Getting the shot: MAPS students produce documentary to air on PBS

<strong>Getting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>shot</strong>: <strong>MAPS</strong> <strong>students</strong> <strong>produce</strong> <strong>documentary</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>air</strong> on PBS
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RavalliRepublic.com
<strong>Getting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>shot</strong>: <strong>MAPS</strong> <strong>students</strong> <strong>produce</strong> <strong>documentary</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>air</strong> on
PBS
By WHITNEY BERMES - Ravalli Republic | Posted: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 10:00 pm
Setting up with two cameras and a boom mic, Ian Marquand walked in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> Westview Center over and over and over again.
Some <strong>shot</strong>s were soft on <strong>the</strong> focus. O<strong>the</strong>r <strong>shot</strong>s weren't zoomed out far enough. O<strong>the</strong>rs were just shaky.
But <strong>the</strong>y wanted <strong>to</strong> get things just right. After all, what a group of <strong>MAPS</strong> Media Institute <strong>students</strong> were working on Wednesday
after school will be broadcast across all of Montana.
The state will be getting a taste of what <strong>MAPS</strong> has <strong>to</strong> offer when its <strong>documentary</strong> - "After <strong>the</strong> Bell: Inside <strong>the</strong> <strong>MAPS</strong> Media
Institute" - <strong>air</strong>s on PBS next month, hosted by Marquand, a <strong>MAPS</strong> instruc<strong>to</strong>r.
The 26-minute program will <strong>air</strong> April 16 at 5 p.m., again <strong>the</strong> next day at 10:30 a.m. and a third time on May 27 at 11:30 a.m.
Cody Tredik, a junior at Hamil<strong>to</strong>n High School, was helping out on Wednesday's shoot.
"I'm what's called a grip. I'm <strong>the</strong> extra hand on set that plugs stuff in, carries things around, that sort of stuff," Tredik said.
This is Tredik's first year with <strong>MAPS</strong>. He is currently taking <strong>the</strong> film class. He said he's enjoyed his time working on "After <strong>the</strong>
Bell."
"It's really fun and we're going <strong>to</strong> see it on PBS, which is really cool," Tredik said. "The payoff is getting <strong>to</strong> see it on TV."
The idea of putting <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r a look in<strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> after-school program has been in <strong>the</strong> works for a couple of years, according <strong>to</strong>
executive direc<strong>to</strong>r Peter Rosten.
"Finally, this year we felt comfortable doing it," Rosten said.
A close <strong>to</strong> half-hour <strong>documentary</strong> isn't anything new for <strong>the</strong>se <strong>students</strong>, Rosten said. They created a film for this year's Big Sky
Documentary Film Festival, as well as ano<strong>the</strong>r <strong>documentary</strong> on smoking that <strong>the</strong> U.S. Centers for Disease Control picked up and
ran nationally, Rosten said.
"We've always done short-form and long-form. Some of it has been for local consumption, some for state and some for national,"
he said.
"After <strong>the</strong> Bell" will give a brief his<strong>to</strong>ry of <strong>the</strong> <strong>MAPS</strong> Institute and present its business model, which is "professional instruc<strong>to</strong>rs
teaching kids," Rosten said.
The show will also take <strong>the</strong> audience through <strong>the</strong> institute's four curriculum sections.
Most importantly, <strong>the</strong> <strong>documentary</strong> will introduce viewers <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> kids behind <strong>the</strong> scenes, showing examples of <strong>the</strong>ir course work
and professional projects.
"The kids are driving <strong>the</strong> show in terms of <strong>the</strong> interviews and narrative," Rosten said. "We hope we can create <strong>the</strong> message that
doing <strong>the</strong>ir own, personal (public service announcements) will transition in<strong>to</strong> client-based work."
The project was given <strong>the</strong> go-ahead by PBS about a month ago, Rosten said. Since <strong>the</strong>n, <strong>students</strong> started putting <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>

<strong>Getting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>shot</strong>: <strong>MAPS</strong> <strong>students</strong> <strong>produce</strong> <strong>documentary</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>air</strong> on PBS
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content as well as shooting promos for <strong>the</strong> show.
On Wednesday, a few <strong>students</strong> helped shoot wrap-arounds and interviews with Marquand and <strong>the</strong>ir fellow <strong>students</strong>.
Once everything has been <strong>shot</strong>, Rosten said it will move on <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> editing process, where <strong>students</strong> will whittle away at <strong>the</strong> film,
eventually getting it down <strong>to</strong> 26 minutes.
"We have <strong>to</strong> make some really hard decisions fast," Rosten said.
<strong>MAPS</strong> will deliver its final product <strong>to</strong> PBS a week before <strong>the</strong> <strong>documentary</strong> is set <strong>to</strong> <strong>air</strong>.
Reach reporter Whitney Bermes at 363-3300 or whitney.bermes@ravallirepublic.com.