Marshall Islands Documentary Project

Hi everyone! My name is Trevor Hart and this is my junior project. Harboring an interest in meteorology, I really wanted my junior project to be primarily meteorologically focused. As such, I decided to create a documentary about something within the field. Research lead me to develop an interest in climate change. From there, I discovered the Marshall Islands, a group of islands in the Pacific being affected by sea level rise due to climate change. I sought to tell the story of these islands and their inhabitants, the Marshallese people, who were being forced to leave their homes and culture behind because of the quickly rising sea. That’s what I did - for the most part. The coronavirus pandemic really hampered the progress of this project and caused it to be downsized to a degree. For a while, the plan was to still create the documentary using digital interviews, but after a month of numerous messaging and contacting, no one besides the one individual I had already interviewed really seemed interested or had the time, mostly attributable to the pandemic. So instead of creating a full length documentary, I would work with what I had and create a short teaser that wouldn’t spoil everything that I had learned, but would interest the audience and make them want to know more. I’m writing this because I’d like for you to know that the project is far from over. The virus might have changed the project, but I still have every intention to continue it into the next year so that it can reach the degree that I originally intended it to reach. Anyhow, without further ado, here is what I did accomplish in the project.

In this project, being the creator and leader, I did a lot of different things. First, I contacted lots of Marshallese people, some living in the US and some still at home in the Islands. In order to find people, I had to do a lot of searching for Marshallese organizations, who usually would direct me to someone to get in contact with. In one instance, I even found an archaeologist in the Marshall Islands, who added me on Facebook and introduced me to 10 other people living in the Islands. Next, I had to actually film b-roll footage and interviews. This involved me driving to Springdale, Arkansas, a place many Marshallese inhabit. When I was there, I had to set up my film equipment to carry out a prior scheduled interview. It might not seem like much, but there is a lot to worry about and do when it comes to interviewing. I had to ensure that the individual I was filming was well lit using different lighting techniques, that sound was adequate and microphones were working and not visible on film, and that the camera settings were set to provide the best footage possible, among many other things. When interviewing Benetick, for example, I had to adjust my camera’s exposure so that he was more visible. Another thing I had to do was actually carry out the interview. I created 20+ questions related to the topic before I got in contact with Benetick and practiced asking them to other people to ensure that I would get a valid answer. There was a lot of research that went into this. Before I could create questions, I had to understand the situation at the Marshall Islands. So, a lot of time was spent in learning about sea level rise, the Marshall Islands and their history, Marshallese culture, and how they all tie together. The final really notable portion of the project was the editing. This is perhaps the most tedious part in filmmaking. It’s not that it is extraordinarily difficult, it just takes a long time and requires a lot of patience. Like filmmaking, there’s also a lot of individual things to do within it. For example, when editing together a short piece about the Castle Bravo nuclear crisis that happened in the Marshall Islands, I had to learn and use a variety of different tools for the many different portions of the film to make sense together, such as the trimming tool, which would edit out unwanted pieces of film.

I ultimately did all of these things in hopes that I might raise awareness to the problems that the Marshallese people are facing and have faced in the past. Like most of our projects here at The Delta School, I wanted to contribute to solving a problem. Obviously, raising awareness isn’t going to necessarily solve the incoming submersion of the Marshall Islands, but it will definitely cause people to recognize the problem, and recognition is the first step to solving any problem. As recognition of any problem increases, so does the voice of victims and those working to combat it.

I think that I’ve developed a lot of skills in the time that I’ve worked on this project. For one, I’ve strengthened my filmmaking and editing skills tremendously. Before this project, for example, I had absolutely no clue how to set up the sound for an interview. Now, I feel fully confident in setting it up and managing it. In editing, I just feel really competent in executing my vision through the tools that the software provides. I feel more technologically inept. Outside of the documentarian portion of the project, I think I’m more skillful in productivity and grit. I had a few bumps where things were difficult and I felt paralyzed, unable to decide what to do or where to go next, but I ultimately pushed through it all and accomplished lots. I also feel more empathetic as a result of this project, as a lot of it was humanity-related or based. I spent a lot of time empathizing with the Marshallese community. Finally, I feel that I’ve earned a real skill in storytelling. I’ve learned that I love to tell stories, and a documentary film is one of the most exciting ways to do that. While I feel that these skills are evident, there is still a lot of room for me to grow, and I hope that my future endeavors within this project cause me to learn new skills.

A lot of what I’ve done could prove very useful in the future. As I’ve stated, I have an interest in meteorology. After graduating high school, I hope to pursue a career in it. While this project might not be all about the science of meteorology, it exemplifies a want to learn about meteorological phenomena and an empathy for those influenced, both important attributes of a meteorologist. Also, interviewing and filmmaking are often involved in meteorology. If you watch the news, you’ll see that many meteorologists will actually go out and interview people who might have been involved in a natural disaster. Filmmaking is used to document storms in an effort to further our understanding of how the weather and its many tropes work. There are lots of meteorological positions that encase camera work. So, this entire project really does prepare me for a potential future career. Also, as stated previously, this project isn’t over, so what I’ve learned up to this point is going to be vital in creating something great in the future.

Speaking of the future of the project, there are a lot of directions I can take it. While a documentary is likely, there are still a lot of other things that my newly developed skills can help me to create. For example, I’ve dwelled on the possibility of a podcast, a mini web series, or maybe even a website with lots of articles published by me. Regardless of what I end up doing, however, the goal will still remain the same. I want to support the Marshallese community and do what I can to help raise awareness to or combat the sea level rise problem that they’re facing and encourage others to do the same.