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Welcome to your class, here are your students. Some of these guys have been shot, survived explosions, struggled to stay alive, lost limbs & vision, been partially paralyzed, suffered after effects from concussions...but through it all they made it back to their home soil in the United States of America & never lost hope nor their will to adapt & overcome adversity. Yes, this is your class. For a ten-week period between doctor appointments, surgeries, & therapy these wounded Marines will learn script writing, cinematography, photography, sound, movie editing & motion graphics all using Apple Professional Applications & Adobe Photoshop. It is our hope that this pilot program will continue to integrate them back into society, giving hope & job skills in the movie, photography & graphic industries for years to come.
I would like to invite all Apple Pro Trainers to welcome our returning war veterans from Afghanistan & Iraq, to not only teach them the skills we enjoy by using Apple Pro Apps but also as Americans join together supporting our own.
Before your journey begins into a small glimpse at the program, I would like to thank a few angels who swooped in to give us much-needed moral support as well as assist us by actively providing guidance, equipment, books, software, & opening doors that would otherwise be closed — as you may already know, programs of this magnitude are never done well without the help of many.
Anne Renehan, Pro Apps Training Program Manager, Apple Global Training, who called & emailed me when we were short on cash, ideas & strength. As trainers we have all experienced sensory overload at the end of the teaching day from answering questions, going through lessons & trying to do the right thing. Hearing her words, "Call me & let me know what you need help with," let us know we weren't alone in the process. Anne provided guidance through the Apple Certification process & now the Marines look forward to receiving their certification in the Pro Apps to better help them find jobs.
Steve Bayes, Product Manager Final Cut Pro, LiveType & Color, Apple, Inc. I think it speaks well of the caliber of people Apple puts together in the pro application division (who make the excellent products we use in the industry) that they are eager to help others. I again heard the reassuring words, "Let me know what you need help with & I'll see what I can do," this time from Steve right after a New York Times article about the school.
Michael Horton, head cutter with the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group, for bringing in the Marines to the "Creative Capital of the World" — Hollywood! — to talk about their experiences & show what they had cut on the big screen at the Frank Lloyd Wright digital theater. Michael also opened a door for the Marines to show their movies at the 2008 NAB Supermeet in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Noah Kadner, Award Winning Director, writer for American Cinematographer & Apple Pro Trainer, who started the entire ball rolling for the Apple Pro Apps at the school & invited me to participate in the program. Also for fielding my constant phone calls asking for guidance — you have to keep in mind we were putting some of this together day by day, week by week, adapting to the challenges each day brought.
Please click on these photos from a fellow Apple Pro Trainer to get an inside peek at this wonderful program. For the digital darkroom I used Apple's Pro Application, Aperture, to import, adjust & catalogue the many photographs & as always to build this site. (I did tweek Aperture's CSS in Adobe Dreamweaver.)
— victor m maldonado :)