Bobby Chastain
- Chair and Assistant Professor of Practice // Film and Video Production // Rueff School
- Chair and Assistant Professor of Practice / Film and Video // Rueff School of Design, Art, and Performance
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In 2018, Bobby Chastain was promoted to clinical faculty for the film and video studies program. He currently serves a joint position as interim director of the film and video program and assistant director of Hall of Music productions, continuing to head the academic outreach area.
Chastain completed a Ph.D. in technology and education, an M.S. in computer graphics, and a B.A. in theatre technology, all at Purdue University.
His academic focus is on all aspects of film and video production and technology, including editing, cinematography, videography, visual effects, directing, producing, and live events. His research interests include experiential learning development for the intersection of technology and the arts, visual storytelling, and curriculum development.
Chastain formerly worked in the film industry in Los Angeles, participating in numerous film, commercial, and television projects. Some film projects include: Dante’s Peak (1997), GO! (1999), and A Better Way to Die (2000). He worked in special effects and was a licensed pyrotechnic technician. He is currently a certified professional trainer for Avid Media Composer (Editing Software) and DaVinci Resolve (Editing and Color Grading Software), as well as a former certified professional trainer for Apple Final Cut Studio (Editing Software).
He began his professional career at Purdue with Hall of Music Productions, working as a stage and video technician. In November 2000, Chastain was hired full time at Hall of Music Productions in the Video Production area. Through that time he was an editor, a director, a producer, and post-production supervisor. He edited documentary projects like Amelia Earhart: Romance of Flight and the 40th Anniversary of Computer Science at Purdue, as well as hundreds of short videos. He also edited hundreds of episodes of the Purdue coaches’ shows, where he was also an associate producer. He was a live event director, editor, and technical operator. In 2010, he was promoted to manager of academic outreach for Hall of Music Productions, and later became assistant director.
Since teaching his first editing course in the Fall 2004, Chastain has helped to develop, implement, grow, and maintain the production portion of the film and video studies program at Purdue. He has taught dozens of courses in editing, cinematography, directing, live event production, producing, and video production.