By Maureen Redmond, Guest Writer
Pacific Lutheran UniversityMediaLab students shared their experiences in the production of the documentary “Tapped Out: Unearthing the Global Water Crisis” in a special preview for communication students Tuesday. Seniors Kortney Scroger, Katie Baumann, Haley Huntington and Samuel Hosman along with junior Valery Jorgensen have been working on the production of this documentary under the advisory of executive producer and senior adviser Robert Wells.
“In my experience, this is one of the most impactful and impressive projects that MediaLab has done so far,” Baumann said.
This team has studied the issue of water crises and takes an in-depth focus in the documentary on water mismanagement, water rights and droughts and the effects that these issues have had on people and the environment, specifically in North America.
“If you don’t see it [the water crisis], you don’t necessarily know or understand the magnitude of it,” Huntington said. “So we wanted to kind of shine more of a light on that — water usage in North America — while still trying to give it that global sense as well.”
Through this documentary, the production team draws attention to the issue to create environmental awareness.
During the presentation, the team said they researched and filmed in Colorado, Texas, Missouri, New York, Washington D.C., Ontario, Ottawa and other locations. The students conducted interviews with locals in each location to learn more about the direct effects that water mismanagement has had on their communities and the environment in which they live.
Upon witnessing first-hand the toll that the water crisis has had on people’s lives, the team members said telling these stories they found heartbreaking was challenging. At the same time, Scroger said “meeting these people was also the best.”
The students said working on the production team allowed them to build skills and learn a tremendous amount from their experiences.
“Personally, I am happy to learn how to animate graphics because I have never done that before,” Hosman, who was in charge of the art and animation, said. “It was a good learning experience for myself.”
The premiere of “Tapped Out: Unearthing the Global Water Crisis” Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. in the Seattle Public Library. However, the future of this production does not end here. The team said it has plans to spread the message of the water crisis far beyond just the PLU community.
“It will be entered into a lot of festivals, and we’re actually doing the research for that right now,” Jorgensen said
