How do you shoot two documentaries simultaneously in Africa over the course of 17 weeks? You involve a lot of people.

That’s what professors Liam O’Brien and Rebecca Abbott, both from the Department of Media Studies and Media Production, did. They brought eight students—one sophomore, four juniors and three seniors (including Alison Clark, shown in photo)—to South Africa. Not all of the students were communications majors, but all agreed to enroll in MEP350-Documentary Film Production.

For the documentary on African wildlife, students shot footage in the Johannesburg Lion Park and the Marakele National Wildlife Park near the Botswana border. For the project on the history and culture of Cape Town’s Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, students visited Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned), numerous museums, the annual Cape Carnival in the newly built waterfront commercial area and several townships across Cape Town.

Back at home, students worked with each other and O’Brien and Abbott to catalog and edit their video footage. The documentaries were shown at the Spring Student Video Festival, which is held on campus. Students are in the process of re-editing Waterfront Cape Town to send to upcoming film festivals across the country.