After three years of studying video production, students have the opportunity to take Digital Cinematography as a fourth-level video class that has been designed specifically for seniors. It is one of the few independent studies classes that Cresskill offers and certainly one of the most sought after. Because the students have different interests relating to the field, they have the opportunity to guide their own learning in the class and with the projects they complete. The big project that the students work towards is a music video that encompasses all of the skills that they have learned in their four years as video production students. The video is screened at the band and choir’s Spring Concert, where members of the band and choir play and sing the track that goes along with the video. The students will share their experience and advice with the Video Production II and III students and are also involved with events that are outside of the school.

For many of the students who take the digital cinematography course, it is their first experience with a class like this, but they have been able to adjust and grow as video students. Mr. Kress, the teacher of this course, sees that “They appreciate the freedom that they have to work on their own time, to use the facility when it’s available and when they’re available, and at the end of the day to generate something really cool.” Though they are a small group of students, they have a wide variety of interests that they use to incorporate into their work. This course was created for an unrestricted environment that will allow these students with special interests to thrive within and outside of the classroom and that’s exactly what these students are doing.