Old Friends Reunite at Lakehead and Enter Clever Sustainability Video in TD's Go Green Challenge
Bradley Doff, enrolled in the Master of Environmental Studies in Northern Environments and Cultures, has been tracking the TD's Go Green Challenge for a few years. This November, when Brad received TD's email calling for video submissions, he knew the time was right with friend and film savvy Peter Stevens, currently at Lakehead for his Bachelor of Education, ready to jump in as collaborator.
L-R: Bradley Doff and Peter Stevens Working on Stop-Motion Film
Choosing the subject was a straightforward decision. Bradley, after graduating from Lakehead's Forestry program, worked in urban forestry and sustainability and knew he wanted to base the video submission on the value of trees. Together Bradley and Peter wrote a script, edited it down to a workable length, and then mixed humour with a quirky animation approach that, in 600 or so photos, created a very effective video that educates people about how GIS can be a very important tool when planning where to plant trees.
The video uses Lakehead University's campus to model their Smart Greening approach that uses technology to "plant trees in the perfect places." The campus, notes Bradley, "is really a neighbourhood, even a small city, with the same struggles that a small city experiences." Bradley argues that one thing that has been undervalued, overlooked, and under-researched, in most urban landscapes is the placement of trees.
L-R: Bradley and Peter with Setting Props
"Most other variables like buildings, parking lots, and soil conditions are given, but placement is not. Yet tree placement has a very strong influence on the value that we receive from trees. Now we can use GIS to help target the benefits we want on a spatial scale," explains Doff.
With limited resources, the pair decided that
with a simple digital camera, a tripod, a pack of construction
paper, and some scissors, they could harness the power of stop-motion. As Peter
quips, "Once we spent the money at the dollar store for construction paper it
was too late. We had to do it. We were in too deep." The beauty of stop-motion,
besides the cost-effectiveness, is, as Bradley points out, "that you can come
at your picture from any angle. You can zoom out, peek into, and go under in
ways that video recording can't do " or at least not without expensive
techniques. You can easily make pretend worlds."
The two students were supported in their submission by Dr. Todd Randall, Associate Professor of Geography at Lakehead, and Bradley Doff's thesis supervisor. Doff and Stevens have also developed a website - www.smartgreening.ca - that explains their project and thinking in greater detail.
Viewers can watch and vote on the video submission online as part of the TD Go Green $2,500 People's Choice Award until Friday, March 11, 2011. Anyone can vote to help bring recognition to the value of urban green infrastructure, where we work, eat, and play.
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Media: Filmmakers Bradley Doff and Peter Stevens are available for interview. To arrange interview times, please contact Janine Chiasson, Communications Officer, at 807-343-8177 or commun@lakeheadu.ca.
About Lakehead
Lakehead is a comprehensive university with a reputation for innovative programs and cutting-edge research. With a main campus located in Thunder Bay, Ontario and a campus in Orillia, Ontario, Lakehead has over 8,280 students and 2,250 faculty and staff, and is home to the west campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. In 2006, Research Infosource Inc. named Lakehead University Canada's Research University of the Year in the undergraduate category. For more information on Lakehead University, visit www.lakeheadu.ca