Communicating topics of sustainability through video production

Abstract

MAbstractIntroductionThe purpose of this creative project was to develop video communication skills and produce a seven-minute segment for Indiana Outdoors. That segment is intended to educate a mass audience about sustainability.Indiana Outdoors is a magazine-format, not-for-profit public television show that educates its viewers about outdoor activities throughout the state of Indiana. Together with WIPB and the Telecommunications Department at Ball State, it provides students with the real-life experience of producing a television show. This project will develop into an educational video about an international topic that directly relates to the local society and environment. JustificationBall Sate University's Department of Natural Resource and Environmental Management's master's program in Environmental Communications in conjunction with the Telecommunications department allows a Natural Resources scientist to continue studies in her/his field while learning to convey science-based knowledge to a mass audience through a graduate assistantship with Indiana Outdoors. Producing a television show like Indiana Outdoors is a way for undergraduate and graduate students to learn how to deal with fast-paced, real-life television production situations while having access to the combined comfort and expertise of experienced faculty and staff on their side.With the rising global population and the ever-growing pressures on the environment, there is an increasing need for environmental education. Television plays an important role in our lives as a form of entertainment and more importantly, as a resource for news and education. Networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, MSNBC and CNN are valuable to the public as sources for general news and education. Increasingly popular are the networks that both educate and entertain the public about nature and the environment either through traveling, animals, outdoor adventures, science-education, history or weather. These programs are abundant and include the Discovery Channel, History Channel, Animal Planet, Weather Channel, Outdoor Life Network, ESPN Outdoors, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and the Travel Channel.My approach to the creative project was to first work on pieces of production for three Indiana Outdoors episodes and to produce a fourth video not related to Indiana Outdoors. I did this in order to develop skills to produce my final project, a video about sustainability. Sustainability is an intensely complicated idea that has varied definitions, depending on its context. When asked how long sustainability was going to take William McDonough responded most strikingly when he said, "Forever. That's the point" (3). For Indiana Outdoors, sustainability will be displayed in an environmental perspective. Sustainability is based on considering future generations by conserving in your present-day actions; it's our capacity to endure (3). As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "live simply that others may simply live"(19). This video takes a look at Ball State's efforts towards sustainability, its consideration for the local community and its example for other universities across the globe.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306