All Aboard!: a documentary

As much as I love – and am currently majoring in– public relations, I have a soft spot for the visual arts.

I’ve always dabbled in photography but nothing thrills me more than taking moving pictures with a professional grade camera.

It was a no-brainer for me to enroll in the TV Documentary course this term and I am incredibly excited to be finally filming my first real vérité-style doc.

And what better time to jump into it than during my spring break? For the next few days I’ll be filming a model railroad show at the Forks Market hosted by WinNTrack, a group of local railroad enthusiasts. These guys spend countless hours building elaborate and expensive displays with amazingly intricate detail so I’m curious to find out where this passion comes from and why it’s so important to them.

Many of these hobbyists come from a variety of backgrounds not associated with trains, like education, construction, sales, music, and the military, so it will be interesting to see how much they had to learn – everything from how tracks operate, to how to paint decals and design trees (which, I’m told, there are multiple ways of doing).

I had the opportunity to film the initial set-up yesterday evening and was surprised

how seriously these people take their craft, and how much effort goes in to making everything run smoothly. It was like Santa’s workshop with all the little elves running around hammering boards and tightening screws with the aid of flashlights and head lamps.

I also caught a glimpse of the miniature cars and fully operational mini railroad crossing – complete with tiny flashing lights – that will be going full force for the rest of the weekend. I’m a sucker for extreme close-ups and rack focusing so this subject suits me to a T.

I can’t wait to tell their story.