Local filmmaking students take a look at the Civil War battles between MO and KS. Tracing the rivalry’s roots through the battles, bloodshed and historic Civil War sites that shaped the region in a documentary structured around Kansas City magazine writer Susie Whitfield’s story.
But before a deep dive into history, meet the teacher and students behind the project.
Kansas City magazine collaborated with teacher Todd Campbell and students in the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies’ Filmmaking and Animation program to bring the Kansas City area’s rich Civil War history to life on film.
The project was inspired by a story that Kansas City magazine writer Susie Whitfield was working on, exploring the region’s rich and nuanced Civil War history. Working from Whitfield’s reporting, CAPS students expanded on the story through interviews with local history professors and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who narrated the documentary’s opening and provided historical context in other parts of the students’ film. The film was directed by student Hunter Brown, who has since graduated high school and is now a freshman at the University of Kansas.
CAPS is a Blue Valley North district-wide program designed to give students hands-on, professional experience. The Filmmaking and Animation path operates more like a working production studio than a conventional high school elective, with students working on projects through the entire filmmaking process—from developing a concept and conducting interviews to shooting, editing and producing a finished film.
A Rivalry Forged in War
“Kansas and Missouri have one of the fiercest rivalries in all of sports,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas declared in a student-made documentary about the metro’s Civil War history. “However, to find the root cause of this hatred, you have to go way back,” he says—to 164 years ago, when the Civil War started and Kansas City was caught in its crosshairs. That’s how it all began. “When you look at Bleeding Kansas and the years that precede the Civil War, our area brought the warring factions together.”
Lucas was one of several people interviewed for a film that students in Blue Valley North School District’s Center for Advanced Professional Studies’ Filmmaking and Animation program created centered on historical Civil War events that occurred throughout the region.
“Blue Valley CAPS is an innovative, immersive high school program where students experience profession-based education,” says Todd Campbell, who teaches the Filmmaking and Animation class. “They partner with industry and community leaders in a variety of real-world projects.”
Last school year, the CAPS Filmmaking and Animation class collaborated with KC magazine in a year-long project to make a documentary that brings the history of the Border Wars to life.
“It was an incredible experience for our students, and I’m just so proud of the work they did,” Campbell says. “Not only did they learn how to actualize a film but they also discovered that there is value in what they do and what they have to say,”
The students involved in the project—director Hunter Brown, producer Dominic Mills, camera operator Peter Asta and boom mic operator Jaden Osman—researched records, visited historic sites and interviewed experts in Civil War history. The result is a powerful depiction of the violence that tore the nation apart and left wounds that are still healing today.
Lucas acknowledges that much has been said about the Civil War already, but he enjoyed being part of the project. “I think it’s a difficult story to tell,” Lucas said in the film, “but I think we need more storytellers.”
WATCH: “The KC region’s Civil War history” on Kansas City magazine’s Youtube channel.
Click here to view the original article published by KC Magazine.
