Thanks, SM (That's what I call Social Media)

For my TV Documentary class I took this past semester, we were given three months-ish to find, film, and edit a 5 to 10 minute documentary. Making any sort of documentary is quite a large task to begin with, but with the time frame given to us, it seemed more than reasonable to do.

Enter procrastination. Two and three quarter months later, there was no documentary.

The Sunday before the Thursday it's due arrives, and I wake up feeling quite helpless. The following is how I completed my documentary:

1) Boot up my computer, log onto Facebook.

2) Check the events page, and find this:

(Local? Experimental? Juxtaposition? Cool.)

5) A show was happening that night at the Lo Pub, with a local act, Spirit Children, opening.

6) Documentary subject chosen.

7) Facebook creep the band members and send them a message that can be paraphrased as:
"Hey, I know this is weird, but can I film you for school?"

8) Within fifteen minutes, I received this message:

(Awesome.)

9) I roll over to their jam space to film their rehearsal, pack up, set up and show at the Lo Pub.

10) Monday, I edit the entire documentary in five-ish hours, hand it in and never think about it again.

Without the immediacy and efficiency of Facebook, I wouldn't have ever found out about the gig, nor got in contact with the band so quickly. Most of the time, Facebook uses its power to embarrass and humiliate, but sometimes, it uses its power for good.

Though it seems like I threw in the towel for this assignment, I was actually quite proud of the outcome. I've definitely spent a lot more time on assignments that were worth less, but the amount of effort I put in was just the same. I believe I had good content, and a story with a concise beginning, middle and end. I feel that I represented the band and band members genuinely and showed the process of a up-and-coming local band playing a live show.

But, that's just me. See for yourself and let me know what you think.

Spirit Children from Mike C on Vimeo.