Produce a short film and photography documenting a College Track learning trip to Puerto Rico, where a group of students from New Orleans spent a week working on sustainability projects and studying energy and community resiliency in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
I directed and produced a short film documenting a College Track student trip to Puerto Rico, managing a small crew on-site for the shoot , directing the film end to end, and shooting stills throughout the experience.
Goal
Capture a College Track learning trip in a short film and a set of photographs that told the story with honesty and emotion. Emerson Collective and College Track sent students from New Orleans, many of whom had lived through Hurricane Katrina, to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria to build their capacity to weather similar disasters through sustainable technology like solar and sustainable farming.
Approach
Center the students and the communities they worked with. Over the course of the week, the group helped on sustainability projects with the goal of returning home as sustainability leaders who could strengthen their own communities’ resiliency. I wanted the film and photography to connect that hands-on work to the larger story of energy and community resiliency in the face of natural disasters.
Process
I traveled to Puerto Rico with a video crew that included a producer, a sound engineer, and a camera operator, and I managed and directed the crew throughout. I served as director of photography and coordinated the production on site, lining up and conducting all of the interviews, directing the film throughout, and shooting stills across the full experience. Back home, I worked with an editor to shape the footage into the finished short film.
