The Truth About Documentary Filmmaking
Just before winter break, I received the opportunity to join a documentary filmmaking team. I’ve always been passionate about long-form broadcasting; I love the idea of spending more time with a story, so tackling this new form of journalism was a no-brainer for me.
In partnership with the Arizona Community Foundation, the Cronkite School launched a special year-long project to cover the rise of youth suicides in Arizona, including exploring the underlying causes and looking for possible solutions. The class is led by David Ariosto, an author and journalist who has managed, produced, and written for National Geographic, Time Magazine, NPR, Reuters, CNN, and Al Jazeera America — needless to say, I landed a pretty decent gig.
I have learned so much since we started the project in January. For this first semester, we focused on gathering as many interviews and as much research as we possibly could; the more, the better. Logistically, the team was divided into pairs and we all had one topic to focus on for our final multimedia project, which was a combination of video, print and audio storytelling. Personally, mine was investigating whether or not there is a genetic component to suicide, a groundbreaking idea with limited evidence and plenty of skeptics, but my partner and I were determined to find out which side was right. We were so determined, we flew out to Utah to interview one of the leading researchers, Douglas Gray, who narrowed down four genes that contribute to a higher risk of suicide. Now, I have been on a reporting trip or two, but never anything quite like this. I can’t tell you how excited we were to have a school that had so much faith in us, they were willing to send us on a last-minute flight just to get the story right. It felt like we won the lottery.
Additionally, we had to find a family that experienced more than one suicide throughout a few generations, which led us to Jenny Gibson. Jenny is an Arizona native who lost her sister and father to suicide, just a few years apart. Her father took his life two days after the anniversary of her sister’s death. When she opened her life story up to us, I realized exactly how exposure creates change in communities, states and nations. I realized the potential this documentary had to change the way mental healthcare is handled, to expose how much power the insurance industry has over the people they cover. I realized how much people right in my backyard were hurting and how much they felt like no one was listening.
That trip to Utah took place just before the coronavirus pandemic got really, really serious. Once we returned, we only had two documentary class sessions before ASU closed. We were all lucky to have had so much footage already shot before losing access to equipment and permission to go out on assignment, but we were still collectively worried the quality of the documentary would suffer. Besides two or three Zoom interviews, we spent the remainder of the semester working on our final videos and articles, leaving our experience fairly untouched by the outbreak.
I had originally planned to bring my time on the team to a halt...but that was before David announced the school would pay two students to continue working on the film throughout the summer. This period would focus on stringing the individual stories together, making graphics and following up with sources and filling in the gaps. I knew the chances of my summer internship playing out were slim to none, so I took this opportunity as a sign and decided to throw my name in the hat. I feel so, so lucky to have been hired.
However, the Cronkite School is closed for the entire summer, so any new content has to be retrieved or completed online, from home. For one, I am in charge of any follow-up interviews and additional content and research needed. To try to match the quality of the other interview to the best of our abilities, we have strayed away from Zoom or Skype interviews and are asking sources to film themselves on their phones. This is a great method if you’re short on time, too, as you can email them the questions and let them take control from there.
Truthfully, everything else has been fairly seamless. My professor was kind enough to put all of the raw and edited footage on drives and delivered them to our homes, making it easy to access what we need, whenever we need it. To keep tabs on our progress, we have Zoom calls three times a week. I wish I had more new tips and advice, but I think this serves as an example of how many resources you already possess to make really incredible content from home — you just never had to before.
To give some insight, The Cronkite School has completed two other major projects in recent years that called attention to the state’s more prominent challenges. In 2015, more than 1 million people watched a statewide simulcast created by the Cronkite School in conjunction with the Arizona Broadcasters Association. “Hooked: Tracking Heroin’s Hold on Arizona” focused on the growing perils of heroin and opioid use in Arizona. It aired on all 33 broadcast television stations and 93 radio stations in the state. “Hooked” received numerous awards, including an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Award, the first time a student project won the award.
All of that to say, we are making that same award-winning content directly from our homes this time around. It isn’t about having fancy equipment and a team you see face-to-face every single day. Sometimes, the ability to adapt and the willingness to try new things is more important than anything money can buy.
Journalism is about rising to the challenge, whatever that may be.
Meet the Author, Jamie Landers
Jamie Landers is pursuing a degree in journalism from The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Her passion for the news industry and the art of storytelling continues to grow with each new opportunity. She shares her experience as a budding journalist in the real world to inspire other students and help teachers better prepare their pupils for the field.