{"id":11794,"date":"2022-10-06T14:58:56","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T18:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/?p=11794"},"modified":"2022-10-07T07:40:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T11:40:17","slug":"students-gain-filmmaking-experience-by-documenting-baseball-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/2022\/10\/06\/students-gain-filmmaking-experience-by-documenting-baseball-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Students gain filmmaking experience by documenting baseball history"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JohnStudents in University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s Communications Studies program have honed their filmmaking skills by telling the stories of local baseball history for a new documentary.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Victoria Taylor \u201921<\/a>, senior John Weglarz and other College of Liberal Arts & Education students assisted Associate Professor Jason Roche<\/a> with the production of his latest documentary, which will focus on Hamtramck Stadium, the volunteer grounds crew helping maintain the historic stadium and the city\u2019s Negro League baseball legacy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once home to the Negro League\u2019s Detroit Stars in the 1930s before Major League Baseball integrated, Hamtramck Stadium has been revitalized thanks to a recently completed $2.6-million renovation. It is only one of five Negro League stadiums still standing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roche\u2019s 2013 documentary, <\/span>Stealing Home<\/span><\/i>, focused on the team of volunteers who renovated and maintained the baseball field at the site of Tiger Stadium after its demolition in 2009. Now known as the Hamtramck Stadium Grounds Crew, the group moved to the small Wayne County city in 2017 to continue its revitalization efforts. Roche\u2019s new film is funded by a grant from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince we moved to Hamtramck, there\u2019s just so much more exciting history to follow,\u201d Roche said. \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much, and we\u2019ve met so many amazing people.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students who have interned with Roche on the project gained real-world experience filming, photographing and interviewing, while using an array of cameras, drones and other equipment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Vicki\u201cThey get experience of seeing what goes into planning and then shooting a documentary,\u201d Roche said. \u201cThey get to understand what it\u2019s like to set up for interviews, prepare questions and think of different angles to cover when you\u2019re putting together a story. It\u2019s a real-world resume builder.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The experience at Hamtramck Stadium was much more than capturing footage and conducting interviews for Taylor, who now works as a web content coordinator for Detroit Mercy\u2019s Office of Marketing & Communications.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI learned so much not only about videography, but about the city of Hamtramck and the history of the Negro Leagues,\u201d she said. \u201cThat experience really made me fall in love with that city and its culture \u2014 it\u2019s unlike anyplace I\u2019ve ever been to before and it\u2019s literally just down the street from where I live.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe history of the Negro Leagues was so inspiring, and that kept me wanting to learn more and more.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weglarz was drawn to work on the documentary to see a historic stadium and become more experienced flying a drone. The Communications Studies and Cybersecurity double major filmed aerial shots of Hamtramck Stadium, recorded baseball games on the field and interviewed a number of people.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a fabulous opportunity for me as a student,\u201d Weglarz said. \u201cIt was very worthwhile to get footage of a historic stadium and see it get renovated.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While working on the documentary helped Taylor sharpen her digital media skills, the people she met during the internship left a lasting impression on her.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLearning on fancy equipment or mastering editing techniques on the newest technology, while great, are just things I picked up along the way. But the intrinsic motivation to tell a story about people who deserve recognition, that\u2019s what makes these opportunities stay with me,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cHaving access to different connections to learn in a way that doesn\u2019t feel like school makes this curriculum stand out.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an educator, Roche relished watching his students apply classroom concepts to help with his latest documentary.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think for any educator, the greatest reward we have is to watch our students grasp what it is we\u2019re teaching, grasp that material and take ownership of it,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be able to have them help me on one of my own projects, and to watch those same light bulbs turn on in their head, I know it\u2019s clich\u00e9, but it\u2019s special.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roche is continuing to film and edit the documentary and hopes to release it next fall. Detroit Mercy students who are interested in assisting Roche on the documentary can contact him by email at rochejj@udmercy.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u202fBy\u00a0Ricky Lindsay<\/a>.\u00a0Follow Detroit Mercy on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>. Have a story idea? Let us know by\u00a0submitting your idea<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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