Update: Intern Helps Launch Smithsonian Exhibit

Emma Jackson, a Fall 2013 Dean's Intern, shot and edited videos for Smithsonian.

Emma Jackson, a Fall 2013 Dean’s Intern, shot and edited videos for Smithsonian.

Dean’s Intern Emma Jackson at Smithsonian.

Following my last blog post, a lot has been going on with my project. Perhaps most importantly, the video is finally finished!

Since seeing Erna Frischer in New York, I met with Robert Bodansky, Camilla’s grandson, for an interview. He recounted memories of his grandmother and walked us through how he discovered the contents of the purse—and his realization of how important these documents were.

I also met with Gerry Liebenau, the man who translated all the documents from German to English for the exhibit. The job was especially meaningful for him—having left Germany as a boy himself before the war to escape from the Nazis, he strongly identified with Camilla and Lony’s story.

After accumulating hours of footage, I was finally able to begin post-production. The editing process was a long one, extending through December break until last week.

The final products include one main video that runs on loop at a kiosk in the museum, and two shorter, supplemental videos that will appear on the SMAH website.

Overall, this was a huge do-it-yourself learning experience for me, since the Smithsonian is a huge research institution, but has no internal video staff. Instead, I saw my internship as an opportunity to produce/film/edit my own video for a client.

Throughout the process, the professors at SOC were a huge help. I frequently met with Larry Kirkman, who would review my material and offer bits of advice.

Larry Engel also gave me some quick tips on lighting, and chatting with Maggie Stogner helped with ideas to make oral storytelling videos more visually interesting.

So here’s a quick thank you shout out to all that helped me along the way, including the SOC Dean’s internship program.

You can check out the video at the Camilla’s Purse exhibition, which opens this Friday, January 24th and runs until Sunday, May 4th.