A Behind-the-Scenes Look Into Peak Pressure, a Student-Made Documentary

In early January, Associate Adjunct Professor Craig Wirth was preparing for another semester of his class COMM 4560- Visual Media Production. Little did he know, this semester was going to be one he was going to remember for years to come. Professor Wirth along with an eight-student team set about making a short documentary about Little Cottonwood Canyon titled "Peak Pressure."

The class organized as a production team, with each student rotating roles as producers, photographers, writers, editors, and researchers. Each student then migrated into the role that captured their greatest interest under the direction of Professor Wirth. The class discussed proper research protocols as well as ethical, journalistic, and production concepts. This process was all supported through teamwork and refined by technical critiques of each week's work.

That's not all, this team of students was so dedicated to their craft that they decided on the last day of class they wanted to do more and met steadily six weeks after the semester ended adding more video, interviews and perfecting their editing and sound techniques.

"I have never had such a dedicated and unified class in my 50 years of teaching – it's a class like that one that makes me proud to teach." -Professor Craig Wirth

 

Watch "Peak Pressure" now at the link below.

 

 

Special thanks to Sutton Becker for providing photos.