Junior Greg Compton, senior Callia Stichter, graduates Emily Crosier (‘24) and Claire Tiemens (‘24) won first place for their film “Route of the Romanesque” in the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) 2024 On-Location documentary competition.
The BEA is an international media organization that provides opportunities for juried production competition for students, educators and professionals. They offer forums for exposition and career advancement to develop competent and thoughtful media creators, according to a statement from the BEA.
The BEA’s 2024 On-Location student competition received 89 submissions across seven categories in which Best of Shows had an acceptance rate of 9%, according to a press release from the BEA.
“The Route of the Romanesque” was created and produced by director Crosier, producer and writer Tiemens, co-cinematographer and co-producer Stichter and editor and cinematographer Compton.
“I feel like it's prideful to say you're going to get something, right?” Compton said. “At least for me, I do the work because I enjoy what I make, rather than trying to achieve anything…when you get something it is nice though… like all the sleepless nights were worth it.”
In January, Stephen Bailey and Lincoln Reed, assistant professors of film and media arts, led a trip of 10 film students to Porto, Portugal, where they created two documentaries and one narrative film. He asked a film industry friend, who started a Christian retreat center in Portugal, if the J-term crew could stay at the center and learn from him and his experiences as a filmmaker.
International production experience is important, Bailey said. The experience equips students to navigate the telling of someone’s story while in a completely different culture.
The biggest blessing of the trip, Bailey said, was seeing the locals get involved in the students’ work. The stories themselves were local.
“The whole community just got really excited that we were there and that we were telling stories about them,” Bailey said. “That was probably the most rewarding part… they looked at us and said, ‘I can't believe these people, you know, from someplace in the United States — in Indiana — care about our stories.’”
The ability to work around technology is also part of the international production experience, Bailey said. It’s a whole different world having to adapt to circumstances and being pushed to create when lacking the typical equipment.
When the students packed equipment for Portugal, they were as pared down as they could be for film preparation. Compton tried to convince Bailey to let him pack an aperture and full studio lighting in a suitcase, but it didn’t work out.
However, once in Portugal, Compton found the challenge of lacking technology fueled his creativity.
“Being so outside of your element: in a different culture, in a different production environment where you don't have everything just down the road or nearby, it stretches you — a lot — and so you have to learn to rely on the people around you and the people that you meet,” Compton said.
Students split into groups and were assigned topics. However, the teams were responsible for crafting the message of their stories, Bailey said.
The “Route of the Romanesque” documentary takes place in Porto. The eight-minute documentary follows the care and attention of Ricardo Vieira, operational assistant to the monasteries, and others in the community who have been impacted by the historic buildings.
The buildings were built right after the Roman occupation in Portugal, Compton said.
Typically, the J-term documentary trips consist of five to six long days to film out of the normal two weeks, Compton said. However, this J-term, the teams produced every single day of the two weeks, not including their weekend in Lisbon.
“The hugest thank you to Steve and Lincoln [Reed] and everybody else who was on the trip for making it what it was,” Compton said. “Without them, the trip would not have been the same. The doc would not have happened.”
