Carlos Espinoza, Armando Vazquez, Barrett McCall and Collin Boddie weren't members of the Georgia Gwinnett College women's soccer team, but the four students felt as if they were part of the Grizzlies' 2018 season that was filled with more than goals, assists and saves.
The students glamorously followed the many twists and turns of GGC's record-breaking season through a special documentary produced for the college's new cinema and media arts production academic program.
Espinoza and Vazquez were given unique access to film games, practices and locker room speeches while McCall and Boddie assisted with player interviews, and contributed to editing the 200 hours of video and added background music to create the 13-minute project, titled One-Six, for a fall semester special topics in film class, taught by Dr. Chanju Lee.
A theme throughout the documentary was the Grizzlies' quest to achieve its first NAIA postseason victory and reach the Sweet 16 ("One-Six") and advance to the national championship tournament site at Orange Beach, Ala.
"We decided to base the project on the fact that this was a veteran team whose goals were improving upon last season and aiming to be among the final 16 teams in the NAIA tournament," says Espinoza. "We also wanted to focus on those players that were new to GGC and contributed to the team's success, and will take the graduating seniors' place in the future of the program."
The students hope the documentary brings new fans to GGC Athletics.
"We were privileged to capture the team at moments when the players weren't playing, seeing how the team developed the chemistry that would become a key factor in the successful season. We were so fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to document those special behind-the-scenes moments between teammates and the coaching staff," says Espinoza.
The various elements of storytelling, through a camera's eye, were areas that pleased Professor Lee.
"My students shot beautiful images, such as racking focus between flowers and the GGC soccer, that introduce the video. They shot clean and sharp images without severe focus, lighting and exposure problems," Lee says. "They arranged many interview clips (A-Roll) and B-Roll to tell stories efficiently. Their montage and rhythmical editing techniques are phenomenal. Poetic and dynamic music and sounds are really effective to tell stories and create moods."
Matt Mahony, GGC Athletics broadcast and video coordinator, says "I was extremely impressed with the commitment made by Carlos, Armando, Collin and Barrett to not only invest their energy and efforts, but to learn throughout this process as well."
He adds, "I truly enjoy working with students to help them grow and learn through the medium of sports. This is only the beginning of something special at Georgia Gwinnett College with [cinema media arts production] students and the Grizzly Digital Network."
