Nearly 60 Houston-area high school students are honing their artistic aptitudes this summer at UH, while getting an informing look at life on a college campus.
Those are two elements that founders of the non-profit Wonderworks program believe will help the city students reach success in college and beyond.
Founded in 2004, Wonderworks gives aspiring student artists, actors and auteurs the opportunity to learn the crafts of filmmaking and analyzing classic dramatic works. Students meet five days a week on the UH campus and participate in one of three programs offered. Exploraciones Dramaticas is a Spanish language-based multi-media program. Moving Pictures: Film Workshop for High School Students stresses filmmaking, scripting and film appreciation. Shakespeare and Company helps students explore dramatic literature and participate in drama workshops.
"Wonderworks connects high school students with fine arts, media and literature. It also exposes them to a college environment," said Drexel Turner, director of Wonderworks and UH architecture professor. "At these camps, they’re able to learn from university faculty and graduate students, and begin to understand the college experience."
This year, more than two dozen students in the filmmaking camp are under the guiding eye of Keith Houk, UH clinical assistant professor of communication. The students are learning everything from film appreciation to shooting and finishing a film of their own.
"The idea and goal is for everybody to have made one thing of their own creation by the end of summer. The idea is that somebody’s personal stamp will be on a project and they can say, ‘I did this.’ Hopefully, that will be a building block to bigger things," Houk said of the film students.
All student works are filmed on the University’s campus and will be shown July 18 at an open film screening on campus.
"These students just need to have an interest in creating something. It helps to have an interest in film, but you don’t have to have done anything else before. If they just have an interest, we’ll provide the opportunity. Some kids have things posted on YouTube and some have never picked up a camera before," Houk said.
Having completed film projects at the high school level will help students build portfolios for future academic or employment endeavors, and Houk said communication and interpersonal skill-building are bonus elements of Wonderworks camps.
"Some kids will be acting, editing or scripting projects, so there’s a variety of opportunities for kids," Houk said. "It really builds everybody’s communication skills and gets them to be able to be working with other individuals."
Sarah Andreeff, a sophomore at the Houston High School of Performing and Visual Arts, is writing and producing a three-minute silent picture this summer. She said the program has allowed her to "get her feet wet" in every aspect of filmmaking, and it’s definitely fueled her passion for the craft.
"After this program, I can’t imagine not working in movies – probably as a director," Andereeff said.
Other instructors for the film camp have included film curators from Rice University and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Like the film students, those participating in the Shakespeare and Company component have reviewed classic pieces from their medium. Under the guidance of UH theater instructor and professional actor-director Rutherford Cravens, students have discussed and performed dramatic scenes from Shakespeare to Broadway. The camp will conclude with student performances in Dudley Recital Hall of an abridged version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Students have viewed films based on stage works selected by Cravens and Amy Wernig, director of education and community engagement for The Alley Theatre. Films have also been presented by professional actress Dorcas Sowunmi.
Kalob Martinez and Luke Fedell, both former UH theater students, conducted a stage combat workshop with Wonderworks drama students last week. They equated participation in the drama camp to the training athletes must undertake to stay on top of their sport. Every little bit of training or conditioning leads to a better product or performance down the line, they said.
"One of the primary focuses is for high school kids to experience more of the classics, and a lot of these kids have raw talent," Martinez said. "For me, personally, I didn’t get the chance to work with the classics until college, and these are the foundation."
Every student in the drama camp will perform in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
"These kids are doing the summer program so they can work on the basics," Fedell said.
Stage and screen productions are another focus of the Exploraciones Dramaticas camp. Students have read through plays and chosen scenes from each to be presented in a final showcase production. Each day has concluded with a screening and discussion of a Spanish or Latin American film, including two selections from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Open Lens series.
Bernardo Cubria, UH alumnus and professional actor-director, and Michelle Rocio Nasser, assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, have instructed the camp.
The three camps are presented in collaboration with the UH School of Theatre and Dance and UH’s Jack J. Valenti School of Communication.
