Independent Student Media

Independent Student Media is an online educational platform that offers educators the tools to energize students' desire for learning, tapping into their excitement for Hollywood movies. It was founded in 1999 by Darrin Fletcher and Chet Thomas to create a new teaching curriculum through the medium of film and the internet.^[1]

Program Design

The basic design behind the project is to use Hollywood movies as a foil for traditional classroom topics, as well as fostering a strong understanding of technology and its applications, strong social skills, and creativity.^[1]

The system is broken down into different modules. To begin, Tutorials instruct students on the processes that are specific to the program. A section titled Notebook tracks assignments for students, which includes a schedule. Production Meetings are used to work directly with students on different parts of the projects. Students make use of the built-in Screenwriter tools as well to complete assignments.

[Curriculum

The course is designed to provide an overview and introduction to the four most basic phases of film making: Development, Preproduction, Production, and Post-production. The course covers higher-level thinking skills and technology skills with an emphasis on the creation of films; with the final goal to actually create a film.

ISM training workshops were developed in tandem with the main student program and are used hand in hand together. This gives the instructors an in-depth filmmaking experience from which to draw on throughout the school year.^[2] All of the workshops are organized and performed by professional filmmakers with industry experience. Each year, the roster of instructors changes.^[3]

Interviews

ISM Works has several Hollywood professionals with many years of experience. They create a learning platform which offers students a feeling of works performed in Hollywood. Individuals who appear on the site are as follows: