A small subculture of Penn State has been whisked off campus, though most students outside of the film and video major probably haven't even noticed the change.

Starting this semester, several staples of the film and video program have been moved from the basement in Carnegie Building to Penn State Innovation Park -- a 15-minute ride from campus by car or bus. The move is a significant development for film/video students who had grown accustomed to Carnegie.

The facilities moved include the audio and visual equipment room, the Final Cut Pro editing facility and COMM 242 (Basic Video/Filmmaking) classes.

Andrew Tedeschi (sophomore-film and video) takes the bus to his COMM 242 class, but said he sometimes has to commute out to Innovation Park more than just two times a week for class.

“You have to go [to the equipment room] in person to make a reservation,” Tedeschi said. “They don't allow call-ins ... I missed the bus twice already and had to take a cab home because otherwise I would have had to wait an hour and a half for the next bus.”

Pat Parsons, associate dean for undergraduate education for the College of Communications, said the need for the move arose out of enrollment pressures.

“At the bottom of this is a massive growth in the College of Communications in the past 10 years,” Parsons said. “Thanks to funding, we've added faculty, so we need additional space.”

To create that space, Carnegie's basement will be renovated this summer and will include 10 faculty offices, two conference labs, two computer labs, and a room with editing software available to upperclassmen.

Many students, like Kara Place (senior-film and video) feel that something has been lost that the renovation will not address.

Carnegie basement used to be abuzz with activity and conversation on weekdays, she explained, inspiring her to dub the atmosphere "Carnegie High."

“Between class, we would all hang out in the hallway, and it was just like high school because you knew everybody,” she said. “We weren't always friends outside the classroom, but it was just good to see them everyday and talk to them. It made Penn State seem smaller.”

Since the equipment room moved to Innovation Park, however, Place said the mood in Carnegie is different.

“There's no one there now," she said. “It's dead."

Joe Hicks (senior-film and video), who works in the new equipment room at Innovation Park, agreed that there has been a social loss.

“There was a definite culture there that's lacking now," Hicks said, adding that when the facilities were at Carnegie “everyone knew what was going on with everyone else's film." He said that now he's lost touch with the progress of several of his classmates' film projects.

Brian Morrison (senior-film and video) said he feels an educational loss has accompanied the cultural one.

“I got to know seniors, juniors, as a sophomore,” said Morrison, who used to work in the Carnegie equipment room. “There was a lot of idea-sharing that went on. I learned to avoid certain [film-making] mistakes from those conversations.”

Morrison said he is worried about underclassmen and future Penn State film students, because they might lack this community-building opportunity.

“People who are sophomores won't be able to establish a community and learn from each other as much," Morrison said. “Nobody's going to go to Innovation Park to hang out."

Most of the Penn State instructors who teach film and video courses at Innovation Park spoke approvingly of the new facilities, citing the more spacious equipment storage lab, the bigger and more convenient editing facility, and other benefits.

Donnie Rhoades, who ran the Carnegie equipment room and continues to run it from its new location at Innovation Park, said he feels the transition has been mostly a smooth one.

“Carnegie used to be a zoo,” Rhoades said, referring to long lines for people wishing to take out equipment. “Now students have to plan out more when they're going to shoot. People are actually doing more planning. [The move] has made people think ahead, plan accordingly ... people don't want to go [to Innovation Park] anymore than they have to.”

Parsons said he's uncertain whether the move will affect future enrollment, but he said he feels the distance to Innovation Park is a “small issue compared to other things [students] think about.”

Most COMM 242 students agreed that if they knew, ahead of time, the distance they would have to travel to class they still would have come to Penn State, although Jon Garrett (sophomore-film and video) said he might have thought twice had he known.

“If I knew the distance… I would have looked at other schools more," Garrett said. “The accessibility isn't too great here. It'd be better if there was a constant shuttle back and forth."

Place said she is unenthusiastic about Innovation Park's facilities.

“I've heard people talk about how great it is, that it's this brand new facility and whatever, but I've been there. I'm not impressed. It's not an exciting new wonderland. It's just new classrooms and it's big and far away."

Place said her little sister will enroll as a film and video major at University Park next year.

“At first I was really excited, because she was going to be in film, which is a small major, where she'll get to know everyone. ... I used to stop by Carnegie even when I didn't have a class just to say hi to everyone,” Place recalled fondly. “But now, it just isn't the same.”