The Feather has partnered with the campus’ video productions department to create some of the best online video and media content to date.

Adviser CJ Haydock?s video classes now have an avenue to display their projects to a wide audience through The Feather and with the upcoming late spring release of The Feather Media Center, their avenue will be re-paved.

This year, the video classes experienced escalated student involvement. With an increased number of students, the classes now take more creative liberties, inventing new ideas and reducing production time.

“The Feather has always welcomed guests to write articles,” Greg Stobbe, publications adviser, said, “but for the last two years, this has expanded to other forms of media. Mr. Haydock’s classes needed a medium to showcase their videos and The Feather needed to incorporate video, so this is a good fit.”

As it stands right now, there are many different places that media could reside. Different sections for podcasting, videos and photos can be lengthy, so rather than scour about in search of specific items, The Feather Media Center allows easier location of desired content.

“I would have liked to see the new media page ready for January’s new launch,” senior Mary Kneefel, Editor-in-chief, said, “but I hope it will be ready before the school year ends. It will be much easier and convenient to look at slideshows and videos. It will be worth the wait.”

Along with new organization of current media content, The Feather Media Center will see the introduction of slideshows and photo essays, among other things.

“It typically takes a few days to make a video; we put a lot of work into them,” Jonathan Bingman, ’08 said. “Now the hours we spend creating a video can be appreciated by the public as well as the student body. Plus, it helps prepare me for a career in video production.”

The new slideshows will contain a host of features. In addition to a slideshow of photos taken during the week, plans are in motion to cater slideshows to specific topics. For instance, viewers will be able to search subjects like girls? basketball and see the related photos in a slideshow.

“I was hoping to have the slideshow feature ready for this semester,” junior Brittany Stobbe, Photo editor, said. “Now I am just excited for the new media center to launch. The photo section especially will be easier to navigate and view. I am really looking forward to the upgrade.”

Photo essays can take several different forms. They can function as a collection of photos, feature a small caption or accompany an entire essay. These will recount stories of students and tales of trips, enhanced with a score of photos, rather than just one or two.

The Feather Media Center is currently under development, so keep checking The Feather for updates on its release.