Get a Grip narrator, Doran, introduces
the audience to the concepts of
"reduce, reuse, and recycle."
Video production students from John Marshall High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
participate in Eagle Wing Productions (EWP), a video production program that
provides a range of services to community-based and school clients. John Marshall
High School features the Integrated Communications Technology Department, which
is anchored by Eagle Wing Productions. In 1998-1999 EWP produced Get a Grip,
a 15-minute video on eco-efficiency. The purpose of the video was to help young
people make wise purchasing choices by consciously selecting "green" products
that leave a lighter footprint on the environment. The video puts the concepts
of eco-efficiency and excess in tangible terms. For example, in one segment
students stand in the middle of the Milwaukee Brewers ballpark to illustrate
that in one year the city produces enough trash to fill the stadium. The clients
for Get a Grip were S.C. Johnson and Keep America Beautiful. The project was
a major undertaking that involved advanced video production students in the
11th and 12th grades. Twenty to 25 students worked on the project all year,
operating in teams to tackle all aspects of the production process-- from location
scouting and transportation to directing and editing.