Students Capture the Wisconsin Film Festival as they Close the Curtain on Music Hall
The Spring 2026 semester has reached its end, and with it, countless Communication Arts students have hit “submit” on their final assignments for the year. In Professor Kelley Conway’s Film Festivals course, students had the opportunity to get creative with their final project. Rather than solely offering an option for students to write a research…
Meeting the Demand for More Horror
What is horror, and why do we like it? This is the central question of a newer Communication Arts course, “Horror Films,” led by Ph.D. candidate Sarah Mae Fleming. Whether it’s a classic jump scare, gooey monsters, or the exhilarating satisfaction of “surviving,” people have loved horror films for decades. After record-breaking grosses at the…
Behind the Beat
UNDERSTANDING THE TECHNOLOGY OF SOUND AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY As you inch closer to the classroom door, you can hear the distinct “bum bum be-dum, bum bum be-dum bum” from Rihanna’s “Disturbia” echoing through the hall. You round the corner to see the music video projected at the front of the room and students quietly bopping…
Spotlighting a New Era
AN EQUIPMENT OVERHAUL 50 YEARS IN THE MAKING The dull buzz of the same lighting equipment has permeated our second-floor studios for over 50 years. For the first time this fall, that buzz will fade as these old lights are phased out and students begin using brand-new LED lighting kits in their productions. These lights could…
Saving Stories and Film for the Digital Age
Tucked away in a dark hallway between Studio D and E in Vilas Hall, sits a room that brings stories back to life. In that room is Sophie Mayer, a Spring 2024 Communication Arts graduate, who currently works as a Media Preservationist for the department. Using the Lasergraphics ScanStation film scanner, gifted to the department in…
Lindsey Cardell 