Stories from InsideNAU
This semester, I took a part-time job as a reporter for InsideNAU, a PR/news program that focuses specifically on NAU happenings and events. I produced five packages for the show throughout the semester, doing the writing, editing, and some shooting. I enjoyed doing all of these stories; Below are four of the packages, from most to least favorite.
S05E04 - Astronomy Club
Documentary: Coconino Amateur Radio Club at The Grand Canyon Marathon
| Project Meta
Cameras: Canon XH-A1 Canon Rebel T2i Audio Recorder: Zoom H2 Editor: Final Cut 7 |
I've always had a curiosity toward amateur radio. It probably stems from my dad's lectures about electricity, given to me in my early youth. (Since then I've annoyed my friends with them.) In spring, I checked out a ham radio field day in Doney Park, Ariz., and found it intriguing, so I decided to focus a documentary on what some would call a dying hobby.
What I found during the making of this video is that ham radio is not dead. In fact, it's well alive and has found its place in the public service field. Ham radio operators work to coordinate relief efforts for natural disasters, such as the recent Schultz fire in Flagstaff, the tornados in Bellemont, etc. On the side, ham hobbyists help provide communications for various events, including marathons.
Northern Arizona is a great venue for marathons. Trails and scenery are vast, readily accessible, and close to great towns and cities. The Coconino Amateur Radio Club regularly helps provide communication for these marathons. Most recently, they worked with The Grand Canyon Marathon, a combination half and full marathon that runs along the south rim of the Grand Canyon and continues along a forest service road to Tusayan, Ariz. at the IMAX theater.
I drove to Tusayan from Flagstaff on the afternoon of the 5th to meet with the radio club and the rest of the marathon folks. With video production, to make a shoot go smoothly, you need to have everything planned out well in advance. I was honestly worried about this one since I knew very few details until the afternoon before the race. Thankfully, the safety coordinator and the club were able to help me set up a time table for shooting locations that fit the approximate schedule of the runners. This was a challenge, since I wasn't allowed to drive along the rim, but it was all figured out.
When planning, I did know that spending the night in Tusayan was the most convenient and cheapest way to get to the pre-setup rendezvous at 5:30 a.m. Unfortunately, my blankets failed me, and as the van filled with cold (i.e. below freezing) air, so did my bed. I slept a total of 2.5 nonconsecutive hours that night and begrudgingly drove to the local gas station to get an energy shot.
On meeting the radio club, I was given a portable scanner and plugged it into my audio recorder and a magnetic antenna for the roof of my van. (Having never had an antenna on a vehicle, this thrilled me to no end.) By 6:30, the crew was ready to caravan to the canyon. Sunrise was looming. This is where the documentary opens.
The bulk of the marathon lasted until about 2 that afternoon. By then I had a minor sunburn, but I didn't care. The views, the people, and everything about that morning was spectacular. I was told a story about a blind woman who ran the marathon's first event in 2008, and again this year, who ran with her service dog, a golden retriever. It was stories and people like this that made this shoot tremendously exciting. Everyone was friendly and just there to have a good time.
Events/shoots like this one are really what make me happy in life. Opportunities to be creative and capture stories and retell them in an exciting way give me such a rush. While I was in Tusayan, I decided to take advantage of the dark night sky. Below, after the documentary, are two star-scapes I took the night before the marathon. The first is a 5 minute exposure, the second a 7. Click them for more detail, and note the red and blue blotches in the backgrounds. No, that isn't camera gain/ISO noise. (Shot them at ISO400.) Those are distant stars and galaxies. Truly awe-inspiring.
Coconino Amateur Radio Club at The Grand Canyon Marathon from Kyle Anderson on Vimeo.
(Watch in HD!)
5 minute exposure at ISO400, f/5.6. Click to enlarge.
7 minute exposure at ISO400, f/5.6. Click to enlarge.
Abandoned Route 66 Icons Point to New Future
Think of the modern American road trip. Where are people headed? Where do they stop along the way, and why? As US Highway 66 was developed and populated, midwesterners traveled the historic road from Chicago to Santa Monica, with many popular stops in the state of Arizona. But in many cases, unlike the road warriors of today, the highway itself was the destination, not a town or city.
That mentality seems to be all but gone now. With a faster and higher-capacity Interstate system in place, highway travel is seen more as an inconvenience than an experience.
Peter Dedeck wrote in his book, Hip To the Trip: A Cultural History of Route 66, "Route 66 fell victim to its own success." That success is the highway's efficient planning. 66 followed the contours of the terrain, whereas other US highways such as US 30 and 40 did not.
Such an efficient and speedy way to head west gained popularity, and by the time the Interstate system was being developed in the 1950s, a culture was bred around the highway. Gas stations were established, roadside attractions were built, and popular artists wrote songs and made films about the expressway to the west.
That culture was disbanded when the Interstate was constructed. Many sections of Route 66, the most efficient paths, were paved over by Interstate highways. Dedek writes, "In 1985, Route 66 existed existed only as a series of mostly disused strips of eroding pavement stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles."
And as many of the sections of Route 66 disappeared, so did the businesses that thrived off of them.
According to Dedek, the "funeral" for Route 66 was held in Williams, Ariz. in 1984. Icons from the highway's culture gathered on main street to say goodbye to America's Main Street.
In that same region, two abandoned structures along Route 66 struck a particular interest: Pine Springs and Twin Arrows. One of them is leading the way in a redevelopment of that highway culture that was almost lost.
What led these businesses to fall? What is their future? Will the Route 66 culture be re-fostered and restored in a point-to-point travel society?