep from hurting yourself while you are wearing it, when it is used creatively, and how to storyboard and plan for the creative possibilities of the mount.

Even through the snow, 17 students showed up to give the camera a test run and learn about one of the fun toys Hilbert College Communication Studies has been blessed with. For about four hours the camera was put through its paces inside and out, and the students. Aside from the difficultly in moving through snow (which would be cleared for a shoot) the students seemed to have a great time.

You can visit Steve's website, or his blog for more information on what he is up to now.

Al Leight, Bill Haas, Kevin Stack, and Chapman Chapman presented a documentary called "100 Years of History" about Letchworth State Park. Shot on location in the park, with numerous interviews and breath taking scenes, this documentary is an excellent example of student involvement in their communities.

Cheri White and Steve Fox presented "Cheri and Steve's Wide World of Wines." Despite the title, the documentary was on the local Chautauqua region wineries, and featured visits to wineries and a short animated history of the regions wine making.

Still to come are the documentary shorts "The Locks at Lockport" and "The Natural History of Western New York."

"The Locks of Lockport", by Dave Jensen, Christina Disano, and Cody Jacobson, looks at the engineering marvel of the locks at Lockport on the Erie Canal.

"The Natural History of Western New York" by Travis Nowicki and Kirk Love take use through the fossil dig at Penn Dixie and looks at the fossils found in the Western New York Region.

The crane is still the center point of attention of course as it flies structural members up into the air and then swings them to some guy who is straddling a girder with a welder. You can definately see all of the important floor plan elements going into place in both Paczesny and Swan, even though Swan looks more like something from the ruins of a Civil War fort right now.

Next week I hope to convince someone to let me go up in a cherry picker to get pictures. Read More

Bill, as everyone calls him around here, is a hardworking student who is trying to complete three of the four major tracks in Communication Studies while maintaining a 3.93 gpa. Bill is also president of the Students in Free Enterprise club at Hilbert College, president of our own Communications Club, a senator in the Hilbert College Student Government Association, member of the Hilbert College Honors program, a Community Assistant (which is a fancy way of saying 'RA') in the on-campus housing, a Leadership Scholar, and a member of the Bowling, Lacrosse, and Hockey clubs.

Off campus, Bill has been a full-time salesman and marketing assistant for Riefler Concrete, is in the St. John's church choir, a volunteer for Tops teaching disabled kids soccer, and is a graduate of St. Francis High School.

Bill is seen here to the right with Tom McArthur, previous winner of this prestigious award.

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