Interlochen Center for the Arts has been named a 2011 W3 Awards winner for its video “Moments.” Interlochen was recognized as “Best in Show” in the Non-Profit Web Video category.
The award-winning project was a collaborative effort involving several staff and students but the concept was developed by summer videographer Tim Broekema, a professor of photojournalism at Western Kentucky University. In his second summer at Interlochen, Tim was determined to capture the spirit of Camp. “The definition itself of moment is what made me think this concept through to completion. If I can’t tell the whole story of Interlochen then I can show parts of the place through visual moments of time. Sense of place, sense of emotion and sense of, well, joy or gratitude,” said Tim. “So many people say that without Interlochen their life would not be as complete as it is after the experience. This is a powerful emotion and one that can be captured visually.”
Looking for a spoken narrative to accompany the visuals, Tim approached the creative writing faculty to see if a student could write it. Soon, Christina Stella, a creative writer from Pennsylvania, had joined the project and was also trying to capture the Camp experience – in words. “I walked around campus with a notepad, went to all sorts of performances and wrote on impulse,” said Christina. “I suddenly became as sensitive as possible to my time at Interlochen.” After Christina finished the final draft of her poem, “Moments,” theatre student David Newman read and recorded the poem with the assistance of the audio engineers at Interlochen Public Radio.
While Tim took many of the photos and video clips that were used, he collaborated closely with the two summer photographers, Wesley Bacon and Sam Oldenburg, as well as Interlochen’s year-round videographer, Greg Johnson.
In the end, everyone involved wanted to help the viewer feel what it meant to be part of Interlochen. “We wanted the viewer to feel the passion, emotion and outpouring support – in just two minutes,” said Tim. “I hope we accomplished that.”
The W3 Awards honors creative excellence on the web and recognizes the creative and marketing professionals behind award winning sites, videos and marketing programs. It is the only major web competition where small firms and in-house teams compete directly against Fortune 500 companies and international agencies. The W3 is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body of top-tier professionals in media, interactive, advertising, and marketing.
