The decisions I have made in each of my stories have built them into quality pieces of work. With every project, there are a number of obstacles that you are required to overcome, if you don't then the story cannot be done. I have proven throughout my work, loyalty to creating the best work imaginable. Throughout my time on The Flash, I have developed skills that have led to high-quality products. I used to have pre-written interview questions, and I would simply ask those few questions. Now I come into the interview with a few questions in my head, but I allow the answers to previous questions to determine the next questions. I choose to work with my interviewee to determine what the interview will be, not any other circumstances. In my last interview, it ended up going in a way I could have never planned for.
NRECA
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While working on the NRECA story, I interviewed Savannah Berg, someone who had gone on the trip. In her interview, we talked about things I could have never planned for. She discussed Roe v. Wade, and what it meant for her. This came up from something she had said earlier, and I used her answer to question what it was like to be in the capital before Roe V. Wade was overturned. It was such an interesting interview, that allowed me to get a really deep look into a truly interesting character. I took that interview and broke it down into a few small segments. I took her moments of passion and converted them into a cohesive narrative, to show students why they should do this. Not just because it looks like it's fun, but because it changed her life. Alongside my second interview, it worked efficiently to create this narrative. This story reached everyone in the school, and it's too early to say, but I hope it will lead to more applications. Last year they had just over a dozen people apply, this year with the help of this story, it should be far more.
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Be a Santa
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Last year, My peer and I created a story showcasing a local charity in our area. Be a Santa to a Senior, a program that provides gifts to lonely and isolated seniors. She was in charge of the story, while I assisted. We skimmed the surface of it, focusing mainly on the behind-the-scenes of the program. The story had a ton of potential, so many areas that we could have explored. After the story aired, I felt empty, like we could have done so much more with it. So when we began to plan out the holiday show the following year, I brought up a proposition. What if I remade the Be a Santa project, but changed it? One key component missing from the original story was the delivery process, volunteers bring the gifts to the seniors.
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The key part of the program is that they deliver the gifts in-person, and get to make a connection with the seniors. I wanted to not only show this, but take it a step further. I had a thought, what if we put ourselves into the narrative? I know it's something frowned upon, but I felt like it would demonstrate the importance of the program. When the story was said and done, It had a good balance of a discussion of the program and what it provides mixed with our amazement at what we saw. It was my decision to add the voices of Blake Hoffmann and Drew Hostetler because it put the story back into a high school perspective. The coordinator of Be a Santa interacts with senior citizens all day, while high school students don’t understand the situation in the same way. To cast the story through this lens was to make it digestible to everyone in our school. I wanted our audience to know the clear importance of the program. One clip stands out when Blake discusses a man with memory loss. The way in which he describes it stuck with me, and gave the story a stronger impact. This story shows a fault in society, but provides hope and a solution. It’s one of my favorite stories that I have made, getting to meet those seniors opened my eyes, and the footage has been my favorite to edit. Be a Santa to a Senior displays a clear message, and was developed out of a passion to do better.