Mention summer camp, and thoughts of canoeing on a lake and hikes through the woods come to mind – not highly-advanced digital video cameras, high-end visual effects and animation labs.

Yet DePaul University’s School of Cinema and Interactive Media (CIM) is redefining the summer camp this week with its first-ever Summer Academy. A group of area high school students will take part in the week long, hands-on exploration of filmmaking, digital cinema production, computer game development and 3-D animation.  

While the level of experience varies among the students enrolled, DePaul CIM associate professor Scott Roberts said that the educational opportunity to work with advanced tools that most high schools don’t have is most important for those participating. To that end, two participants are Chicago Public Schools students who are attending the academy on a university-funded scholarship.

“This is a chance for these students to have access to some of the latest technology and equipment used in the industry and to receive individualized instruction from faculty with extensive experience in the field,” he said. “Whether they are a novice or have a background in some of these skills, the chance to learn is what matters.”

Participants, who have expressed interest in a career in the motion picture, television or video game industry, will work in small groups to finish a short film project as well as a game development project by the end of the week. The students will have access to labs fully stocked with current industry-standard tools, such as Final Cut Pro, Maya 3D, Adobe CS3, Toon Boom, and Microsoft’s XNA game development environment for the Xbox 360. They also will take part in sessions on green-screen studio techniques, and work in DePaul’s state-of-the-art motion capture studio.

CIM is part of DePaul’s innovative College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM). With 3,079 students enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs, CDM is one of the largest colleges of its kind in the nation, with specialized labs, facilities and equipment for the college’s various fields of study.