MAP documentary project challenges sophomores

In the last few weeks of second semester, the Media Arts Program’s sophomores have been concentrating on one project — a lengthy documentary tackling local or global issues outside the Saratoga bubble.

“The point of the project is to look into a local or international issue,” Media Arts 1 and Digital Photography teacher Alex Hemmerich said. “It’s our way of trying to get students to go a step beyond a research paper and really get out there and investigate the world.”

Students focus on creating a 4- to 5-minute film, combining journalistic reporting with creative cinematography.

Terms such as B-roll, archival footage and voice-overs echo through the lab even though many students are still adjusting to their new project. However, some sophomores like sophomore Ali Lichtenberg have had experience with the genre.

“When I was first introduced to the project, I was very glad to hear that it would be a documentary,” Lichtenberg said. “Documentaries had always been one of my favorite styles of film as they are able to utilize the principles of filmmaking to bring light to topics that may not be covered by other media sources.”

Lichtenberg’s group members have all been delegated specific roles in the filming process: Devin Mather as director, Sirisha Munukutla as researcher, Megan Jin as editor and Lichtenberg himself as director of photography. They plan to coordinate well with each other to fill in for the one empty position in their lineup — a crew member.

Lichtenberg’s group is focusing on a documentary centered around anxiety and depression at the school. Although their project is still in its preliminary stages, his group members have had little trouble so far finding reliable sources for interviews and researching basic information about the topic. Because of their promptness in reaching out to potential interviewees, the group’s pre-production stage is moving along rapidly.

“I expect that this project will rely on not just scoring interviews, but good interviews the audience will find reputable,” Lichtenberg said. He also feels that a group’s research into a topic and ability to convey what the issue is to the audience will hold much value for this project.

As an introduction to the project, the students watched several model documentaries, one of them the Satellite Award-winning “Blackfish,” a 2013 documentary about the mistreatment of killer whales at Seaworld.

Hemmerich chose to show the documentary not only because of its cinematic prowess, but also because of the real world effect it caused, creating significant backlash for Seaworld which “legitimately suffered from that documentary coming out.”

He also sees documentaries as another form of cinematographic art.

“It’s a really powerful way of connecting with the world and challenging something,” Hemmerich said. “That’s the main reason why we want the students to do it.”