Filmmaking educator Michael Hernandez gives weekend workshop to journalism students

Last weekend, filmmaking educator Michael Hernandez gave a special workshop to Harker journalism students on video storytelling. Hernandez, who teaches at Mira Costa High School in Southern California’s Manhattan Beach, has spent nearly 20 years helping students develop projects that positively impact communities around the world. Recognized by PBS, Google and Apple for his innovative methods, he has traveled with his students on documentary trips to places including Guatemala, Vietnam and Cuba.

Over the course of the two-day workshop, students learned how to research, film, edit and publish stories in a short time period, exercising skills such as videography, interviewing and capturing sound. Students also practiced writing for broadcast formats and how to record voice-overs. The students used these skills in their video coverage of Saturday’s March for Our Lives rallies in San Jose and San Francisco, capturing footage of the marchers as well as reactions from students on the ground to create a powerful report of the events.