Climate Videography Internship Update: Jackson Steinmetz
I’m Jackson, a senior, film-production major at Goshen College and I am the summer videography intern for the CSCS. We’re working on a church curriculum that teaches how faith communities can be involved in mitigating climate change and becoming stewards of the Earth. I get to produce the video content for this project.
As the videographer I get to work closely with each curriculum writer to figure out how their content works best in a video format. Then we meet up to record each session and finally I edit together a final product. During the editing process I create graphics and make sure all the audio and video runs smoothly.
I am really excited to be a part of this project because it gives me the opportunity to use my digital storytelling skills to work on a cause that I’m passionate about. Videos provide a unique way of connecting with people that can be informative and emotional if they are made well. My hope is that my work helps to create some positive change in the world. I also love that I get to learn from people with different areas of expertise and help them to share their vision with the broader community.
For example I went to Portland, Oregon to record Ken Pitts and learned so much about the ways that the Pacific Northwest has seen major climate events. I also learned a bunch about native birds and got to explore a part of the forest that I would have never seen otherwise. I also was able to attend the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I met with leaders of the coalition to hear about how decolonization work is closely tied with climate justice. My learning extended beyond climate specific things and I walked away knowing more about the area I grew up in and the ways that indigenous people are still struggling to attain justice.
The experiences I had during this internship have taught me a broad range of things I didn’t expect to learn. It has been very rewarding for me to hear all these people’s stories and I love trying to make them more accessible through the video format.