Hey there! My name is Gabriel Navalta. I’m a student at the University of Hawaii West Oahu, studying Creative Media. Right now, we are on the West Oahu campus on the edge of Kapolei, standing in front of the newly built Creative Media Student Facility.
This $37 million, 33,000 square foot facility houses industry-standard equipment and spaces where one’s creation is only limited by their imagination. This is imagination’s newest playground. We’re at the outdoor amphitheater, an open-air venue that seats about 300 on the lawn.
A little bit about me: I’m originally from La Pahoy Hoy, a small town in Omoku Okeave, more commonly known as the Big Island. I was initially going to finish my degree online, but when I first took a campus tour and experienced this facility, I was completely amazed by the opportunities this space offered. So, I relocated to Oahu to take advantage of these resources.
But enough about me; come on in and join me on this virtual tour of the Creative Media program at UH West Oahu.
Oh, hi there! What are you doing here? Oh, that’s right! I was telling you about the program. Well, welcome to one of our learning spaces.
The Creative Media degree program prepares students for jobs in the field of content creation. So, think of your favorite influencer, movie, or video game. Someone had to think of it and make it, and that’s what we do here. We have four focus areas in the Creative Media degree: General Creative Media, Video Game Design and Development, New Media Technologies, and Design and Media. We’ll be looking at each of these four focus areas today.
Welcome to the sound stage. This 3,000 square foot production studio provides students with the equipment and space to create high-quality media productions. So, what is the General Creative Media focus area? This pathway provides students with a broad perspective of media communications, from short-format videos, commercials, social media, and other upcoming media platforms. Students focus more on the media platforms where communication exists. Some of the courses that students take include Online Video Branding and Media, and Mastering Social Media. Take a look at a few of the many things that our General Creative Media majors have created:
Some of our graduates are employed as digital content producers and creators for different organizations and businesses. Let’s take a stroll over to the esports arena and learn more about the Video Game Design and Development focus.
Welcome to the esports arena. The arena is designed to deliver a professional gaming experience for players of all levels, from casual players to competitive gamers. This place elevates the gaming experience by creating a social and competitive esports ecosystem and gives students a space to playtest the games they have created.
Now, what exactly is taught in the Video Game Design and Development focus? In this pathway, students will experience the entire game development cycle, from creating concept art, user interface, and user experience for games to coding for artificial intelligence and virtual reality gaming experiences. Some of the courses that students take to learn about the cycle include History of Video Games, Game Art, and Game Development 1 and 2. Here is some of the work that our Video Game Design and Development majors have created:
As far as potential jobs after graduation, students can work in the game industry, particularly in the indie game industry. Students can also work in jobs that require experience in creative coding, like web or app development. Let’s visit the post-production suite to talk about the next focus of the Creative Media degree.
The post-production suite comprises specialized rooms to do re-recording of audio, color correction, and any sort of post work to complete a film. The Communication and New Media Technologies focus moves beyond training for traditional jobs in broadcasting and film to drive students toward the world of online digital content. Writing and producing content for new media platforms are becoming essential ingredients for today’s communication strategies. The pathway provides a hands-on approach where skills are learned by doing. Some of the courses students take include Short Film, Branded Media Entertainment, and Development of a Web Series.
This pathway prepares students for careers in management, advertising, media communications, public relations, and more. Let’s head over to the emerging media space to talk about the last focus that the Creative Media program offers.
It is too dark to film in there, but welcome to the emerging media space, a media space that is fundamentally exploratory in nature. Currently, we are looking at virtual, augmented, and mixed reality and data visualization. So, what does one learn in the Design and Media focus? This pathway educates and trains designers for the visual communication needs of industry and society. Emphasis is placed on the consumption, creation, planning, and realization of visual solutions to complex problems in contemporary cultures. Students enjoy taking courses like Innovative Advertising, Mobile App Design, and Design in Public Spaces.
Students will graduate with career-appropriate portfolios and be ready to analyze and discuss design trends and issues relevant to today’s workforce. Most of our graduates are working in the field of web design or graphic arts. So, we have discussed each of the four focus areas in the Creative Media program. Now, what does everything that is learned in this program culminate in? Let’s talk about the senior capstone experience in the incubator space.
As you’ve seen, our Creative Media Student Production Facility really provides innovative spaces and media that encourage collaboration, creativity, and forward-thinking. But one space in particular that exemplifies this is the incubator space, otherwise known as the Hatchery, where ideas hatch. The space promotes active learning for our students by focusing on problem-solving and creativity, allowing them to be better prepared for the future. One course that focuses on this is the Senior Capstone course.
This is at the end of the degree pathway, and it serves as a culminating academic and intellectual experience for our students, where they’re given the opportunity to work on a project or internship of their choosing.
So, we talked about the four focus areas of the Creative Media program: General Creative Media, Video Game Design and Development, Communications and New Media Technology, and Design and Media. In the process, we learned about the different spaces in the Creative Media Student Facility, imagination’s newest playground. We also learned about the senior capstone experience.
What were you most excited about? I know there’s a lot, right? Interested in learning more? Visit our website at westoahu.hawaii.edu and be sure to follow us on our Instagram and Facebook. We hope to see you soon.
Bye!
