I’m a communication major with a news/journalism emphasis. I have a great admiration for documentary storytelling. My senior project is a 20-minute documentary, “Tourists vs. Wildlife: The Dangers in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.”
Project Overview
My documentary investigates the dangers big game wildlife poses to visitors in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which includes Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. I interviewed a bear attack survivor, wildlife photographer, park ranger, wildlife technician and others.
TIMELINE
With this being such an undertaking, I set deadlines for myself throughout the semester. I gave myself five weeks to film and interview experts. This involved several trips to Yellowstone and the Tetons. I devoted the last five weeks to trimming footage, script writing and editing.
CHALLENGES
My greatest challenge was finding people willing to go on the record. Despite my efforts in person, over email and on the phone, I was unable to interview an official Yellowstone public information officer. That said, I found other Yellowstone employees who were happy to share their expertise with my project. Another roadblock I ran into was finding an animal attack survivor. I had been in contact with a handful of survivors for weeks, but I could not feature them due to scheduling conflicts or not wanting to relive the experience. I totally understand that. A week past my original filming deadline, I landed an interview with Shayne Burke, who survived a Grizzly bear attack.
SKILLS
This project relied heavily on my reporting skills, particularly finding sources, highlighting key points and delivering my findings on camera.
A lot of stories could be told with the information I gathered. As I carved through the marble block, this is the sculpture I found.