Muskingum Students Gain Filmmaking Experience Abroad
Muskingum students Cayden Nicholson, Megan Groves and Desire Correa filming” Talbot Square” / photo by Katelyn Lindsey
By Katelyn Lindsey
LONDON, England - For Muskingum University students, a spring semester trip to London offered more than just sightseeing. It became a set, a classroom, and a chance for real world career experience.
From March 7 through 16, 2025, students from media, journalism, and theatre majors traveled to the United Kingdom to shoot Talbot Square, a short film that forms part of a larger a film titled Sussex Gardens.
Led by former Assistant Professor of Media Production, Michael Carvaines, a small group of four media, journalism and theatre students traveled overseas to film a short film titled Talbot Square. This marked the third international trip for Sussex Gardens, an ongoing narrative series that Carvaines has directed in various locations, including Seattle and London.
“We wanted students to experience London not just as tourists, but as filmmakers,” Carvaines said. “There’s something really powerful about telling a story in a place so rich with history and atmosphere.
In the school year 2023-2024, 280,716 students in the United States studied abroad for credit. Courses at Muskingum, such as Media 495, offer project-based international experiences that mirror professional work environments.
For media production major Megan Groves, who worked as cinematographer on Talbot Square, the trip marked one of her most realistic filmmaking experiences.
“It was a really great opportunity to meet with actors that are local to London and see the process it takes to create a film,” she said. “It’s probably the closest experience I’ve had to working professionally.”
Compared to previous film shoots, Groves said the London project presented new technical and creative challenges.
“Last year we had a smaller cast and no dialogue, so we could shoot more in fewer days,” she said. “This time it took longer, we had more characters, more scenes, and more takes to capture the audio.”
Assistant Professor Michael Carvaines and media production student Megan Groves filming with actors in Highgate Cemetary / photo by Katelyn Lindsey
The film featured a cast of six actors and included spoken dialogue, which meant the student crew had to adapt to the busy city soundscape. Street noise, unpredictable weather, and crowds all became obstacles they learned to work around.
“It’s not an easy environment to record in,” Carvaines said. “But the students really rose to the occasion. It was a learning experience in every sense.”
For theatre and journalism major Desiré Correa, the experience marked several personal milestones such as the trip being her first time abroad and her first time acting on an international set.
“Getting the experience to work on set was really cool,” Correa said. “I was able to work with professional actors and people who are actively working in the industry right now, which gave me new insight into the career I want to pursue.”
Filming in Neals Yard / photo by Katelyn Lindsey
She said the experience helped her gain new insights both as an artist and as a person.
“I’ve definitely grown a lot,” she said. “Meeting actors who aren’t from America gave me some really interesting perspectives and fun little tips and tricks for my acting.”
Beyond filming, students participated in structured tours, explored the city on their own, and took in the diverse culture that London offers.
Looking ahead, Carvaines is not certain if next year’s trip will include another film. While Sussex Gardens is wrapping up, he hopes to continue offering immersive, project-based learning abroad.
“It all depends on the students and their interests,” he said. “But there’s something about putting a camera in students’ hands, halfway across the world, that teaches them more than any textbook could.”
As the Sussex Gardens film nears completion, future opportunities for media-oriented learning abroad will continue based on student interest and course offerings.
