12/08/2026
Ke, or Kyla as she prefers to be called, is an international master’s student from China. She has just completed her first semester in “Sound/Vision” at HAW Hamburg and is building on knowledge that she gained as an undergraduate student during an exchange year in Hamburg in 2023/24.
As an exchange student Kyla took the film project classes “Short Cut”, “Media Production” and “Camera Acting” as well as “Innovative Storytelling”, “Design” and “Game Design”. Her goal was to build on her communication degree at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST). ‘While my bachelor’s programme gave me a theoretical foundation, we did not have media labs in Shanghai. In Hamburg I had access to well-equipped media labs and opportunities for hands-on media production, which I found very exciting. My happiest memory from that year was making films in the Production Lab, where we developed projects from a concept into sets and shooting, and finally a complete audiovisual work.’
After completing her bachelor’s degree at USST, Kyla returned to Hamburg to pursue her master’s degree. Her focus is on sound and she describes her first semester as both intensive and rewarding, with theory classes and a team project. Weekly seminars allow students to discuss their ideas and get support from their professors: ‘I have met lots of cool people here. We spend a lot of time brainstorming and working together in the labs but also discovering Hamburg. An additional highlight were workshops with professors from CSU Long Beach, bringing together different approaches and a Hollywood-style perspective on media production.’
‘The programme is a great fit for me because I enjoy creating media projects. It offers lots of opportunities to independently develop projects in the Sound Lab, Video Lab, Light Lab, and Production Lab. Professors also organize workshops based on students’ interests and provide opportunities to connect with professionals in the industry. Here, you have a lot of creative freedom: you can work on immersive installations, films, games, theatre, or simply expanding network.’
