C-SPAN Documentary Quarter 2/3

C-SPAN Video (Click Here)

Assignment/Activity Title— C-SPAN Documentary                                      Year— Sophomore

Skill—   Media, Research, Writing                                    Portfolio Category— Social Awareness           

            As one of our major second quarter film projects as a CAP sophomore, C-SPAN was both a fun and educational assignment. Every year, the news-broadcasting network C-SPAN holds a national video documentary competition that pushes students grades 6-12 to think critically about local and national issues in the U.S. Students chose groups of 2 – 4 people, and created a short documentary based around the theme. The 2015 C-SPAN StudentCam theme was entitled “The Three Branches and You” and asked students to tell a story that demonstrates how a policy, law, or action by one of the three branches of government has an affect on the student personally or in their community.

When we got this assignment, I was very enthusiastic because I loved to edit and produce films, and having experience in the C-SPAN StudentCam due to 8^th grade at Eastern Humanities, I knew what it would take to win the competition. There were many topics I was interested in, however none were as interesting to me as the rise in college tuition. This was an issue that I knew I would be facing in the
near future, and I already had many friends currently in college who had trouble with tuition.

Starting out, my partner Lily Haeberle and I had major difficulties trying to find someone to interview for our video. We wanted an expert in the field, and reached out to every local college office we knew. Due to limited time and busy schedules, many college administrators emailed us back with their apologies, regretting that they would not be able to partake in an interview with us. We finally locked down an interview and traveled to Washington, DC to interview Sandy Baum, thanks to help from Mr. Mayo. Sandy Baum’s knowledge on the topic helped us immensely. We also interviewed two different students that were still in college, who had had trouble with their finances.

Lily and I chose to edit at home instead of editing at school, in order to give us more time to edit and not have to stay after school. This was both an advantage and a disadvantage, as we could work as late as we wanted, but it was harder than we thought to build in extra time to work around our schedules. Looking back, I am glad we chose to edit at home, as I believe we were more comfortable and worked much more efficiently.

After about a month of just editing, our video was finished and we had to turn it in by January 21st for the competition. By the end, both Lily and I were proud of our work and felt confident turning it in. As a team, we worked very hard on our video. Using Final Cut Pro enhanced our video and allowed us to add effects to improve the visuals, especially in the intro and ending.

I felt a very personal connection with this project, because I know that within the next couple of years, I will be having to make the decision of what college to go to, and must consider the price. The work we do as CAP students prepares us for our future education and beyond, especially with projects like this. 

If I could change one thing about this assignment, I would’ve appreciated having more time to work and edit, as everything felt very rushed.

I learned a lot about higher education and tuition with this project, and I am eager to see who won.