5 Questions With Karen Bennett, Film and Media Teacher
Ms. Bennett brings a background in Hollywood films to her role teaching visual arts at St. Margaret's.
Karen Bennett joined St. Margaret’s as film and media teacher this year. In her classes, she helps Middle School and Upper School visual arts students develop their creativity through the production of film projects, which involves analyzing short films, writing original scripts, editing, camera work and digital effects.
Before teaching, Ms. Bennett had a career as a music editor for blockbuster Hollywood films, working with legendary directors and composers (she even has her own IMDb page!). We asked about her first career, how she transitioned to teaching and building an award-winning film program in Los Angeles, and what skills she wants her students to learn in her film classes here at St. Margaret’s.
How did you get started in the world of film?
I went to the Berklee College of Music and earned my degree in film scoring and music editing. After college I moved to Los Angeles to become a music editor. I got lucky and very quickly was working for people I idolized. I worked with Tim Burton and Danny Elfman on Planet of the Apes. From there I got a job working with John Williams on Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. John was every bit as sweet and genuine as I hoped he would be, and I ended up working on more films with him like Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
How did you transition into teaching?
It was while I was working on projects with John Williams when I realized there was still something missing. I feel everyone is given a mission in life, and I knew mine was to be a teacher. I was climbing the wrong mountain. I told John that I needed to go back to school to get a teaching credential, and he was so supportive. I kept working for him while I was earning my credential.
I taught at Millikan Performing Arts Academy, a middle school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. They didn’t have a film program so I was hired to teach English and history. Eventually, I started teaching an elective in film, and after these students had success and showed a passion for film, some of their parents created a 501 ©(3) to fund equipment and from there the Cinematic Arts Academy at Millikan was founded. I was there for 14 years before coming to St. Margaret’s.
What does your everyday look like at St. Margaret’s?
This year I have introductory film classes in Middle School and film production classes in Upper School. I also am overseeing video production for the Performing Arts Center.
We’re off to a great start! The students are off and running on their films and I’m excited to see how their ideas and creativity develop.
What are some of the skills that you want film students at St. Margaret’s to learn?
The first skill is storytelling. It doesn’t matter how good you are at visual effects or editing or camera work or cinematography, if you’re not telling a story that’s meaningful, it won’t work.
I have a way of teaching it that’s a little like a storytelling algebraic equation. You start plugging in these factors and then it informs what’s going to happen and is reliable. It’s formulaic. Here’s your protagonist. Now, what’s their goal? What’s their personality flaw that’s going to make it hard for them? And then you build it, beat by beat.
What are some skills in film studies that are important for students even outside visual arts?
Today we just did a huge lesson on copyright law. We’ve had discussions about mindfulness with media and social media. Related to that, it’s important that these students know their audience, in whatever they are trying to communicate. We try to help students understand their lens and understand where they’re coming from and what message they want their audience to get out of it. Film is a great way to understand and work on those concepts.
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
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