ASU West students get real-world experience on set

Spectrum Video and Film, a local video production company in Scottsdale, opened its doors to conduct a workshop with students at Arizona State University's West campus this spring, providing invaluable hands-on experience for the students, who were part of the Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance program in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.

“I’m sure the students learned something, especially doing the hands-on work with the dolly. Knowing how to dolly while simultaneously tilting, panning, and keeping the subjects in frame; showed that it’s harder than it seems,” said Ken Liljegrin, Spectrum Video and Film president.

“We also focused on how important audio is. Eight to ten years ago, we were in the ‘fix-it’ business, as all of these indie film makers would come in with the worst audio, and we’d have to try and fix it. In order to have high quality content, you have to have high quality audio.”

Spectrum Video and Film has grown from a wedding video studio in its early days, to a complete video production company servicing corporate communication videos, commercial advertising, amenity videos, and even some television shows today. Liljegrin uses workshops such as these to find the next great filmmakers and video producers to come out of ASU.

Taking advantage of ASU students’ ability to uniquely connect with audiences on social media, Liljegrin has Spectrum interns take the lead on many social media video projects for clients, an expanding portion of Spectrum’s current business.

“I have an eye for gifted people, I can see them right away,” he said. “Students in these workshops, and especially those that participate in internships with us, they conduct projects from beginning to end. They’ll execute their own vision, and ultimately, they’ll get out of it what they put into it.”

To learn more about the Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance program, visit newcollege.asu.edu.