Advice for Future Broadcasters

As one capstone year comes to an end, another one is very close to beginning. The class of 2014 is getting set to start their first semester of capstone in January. There are a lot of people that I know and am friends with so I would like to give them Connor Kobis' 3 helpful tips for capstone.

1.) Start thinking of topics ASAP!:  The first semester is all about hammering out an idea. The sooner the better! Once you can pick out a topic you can start doing research and getting prepared for the URAC poster presentation.

2.) Use your classmates to your advantage: I couldn't stress how useful it was get my classmates' take on my documentary while I was shooting and editing it. I would constantly ask how this shot looked or if I should use a transition here or there. This really helped me fine tune the production process and editing.

3.) Shoot, Shoot and Shoot some more:  Let me make this simple.....YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH VIDEO. The more the better; go for different types of shots (close ups, wide shots, steady zooms). Try and shoot early on in the semester so that you can go through your footage and log what you have. 

Good Luck Class of 2014! I know you guys are capable of great things.  

So How Did I Do?

The broadcasting communications' capstone showcase has come and gone. It is a great relief and satisfaction to me that the journey has finally come to an end. My documentary presentation went over great with my audience. The Coy's were in attendance and told me that they really appreciated my work and we're tearing up at certain parts. That meant a lot to me as I was very concerned on how their reaction would me. Even my Dad said that he was getting a little emotional during the documentary.

My consultants and instructor reacted positively to my documentary. My capstone professor Brad Weaver and my other consultant Jonathan Joy said that they really enjoyed my storytelling ability that I was able to give to the audience. Mr. Weaver said he liked how I dug deep especially with interviewing President Dorman to provide that extra conflict. As far as negatives are concerned, Mr. Joy said that some production values could have been improved and corrected such as interviews looking different almost as if they were shot with different cameras. Also some different lighting issues such as video being a little dark at times. I understood this criticism as I had to deal with different backgrounds and outdoor/indoor elements while shooting the documentary.

I feel that the feedback given on my capstone is justified and fair. I was proud of my performance but always know that there is something that I could have done better. Having a crew to help out could definitely have helped along the way but all in all for producing the documentary by myself I think I did a good job.

Thanks again to everyone's help with the production of my capstone documentary. Here's the link to the finished product. 

https://vimeo.com/54554915

Come one...Come All!

       It's nearing crunch time for the completion of my capstone documentary. Time for all this hard work to come to a close at Muller Theater on December 1st. That is when the showcase will take place for all 9 students in broadcasting's epic capstone class. I will be presenting in Session 2 with my colleagues Andrea Tice and Ashley Durham. Our showcase will kick off at 1:30 PM and go until 3:00 PM so make sure you get your seats saved! Get your popcorn ready because we are going to put on a show!

 Here are the films in Session 2:

 "4th and a Miracle"             "Wounded Warriors, Healing Hounds"   "Over the Rainbow" 

   

     Andrea Tice                                Ashley Durham                   Connor Kobis     

 

4th and a Miracle Teaser

While the game of football is measured in yards, the game of life is simply measure in time. The time spent between Scott and Sarah Coy is a living testimony to make every second count. Come follow the journey of these two, as through thick and think they have made it sticking by each other's side.

 My documentary will follow the lives of Scott and Sarah from the day they met to how they got where they are today. Through Scott's near fatal injury to possibly being let go from his job, these two have endured quite the hard times together. Through everything though it has made their bond even stronger together. And now their family has grown by 1 with the recent birth of their first son, Preston Allen. I truly hope that everyone in attendance at the showcase will be able to take just one thing away from what they've seen and apply in it their lives such as determination, perseverance or the strong bond of love. For me, throughout this whole experience, it has been about putting my life in perspective. Sometimes you think you have it tough when in fact what you've gone through pales in comparison to the tough times others have faced. I hope that people will come see it to gain a better understanding of the situation that Scott and Sarah have went through. Some people already have their preconceived notions about what happened to Scott. However I want to share with them the story through other people's perspectives like Scott's Father, President Dorman and Sarah's Father.

I appreciate all the help and support from those along the way in the production of this documentary. I am looking forward to showing the finished product! 

Connecting to Service-Learning

Here at Westminster College the Drinko Center sponsors a service-learning component to our education. What is service-learning you might ask? It is an educational method where service is incorporated into a class and students are expected to show in some way how they contributed to this service mission. Furthermore service-learning exemplifies the Westminster College mission of allowing students to gain real-life experience while also contributing to the community in the form of service.

For my capstone documentary I will be contributing to this service-learning. In my proposal that I put forth back in May my service learning statement was as follows:

"Learning is a part of growing as an individual. It shows no bias to age. When a mistake is made, people are affected both directly and indirectly. A community can also learn valuable lessons from a single person as well."

With the new direction that my capstone has taken, there are many ways that it still applies to service-learning. First and foremost it can certainly teach a lesson, specifically one of determination and perseverance. The journey that Scott and Sarah Coy have shared together is something that can be admired and looked up to. There is something from their story that each and every one of us can take and apply in our own live to become a better person. Sarah choosing to stick by Scott when some might have left. Scott continuing to work through rehab to get as healthy as possible.

The list goes on and on. I have certainly learned from working with the Coy's at just how strong the bond of love is. Just when you think that you are at a breaking point in your life, there is someone there who reels you in, sticking by your side. For Scott, this someone is Sarah and now the two venture forward in their lives joined by their first born son Preston Allen. I truly hope that the story conveyed to my audience has a meaningful impact on them when they leave the showcase. By doing this I will contribute to the service-learning statement put forth by Westminster College.








To learn more about service-learning and its connection to Westminster College, follow the link below:

http://www.westminster.edu/acad/drinko/sl/sl_overview.cfm

Music Makes the World Go 'Round

 Tackling the issue of music for my capstone documentary is a challenge that is easier said than done. Taking any song from YouTube and putting in your film won't cut it as you have to have copyright access to the music. Luckily I have some connections that have helped me get around this barrier. First meet JD Eicher and the Goodnights. This band is comprised mostly of people that went to Westminster College a few years ago. Their most recent album Shifting reaches out to listeners with detailed pictures of love, struggle and hope. This fits right with where my capstone is heading with its storyline. I have emailed JD who has given me permission to use the band's songs. All I need to do is put the band in the credits to help promote their music. I feel this is more than a fair trade off. I'm very excited about being able to work with some of their hit songs.     


One track from the album  Shifting which I plan on utilizing is a song called Beauty of It All. An uplifting song, I feel that it can really tie my whole story together. Take a listen below.

Another musical resource that I have at my disposal is a close family member with quite a talent. My uncle Mark Underhill (featured to the far right in the picture) got together with a couple of co-workers years ago to form a band called Island Doom. Primarily a cover band they would go from venue to venue playing classic hits from the 80s all the way to today. My uncle Mark is the lead guitarist with the band and he is working with me to come up with a couple of instrumentals to use throughout the capstone. I've sent him a couple of video clips to help him understand the type of tone that I am looking for at certain parts of the documentary.

Overall I am looking forward to enhancing my documentary with the world of music. Together with JD Eicher and the Goodnights and my uncle Mark I hope that I can make my film have that much more of an impact.

To learn more about JD Eicher and the Goodnights or Island Doom check out the links below.

http://www.jdeicherandthegoodnights.com/

http://islanddoom.com/

Stay tuned for more updates on my capstone documentary!

Change is a Good Thing

The event that is really shaping my documentary is the wedding of Scott and Sarah Coy. If you'll notice, I have changed the title of my documentary from From the Ground Up to 4th and a Miracle. Taking a look at the situation as a whole really helped me shape this title. From where Scott Coy was after falling from the Opryland Hotel to where he is now (alive, healthy, married, having a son and returning to work), it truly is a miracle. Take that and add in a football pun, you now have my new and improved title.

Sarah giving Scott a kiss at the hospital

Looking more specifically at the wedding, it was an event that changed my primary focus of my documentary. Originally I was going to solely focus on the injury of Coach Coy and the incident down in Nashville. It would have revolved around Scott with other characters providing supplementary information. However when I found out through an interview that Scott and Sarah were scheduled to get married before the accident, the wheels started turning. I learned that they still kept the wedding date despite all that had happened. Some suggested that they postpone the date, but the two were set on keeping things as planned.

After getting married and later having their first son Preston, it made me think. The story of these two and their relationship is unlike any other. Persevering like they did is something to be commended. Sarah stuck by Scott the whole way through thick and thin. When some might have decided to move on from that life, Sarah kept her ground. She loved Scott so much that she wanted to be there every step of the way. I felt that I needed to incorporate Sarah as a co-main character. The dynamic of their relationship is truly a special story that I want to tell to my audience.

 To check up on how Scott and the Westminster Titans are doing just click on the link below. 

http://www.westminster.edu/athletics/sports/football/football_home.cfm

Houston we have a problem...or do we?

Throughout the production of my documentary there have been different obstacles that I have had to overcome.  During the summer I actually changed the main focus of documentary from solely on Scott Coy to on both him and his wife Sarah. The dynamic of their relationship really brought out some great focal points where I could lead the story. The conflict of whether or not to still get married after the accident was an event that I felt could really bring up different viewpoints. Also sticking together through some difficult times and persevering is a theme that can contribute to an uplifting story.

Another technical obstacle that I faced was shooting with the HD VJ gear. At some points during interviews I noticed that the video seemed a little darker than usual. This was because the iris was set on manual instead of auto. Hence I had to re-shoot the interviews.

Also during one interview with Coach Coy's father, the lavalier mic was brushing up on the skin from his neck. This caused the audio to be unacceptable to use for the documentary. However I was able to re-shoot the interview with him and things went well the second time. Although this made my shooting day very stressful, I just needed to keep thinking positively in order to get through it.

Getting help from the Zen Master

For my capstone documentary I chose Jonathan Joy as one of my consultants. The reasons behind this made this decision a no brainer for me. Jonathan Joy's background is quite impressive and is one of the reasons I am thankful to have him as a consultant. After completing his undergraduate studies at Westminster College in 2003, he worked in the film/television industry for over five years in Los Angeles. This included a role as a videographer on the hit MTV show The Hills. Jon is currently as a full-time instructor in the Communications department at Clarion University.

Recently, Mr. Joy taught a workshop at Westminster College that I was in called Shooting Interviews. This class, taken in the Spring semester of the 2011-12 academic year, showed me all of the different aspects of shooting a proper and effective interview. I learned many new techniques involving lighting, head room and backgrounds from Mr. Joy that I was able to apply so far in the interviews conducted for my documentary. I am able to get constant feedback from Mr. Joy regarding any question I have about putting the pieces together for this film. His advice has definitely put me in the right direction for my capstone class.

You can check out some samples of Jon's work below!

https://vimeo.com/jonathanjoy

And the Academy goes to....

Progress is going along good so far with production. I am really liking how interviews are coming together for a good story. Looking ahead, when my capstone documentary is finished I will be submitting it to a film competition in hopes of receiving recognition. The film festival that I have chosen to submit to is the Broadcast Education Awards (BEA).

The reason that I am choosing this particular festival is that it centers around my major which is Broadcast Communications. I feel that the criteria that I will be judged on will have a broadcasting based background which I am used to having made many TV packages during my time here at Westminster. Being that it is a national based competition, I am assuming that it will be very difficult to win. However I am confident that through effective storytelling and solid editing that I will have a chance to get noticed.

Here I go....On the road again

             Today I am getting prep work done for more interviews that I am scheduled to shoot tomorrow. One of these interviews will be with Head Athletic Trainer Shaun Toomey. Toomey will supply his medical expertise regarding the injury Scott Coy suffered at the Opryland Hotel. I also want to ask him about the role he played with Coy's physical rehabilitation process. Another interview that I am conducting tomorrow is with Westminster Head Football Coach Jeff Hand. I want to get his take on what went into the decision process to keep Coy on staff. After the incident there was some national publicity given that didn't show Westminster College in the most positive light. The story was put on the internet by groups such as ESPN and USA Today. You can check out the links below.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3831034

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2009-01-14-coaches-hospitalized_N.htm


Pre-Production research played a key role in helping me get more familiar with my topic, primarily Scott Coy. With the many talks that I had with him before even touching a camera, I was able to get a better understanding of the events through his eyes which really helped me centralize my focus. However it was the interview that I had with his wife Sarah that really helped me hammer down a solid storyline. I talked with her about the incident as well as the role she played in his road to recovery. It was apparent to me that their relationship strengthened through all the trials and tribulations that they faced as a couple. Take that and add the fact that they were scheduled to get married a month before the day of Scott injury. I thought "Bam!" now there's a story. I want to show my audience the strength and determination of two people through some of the most extreme circumstance. I want to convey the loving relationship between Scott and Sarah and show how that has helped them get through all of this.

Hello I'm Connor Kobis, a former broadcast major at Westminster College. For my capstone I am documenting the recent journey of Scott Coy and his wife Sarah. A journey that dealt with a near fatal injury suffered by Scott at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. A journey that also brought about the life of their newborn son Preston Allen Coy. Keep checking back with this blog to see how I am going to attempt to shape this story into a moving and influential film experience. I hope you'll come along and see how the ups and downs that these two have faced has truly led to an everlasting and inseparable bond. "From the Ground Up" is my working title but may be changed in the future.