The Colors of Stetson [Student Documentary] (2014)
A documentary that voices students concerns on racism and diversity in the classroom. Written, Directed, & Produced by Alexandrina Andre Share:youtu.be/b3MPIYvSmwM Follow: instagram.com/alexandrina_andre facebook.com/alexandrina.andre © 2014 Alexandrina Andre//alexandrina.andre@gmail.com Closed Captioning Starring: Dee-Ann Ennis Drew Neitzey Salma Belakbir Ahsahri Osei Kyo-Nicole Padgett Ashley Sullivan Alex Sullivan Michael Allan Galvez Casey Kelly Kevin Serrano Caron Davis Chyina Powell Leah Smith Amanda Towner Special Thanks To: Dr. Grady Ballenger Dr. Rajni Shankar-Brown The Colors of Stetson, my short documentary film, was inspired by personal experiences of dealing with racism in my department of undergraduate study, English. I wanted to see if other students, specifically those with major/minors in the humanities, were also dealing with racism in the classroom. By creating this documentary, I wanted to give students' perspectives on race and diversity to professors, students, administrators, and staff. I conducted interviews with students from a wide range of races and ethnicities. I asked each student ten questions, while engaging in a conversation. I didn't want the film to be robotic, and I wanted the students to come off as authentic. Editing became a grueling process each interview ran to 20-30 minutes and I wanted my final cut to run no more than 25 minutes. I had wanted the film to flow, with my voice mostly not heard, but that was impossible because of the conversational format. Because of the inconsistency of the answers, I had to add my voice and include caption pages for the audience to understand the questions that the students were answering. The film starts with each student identifying himself or herself by race and ethnicity. It then follows the questions that I asked in each interview. The film ends with the audience finally hearing the names of the students whom they have been following throughout the film. I wanted those faces and names to be the last thing people see and hear, because while the overarching point of the film is that race and racial issues at Stetson are still prevalent, that doesn't define who the students are. At the end of the day, they have names and they are wonderful, brave, insightful people.
