C-Span Documentary

Lotions or Life? from Caleb K-B on Vimeo.

Assignment Title— C-SPAN Documentary  Year— Sophomore

Skill—research, persuasion Portfolio Category— Media Communications

The C-Span documentary project really helped me in media and communications  by having me watch videos and documentaries and then creating one. In this project, groups of two or three were to make a documentary about the impact of a bill going through congress on our local community. We would then enter the video into the C-SPAN Student-Cam competition. In the beginning I was having great difficulty in finding a topic that I found interesting and in the end I joined a group with animal testing. This topic was not really my cup of tea; however, it had the making for a good documentary.

Through this project I was able to incorporate many different techniques. A very important aspect of such documentaries are striking the perfect balance between pathos, ethos, and logos. documentaries and visual media I found are the best ways to do this because of the different visual effects and pictures that can be added. I was also able to pick up on some techniques while finding B-Roll. A lot of the interview clips we got and information that I found were from other documentaries. Most of the ideas I came up with were things that I saw in these documentaries.

I also saw the strength of media communication when I was searching for B-Roll. As I stated earlier, animal welfare and testing was not a priority to me. Before this project, I probably would not have been completely against animal testing; however, the more videos I saw while looking for B-roll, the more i sympathized with the animals. Also the information that I got from some off the documentaries also helped to change my mind. Through the process of making and watching documentaries, I was able to see the impact media and communications can have on one’s opinion.