Students use documentaryto address classroom conditions

 In Fine Arts Building 130, it's not so picture perfect for a Digital Photography class.  

Winston-Salem State students Alex Dambreville and Brandon Pratt decided to produce a documentary titled "Not So Picture Perfect" about the poor conditions of their classroom.

Fifteen tuba cases and  a piano are stored in the room. 

"There's one big table in the middle of the class,  no chalkboard or dry-eraser board," said Pratt, a senior mass communications major from Fayetteville.

"The air or heat doesn't work; there are two small windows that face a brick wall; and, there's one small Mac laptop that sits on a milk crate in the front of the class. 

"If you had a seat in the back of the class you couldn't see the computer." 

There were not enough chairs to accommodate the 15 students in the class.

Dambreville and Pratt highlight the opinions of four students enrolled in the course through an eight-minute short film.  

The documentary also displays the condition of the room.

Dr. Leo Morrisey said he told the students he would support them in this project when they approached him about it.  Morrisey, an associate professor of art, teaches the photography course.

He said the students approached this project professionally and responsibly during filming.

"The motivation and purpose was the need for a change for future students, honestly, and to inform people of our learning conditions," said Dambreville, a senior mass communications major from Charlotte.

Some art majors enrolled in the course said the condition of classroom is not unusual to them.

Lynwood Cox, a junior UNC-Pembroke transfer art major from Southern Pines, said that art as a major is frowned upon at many colleges, and this is evident through the lack of resources.

"I believe we were at a huge disadvantage because for this class we should have been in an environment that complemented our learning," said Nichola Lumpkin, a senior art major.

"It was still a successful semester due to our instructor, but there's still so much more that we could have done if we had a more suitable environment."

Morrisey said he hopes through this experience, students will realize they have a voice and will understand how to use their creative skills to express their voice. 

Cox, Lumpkin and Morrisey are all featured in the documentary.  The documentary will be entered in competition at the Reynolda Film Festival in January.