About The DMZ
Purpose
The Digital Media Zone serves as an incredible learning opportunity for students. While working in the DMZ, students learn the intimate details of digital video production, including video camera operation, computer video editing, proper lighting techniques, operation of green screen and Chroma Keying, and a multitude of other technical and creative skills. Most student workers tend to be of the Digital Media POE, but the DMZ welcomes people of all persuasions to try their hand at video.
The DMZ has moved beyond the old TLT DV's original purpose of video archiving for the campus. While still occasionally fulfilling some of the more technologically challenging production requests, the DMZ opts to instead train campus members of all kinds in the production of their very own digital video.
The types of productions the DMZ pursues now affords the student workers a chance to be technically and creatively challenged, as well as exploring aspects of DV production that have not yet been tackled. These productions have included documentaries, theatrical productions, training videos, and marketing productions.
History
What is now known as the Digital Media Zone originally grew out of the old Teaching Learning Technology Center, or TLT, which was based out of Ellis Hall.
The TLT was founded in 1998 and shortly after its inception an interest in digital video was realized in the form of TLT DV, which was comprised of a group of students that mostly pursued video archival work for the campus.
As the skill of the students, quality of the equipment, and general interest in DV on campus increased, so did the difficulty of the productions. Eventually the immensity of the work TLT DV was trying to accomplish required a bigger dedicated space in which to work.
The Teaching Learning Technology Center as a whole moved to the Brumbaugh Academic Center in 2004 to join the rest of the Technology Solutions Center in the newly renovated Information Technology wing. TLT DV split off from the rest of the TLT and moved into its own studio. Then-senior Norman A. Krumenacker IV created the name "Digital Media Zone (DMZ)" and it stuck.
Student-Run Model
The TLT and DMZ have always been student-led. The role of Student Manager affords students a chance to see what it would be like to run a digital video production studio. Responsibilties for the Student Manager include the hiring and training of new DMZ staff, managing the budget, making reasonable and useful equipment purchases, overseeing all current video productions, and interfacing with the other members of campus which include students, staff, faculty, and administration.
The Student Manager works closely with the staff supervisor of the DMZ, Nathan Wagoner.