By Caleb Barrick – Pioneer Reporter

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The Digital Cinema Production program at Oklahoma City Community College gives students a wide variety of experience in various fields of expertise. 

Whether it be screenwriting, production design, camera or sound, there is something there for every student.

For the select few students who show drive and experience in these fields, some end up finding jobs as student employees working in the equipment room and soundstage in the Visual Performing Arts center.

Two of the student workers in the DCP program are Carson Hearne and Andrew Beller.

Both developed a love for movies from an early age.

“Some of my favorite memories growing up were my dad showing me stuff like “Ghostbusters” or “Star Wars.” Those are just some of my favorite memories to think about,” Hearne said.

Hearne and Beller both began making their own content at an early age as well.

“I was really into YouTube. I liked doing a lot of special effects, visual effects, and eventually I started making my own “Goosebumps”’ episodes at home. That passion blended with what I wanted to do and so that got me interested in movie making,” Beller said. 

At OCCC each continues to pursue their passion for film. 

“I knew the second I saw everything they do here that this was where I was meant to be,” Hearne said.

The student employees for the DCP program are responsible for managing the equipment room and soundstage in the visual performing arts center.

“We do inventory at the beginning and the end of the semesters. We’ll do a complete inventory where we look through everything and make sure everything from the equipment room, all the way out to the studio is covered.”

Student workers also assist professors both in and out of class.

“On an average day we set up for classes. Anytime, a professor can come in and tell us what they need set up for their class and we’ll have it ready,” said Hearne.

The state-of-the-art cameras, lights and sound equipment are not just for the professors. Training for all the equipment is available to DCP students for use on future projects.

“We’re doing check-ins and check-outs for people doing their capstone projects, directing projects, anything else they want to use the equipment for. They’re allowed to come in and check stuff out and take it off campus if they’ve taken Cinematography 1,” Beller said.

Hearne said student workers assist in training. 

“With training stuff, we actually take students, and we’ll show them the piece of equipment and we’ll actually train them on it and get them used to it and make them employable, and that’s completely up to the students as well so we could have no trainings in a week, or we could be full and be doing trainings all the time,” he said. “But it’s completely up to students who want to come in and want to use their time to train on equipment.”

Hearne made a point to focus on the practical experience that students get in DCP.

“You’re trained for the industry,” he said. “You’re trained to just jump in and be able to start working in the industry and that’s what a lot of people do. There’s so many people who don’t even finish the program because this program makes them so employable that they’re already getting jobs before they even make it out.”

The DCP student workers encouraged taking initiative while in the program, due to the vast opportunities to learn and gain experience in the film industry.

“If you’re willing to go out of your comfort zone and go to a new level of ‘okay I have to push myself to be the best’, you’re going to get something out of it,” Hearne said.