Why Marriage Matters

 

Student filmmakers created a documentary featuring same-sex couples discussing why the freedom to marry is important to them. This past January marriage equality began in Florida but with many pending legal cases, including in the U.S. Supreme Court, the risk of losing this privilege is very real. This project enabled student filmmakers to explore their own questions related to discrimination experienced by gay and lesbian couples. This project is being produced in partnership with Equality Florida, a civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

 

Course Information: 

Course: Independent Study

Semester: Spring 2015

Professor: Aaron Walker, Assistant Professor

Department: Communication, Film

School: University of Tampa

 

Learning Objectives: 

Students will learn the various necessary tasks and forms of interview-based documentary production. Students performing the interview will engage with research, communication, relationship-building, and the processes of the interview itself; production students will engage with all aspects of production and post production, including scheduling, equipment management, lighting, audio production, and post production and editing.

 

Assignment: 

Students are tasked, with roles, with the production of documentary interviews of several subjects: Groups of LGBT partners or families who have recently married or plan to marry in Florida following the expansion of marriage rights in the state. Students must devise interview plans, research and develop relationships, and manage necessary production elements.  

 

Assessments: 

Students are individually assessed according to their specific tasks, meaning feedback and assessment is delivered for interviews, production, technical tasks, and editing on both aesthetic and technical merit.

 

 

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