Assignment 3 – Katie Conti

Within the group consisting of Max Nelson, Rachel Roth, and myself, I served as the Producer, idea generator, location scout, camera operator, and assistant editor for text and graphics. Max was the main editor and sound designer, in addition to supporting set up + execution of day 2 of the shoot. Rachel was the technical lead for the filming of the video, worked with me to set up locations and refine the concept, and served as the main scriptwriter for audio commentary. We were thrilled to use the Insta360pro camera in making our project that tells the story of spaces on campus where the victims of Pan Am 103 / Lockerbie air disaster are remembered throughout Remembrance Week and year-round.

Day 1: We started off with a bit of an equipment snafu, but used our time to secure locations for shooting the next day. Rachel and I started by meeting with Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, the Pan Am 103 Archivist, Assistant University Archivist, and the Remembrance Scholars’ close advisor for the Remembrance Week planning process. We originally intended to film in the Archives Reading Room, but realized that there were a lot of restrictions on the space, due to legal constraints and the sensitive nature of archival research. Our meeting with Vanessa proved to be an excellent brainstorming session, however, and she helped us tighten up our project’s concept. In our original pitch, we had a list of probably 8-10 locations. It was a hard decision to cut the Archives shoot from our concept, but I’d love to work with them in the future and maybe add onto this video with footage at the other locations. Given the short length of this assignment, we chose the top 3 locations that would be meaningful but also dynamic if shot in 360º - starting at the Wall of Remembrance, heading over to two spots in Hendricks, and then going to Walnut Park, where we could see both Greek Row (significant to several of the victims) and mention the Pan Am Archives in Bird. Having a better storyboard, we then went to Hendricks Chapel to speak with Michelle Larrabee, who manages reservations and events in the Chapel, and made an appointment to shoot with the Remembrance Quilt the next morning.

Rachel and I then made our way to the Newhouse Cage, where I rented the InstaPro360 equipment, and we went over to Walnut Park to film Greek Row and the back of Bird Library. As a TRF major, Rachel was a pro setting up the tripod and managing the camera placement for prime scene-setting & lighting. Being in a very open location, I was worried to let the camera out of our sight. We attempted to blend in with the surroundings by talking on our phones and maintaining a low profile from the sidelines so that we would not draw too much attention away from the scene, but still keep an eye on the equipment. This was our first scene to be filmed, so we made several takes to get the swing of things. Rachel and I then headed over to the Wall of Remembrance to film while the light was prime. The circular space and beautiful views all around made it a perfect scene for a 360º video, and it was pretty easy to hide behind the wall while filming. We planned for this to be the dramatic opening scene, so made sure to film at a time where classes were in session and there were limited passersby walking around the wall. After two takes here, we had what we needed for the day.

On day 2 of filming, Rachel, Max & I met at Hendricks Chapel to film a two-part scene inside the main chapel space, featuring the Lockerbie Scholars Plaque and the typical placement of the Remembrance Quilt. It was very cool to be able to use such an important artifact, as it does live in Hendricks, but is typically brought out only for Remembrance Week events & Remembrance Convocation that are held each October in the chapel. Although Michelle and the Hendricks Chapel team were busy with preparations for Ash Wednesday services, we were grateful that we could work with them to find a time to use the space. Everything went well here - Rachel and I were used to working the tripod & camera by now, and it was very helpful to have Max there to help set up the Remembrance Quilt display. The inside of the chapel is beautiful, and I think the scene with the Quilt is my favorite one. My only concern with this part was the lighting and the large amount of space, but we tried to be cognisant of this when picking the camera placement.

Later that day in class, Max started working on stitching together the footage and beginning the edits. Rachel and I worked on creating a circular Nadir file to cover up the unsightly tripod directly below the camera. We started with the Photoshop file I had previously created in October for the Remembrance Scholars’ scarves - it was already circular and had a copyright-safe outline of the Remembrance dove logo. We kept this image simple and consistent throughout the entire film.

Max put the footage in the best order for telling our story, and we worked on recording and editing the archival Melvin Eggers speech audio that Vanessa pointed us to, made publicly available on the SU Archives’ YouTube page. Rachel wrote the script for the voiceovers to be put in the Hendricks Chapel and Bird/Walnut Park scenes, and I edited them to ensure the language and facts were consistent with what the Remembrance Scholars share in education sessions.

Although Max was unavailable during the first day of shooting & concept production, he was our master editor. I was happy to meet with him to work on final edits, despite Rachel being out of town for the weekend. After splicing together the videos and cutting where necessary, he found a musical audio track to play behind the voiceovers that I recorded on my iPhone. I added in the Nadir image of the Remembrance logo, and finished up the final touches on voiceovers. I nearly fell out of my chair when I realized that he coincidentally selected the same public domain audio track that my class of Remembrance Scholars used throughout our series of 35 videos on each of the SU PanAm 103 victims (see here for an example). Together, Max & I figured out how to insert text using Adobe Premiere - the hardest part, in my opinion. This is a skill that I’d still like to work on more, as I have not fully grasped the technique for proper placement of text + text effects. We added a 360º black scene of credits at the end, and made sure to thank Vanessa & Michelle for their assistance in making this video possible.

On a personal level, I loved working on this project, as getting involved with the Pan Am 103 Archives again helped me reignite a desire to further the goals of the Remembrance Program. It is cool to bring my unique perspective as a budding storyteller and current Remembrance Scholar into my academic body of work. I sincerely hope that I can eventually add onto this video to include some of the other spots where victims are remembered, such as the Remembrance Garden (in full bloom!), Lockerbie Scholar Andrew McClune’s memorial paver in the Orange Grove, and the portraits/plaques in ROTC, Syracuse Stage, and the Student Association office. I hope this 360 video serves as another step to bring technology into the way the Syracuse community pays tribute to the brilliant lives lost in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. This powerful storytelling platform can help us look back and act forward, beyond Remembrance Week, now during the spring semester, and as long as people can find it on the interwebs.

Revised Pitch:

"We hope that those we now mourn will live through us… your sons and daughters will be remembered at Syracuse University, so long as any of us shall live, so long as the university shall stand.”
These words were pronounced by former Chancellor Melvin Eggers at a memorial service for the 35 Syracuse University students who lost their lives in the bombing of Pan Am 103. This tragic event, which took the lives of 270 people including 11 residents of the town of Lockerbie, is one that rocked the Syracuse community and the world.

At the center of our campus now lies the Wall of Remembrance. It was erected in 1990, purposely positioned in front of the historic Hall of Languages, so that we would be reminded of the Pan Am 103 victims daily, who were once some of Syracuse University’s best and brightest. Their legacy, and the legacy of their families who have long lobbied for justice, lives on today through the Remembrance Scholars program.

I am one of the 2017-2018 Remembrance Scholars, and it has been my absolute honor to represent Miriam Luby Wolfe, a remarkable actress, loving daughter, budding art historian, and enthusiastic mentor to many. Throughout the process of preparing for Remembrance Week, each of the scholars are challenged to learn as much as we possibly can about the victims whose lives we devote our senior year in memory of. As a result, we have found that there are an incredible amount of locations throughout the Syracuse campus that tell the stories of the Pan Am 103 victims, beyond the centrally located Wall of Remembrance. In this 360º video, I will take you through campus to locations where several of the victims are remembered through permanent installations and unmarked landmarks of Remembrance. I will also show viewers where to find Pan Am 103 archives, where all are welcome to read through the thousands of documents to discover their own stories of the Pan Am 103 victims.

Weather permitting, I hope to start at the Wall of Remembrance. I will use the audio recording of former Chancellor Eggers’ speech at the dedication ceremony or memorial service, and put a text title in the video. I would make my way to Hendricks Chapel, where a plaque listing the names of the Scottish students who came to campus as Lockerbie Scholars is permanently installed in the back of the sanctuary. I will also have the Remembrance Quilt hung up in the front of the chapel, which is usually only on display during Remembrance Week. I will move to Walnut Park, and state that several victims are remembered through their sororities and fraternities, who line the sides of the park. In the back of this shot, we will also see Bird Library, and tell viewers that this is only the beginning - hundreds of boxes of archival material on Pan Am 103 are located in the 6th floor Archives. Audio commentary will overlay each of the scenes to provide additional content beyond what is visible in 360º.

Some of the other locations we considered include Syracuse Stage (where portraits of the 5 drama students are hung up), the Architecture library where books of the Architecture of Florence could be laid out, ROTC drills & the ROTC room where Timothy Cardwell is remembered, Phoebe’s Restaurant (where one of the victims, Turhan Ergin, worked), and Newhouse photo labs (where there is a poster about the Alexia Foundation, established by victim Alexia Tsaris’ family & several Newhouse professors). We even hoped go into the SU Archives and have some of the Pan Am 103 material pulled, but realized that this would need a longer process than what we could accomplish in the short timeframe of this project’s deadline.

Sources:
Link to Pan Am 103 - Lockerbie Flight Disaster Archives (SU Libraries)

Link to Remembrance Quilt Collection

Link to SU Place of Remembrance Collection

Link to Syracuse University Remembrance Scholars Website

Link to video of former SU Chancellor Melvin Eggers' speech (used as voiceover in scene 1 at Wall of Remembrance)

Special Thanks to Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, Pan Am 103 Archivist/Assistant University Archivist & Michelle Larrabee, Hendricks Chapel Event Coordinator