Whether it’s covering a School Committee meeting for DCTV or firing off a particle beam at ghosts, Dartmouth High’s TV lab gives students an opportunity to explore film.

In Joshua Moulding’s media courses at Dartmouth High School, students learn to analyze and create movies. Media Club, which meets after hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, tasks students with pushing the boundaries of their creativity even further.

“We try to engage students in a way that allows them to create projects that aren’t guided by the curriculum,” said Moulding. “Sometimes they have good ideas that don’t fit into what we teach in class. [Media club] gives them a great opportunity to try it out.”

The club has more than 20 participants, and students use Adobe Premiere CS6 to create a wide array of films without the fear of being graded, enduring judgment from peers or worrying about assembling a masterpiece.

“I think of myself as more of a producer than a teacher because I think a good producer teaches their staff how to create good work,” he said.

John Eaton, 17, the vice president of the club, said the school’s media classes expose students to a variety of film techniques such as stop motion, music videos and silent films.

“[Moulding] would throw us into it at first. From there, he taught us what we needed to know to make a film,” said Eaton. “I think what got me into film was the continuous support that he showed for us for whatever we did.”

The club experienced some recent success with its faux movie trailer for the 1984 sci-fi comedy “Ghostbusters.” The school has a monthly “Movie Madness” event where a film is screened for students in the auditorium.

To promote the showing of “Ghostbusters,” members of Media Club created their own version of the film’s trailer, which they presented on the television sets in the cafeteria during lunch break. The “homemade” trailer swaps expensive Hollywood special effects with faithfully recreated, lo-fi movie magic.

“We actually got an applause,” said Austin Vincent, 17, president of the club. “We were just thinking about putting it out there and letting people see it, but people actually clapped. It was a good response.”

Tori Cornell, 17, who was chased by haunted, levitating books in the homemade “Ghostbusters” trailer, said the group is currently seeking donations of props and costumes to help students along with the creative process. An old Halloween costume would be an ideal donation.

“If we had a better costume closet, we’d be able to produce higher quality videos,” said Cornell.

Outside of producing works intended to entertain, the group is collecting highlights from events throughout the school year. Vincent described it as senior video of sorts that uses clips from major events such as Spirit Week and the spelling bee. He said that footage can also be used to create brief news stories.

For students in Media Club, the drive to capture and edit films not only extends beyond the classroom, it extends into the job market. Many said they intend to use their newfound skill sets in college and beyond.

Freshmen Victoria Houde, 14, who helped film this week’s School Committee meeting, said she’s learning practical skills for real-world situations.

“The second I walked into Mr. Mouldings class, it was like ‘this is what I want to do.’ It was my favorite class immediately,” said Houde. “Now it’s what I want to do for a career.”

“We love this. It’s a great escape from everyday school,” said Vincent. “It’s great to come in here and know your creative mind can’t be stopped.”

To see videos produced by the Media Club, visit youtube.com/user/DHSTVLab.