Purpose
For my project, I intend to make a video showing the effects of hydraulic fracturing and attempting to convince watchers that they should not lease their land to natural gas companies. I probably will not actually be in the video, but I’ll make sure to take all of it myself. I’m thinking something with captions, facts, and background videos of what I’m talking about, but no voiceover- probably just music. This video is my inspiration for the style.
This project is addressing the issue of landowners leasing their land to natural gas drillers, who then proceed to frack it up. Without landowner consent, drilling activities become more difficult. In rural Pennsylvania, the promise of easy money is a big deal for those who don’t make a whole lot. Sadly, their land is all that they have to lose in some cases, and they seem willing to lose it. I’m encouraging them to not lease their land away.
Audience
Since I’m trying to get people not to lease their land to natural gas companies, it makes sense to direct my video towards rural northern and western Pennsylvania residents. I’m going to try to keep them from leasing their land to companies such as Range Resources and Chesapeake energy, which have a major presence in the area.
Medium
I’m going to make a video similar to the one linked to in the first paragraph. Hopefully I can get up to Black Moshannon State Park next weekend, which hosts several active drilling sites. I want more happy videos showcasing the environment that we currently have rather than ugly videos of drilling rigs. However, both will be necessary for this project to succeed. It’ll be mostly image and text base, with not much in the way of audio stuff. I find that good music in the background of a video can really put the audience in a more receptive mood. For example, the video linked to earlier effectively uses music to create the atmosphere necessary for the topic.
I’ll post my video on the video-sharing website YouTube because it’s so easily accessed and popular. A couple thousand views really isn’t impossible with this medium. I’ll also spread it through my facebook friends a bit if possible, though that won’t be a big concern.
Strategies
It’s a bit hard to develop ethos in the kind of video I’m doing, but I can still think of a few ways. I’ll try to develop ethos by having a high-quality project. Someone is probably much more likely to believe a video that is well-made and has quality images than one that appears a bit shoddy and thrown-together. I intend to take advantage of the audience’s feelings as well by including videos of whatever cute furry woodland mammals I can find and trying to (perhaps subliminally) link drilling for natural gas to somehow hurting these little guys. Low? Probably. Effective? Yes. However, most of my argument is going to be made from logos by including facts and figures with reputable sources, such as EPA or the Sierra Club.
Each acre you lease to natural gas companies makes this bunny cry.
Schedule
Completing this by 4/16 is going to be a bit difficult. I’ll try to get some footage this weekend at Cherry Springs, but most of it is going to have to be shot after 4/9 (when the persuasive essay is due.) I’ll be very busy before then. I’ll try to go home one of those nights afterward to get footage from Black Moshannon. There are some active drilling rigs that I can get pictures of, as well as all manner of pretty waterfalls and critters. I’ll stay on campus that weekend to work on this in the computer labs. It’s gonna be tight, though.
Hey Tim! This is a really great idea! I really like that you’re modeling this video after that other one. I think with the amount of time that we have, it will probably produce the most effective result. Personally, I like videos where there isn’t too much of people there (kinda like the one we saw in class). I think that those seem very professional and may be better than if you just filmed yourself talking. I agree that the time stretch will be difficult, but I hope you manage to pull it off (you have to). I also agree with Lindsay that it may be difficult to reach out to your audience. I don’t know if you have any connections, but I can’t imagine (other than waiting a long time on YouTube) for your video to get viral. Perhaps posting it on a specific site or something?
Reading your idea and how much thought you put into the project makes me want to watch this video even though I have no particular interest in fracking. Because you are trying to convince the landowners not to sell their land, I think your purpose definitely fits your audience. My only concern would be how to get your video out there. You can post it to YouTube but if only a few people know it’s there that doesn’t help you much. However, you are from a rural area in PA if I’m not mistaken so posting it on your Facebook and asking your friends and family to share it would be a good way to get it out there. If there are any sites on fracking that allow comments, maybe you could post it in a comment for people who are considering selling their land for fracking to watch. Good luck!