MDP was at the Overby Center tonight covering the First District Congressional Debate between incumbent Congressman Travis Childers and his opponent Alan Nunnelee. We shot the event to edit together later and also streamed it for an overflow crowd. We are happy to post it here as well for anyone who may be still undecided. See you at the polls!
Days of Intrigue
The Center for Intelligence and Security Studies recently held their 2nd annual training exercise “The Days of Intrigue”. Over two days, the intelligence analysts-in-training are given a fictitious terrorist plot they must uncover using artificial news and web material. At the end of the exercise, the students brief a visiting policy maker to mimic what analysts actually do in the field. U.S. Representative Travis Childers (D-Miss) was on hand to be briefed. The event was a huge success for the program and I was able to produce some “fake” news content for the exercise. Here are a few stills and an overview video showcasing the work Media and Documentary Projects did to help make the event as authentic as possible. It was a fun project and great opportunity to help train the students who will one day serve this country in intelligence analysis.
-Matthew
Mr. Magazine on… well… magazines!
Dr. Samir Husni was in the audio booth today for an interview with NPR’s Jim Zarroli. Professor Husni, who is better known in the publishing world as Mr. Magazine discussed the future of magazines with a specific emphasis on new releases.
Click below to hear Mr. Magazine’s thoughts on the current advertising cycle.
Ole Miss E-Appeal Video
Promotional video produced for the E-Appeal fundraising email at the University of Mississippi. Produced by the Media and Documentary Projects Center. Edited by Matthew Graves
Men's Basketball "Giants" Ticket Promo
Season tickets promo for the Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Team. Highlights the return of University of Mississippi players Eniel Polynice, Trevor Gaskins, and Chris Warren who were sidelined with injuries last season. This project was inspired by the Season 5 promo for “Rescue Me”. Produced by Robi Coker, Micah Ginn and Matthew Graves. Directed by Matthew Graves. Special thanks to Coach Andy Kennedy.
Covering the Campus
In addition to our own documentary work and working with student filmmakers, the Media and Documentary Projects Center helps produce and record campus events. October has been an especially busy month (and we haven’t even gotten to the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium yet!).
Above: Matthew Graves tests out the system in advance of the M-Club Hall of Fame Ceremony and Andy Harper shoots the SFA Viking Range lecture featuring Warren Belasco. Below: Micah Ginn sets up the switcher for the Alumni Hall of Fame, and Karen Tuttle helps shoot the Overby Center event honoring member of the 1959 National Championship football team.
Tuttle on the Job
Media and Documentary Projects utility player Karen Tuttle got some time behind the camera this last week.
Karen covered the Residential College grand opening as well as the first in the Overby Center Gathering in the Grove series featuring Charles Eagles on Friday.
She also recorded oral histories for the School of Journalism on Monday. Nice work Karen!
John T. is Splendid
John T. Edge was in booth yesterday recording an interview with American Public Media’s The Splendid Table. The conversation was about the influence of food writer and Craig Claiborne. Thanks to the modern miracle of ISDN lines we are able to connect live with any studio in the world.
Casting Call
Friday we held open auditions for students to take part in the University of Mississippi’s 2009 ad campaign. Quite a few students showed up and we were able to secure a great lineup. Look for them Sept. 6 on ESPN for the Memphis game and the debut of the “Experience Amazing” campaign being launched by University Brand Services.

Dan Jones named Ole Miss Chancellor
Media Production was there in force to cover the listening session for the newly announced Chancellor, Dr. Dan Jones. Pictured is Greg Grey, our ringer from Memphis, Andy Harper and Karen Tuttle who were streaming the all day Q&A sessions over the web. Not pictured are Micah Ginn and Matthew Graves who were there documenting the event and providing a news package for use over satellite (or “the bird” as the insiders call it). Congratulations to Chancellor Jones for his accomplishment and we at the Media and Documentary Projects Center look forward to working with him.
Leonardo da Vinci Would be Proud
Matthew Graves was at The Lyric Tuesday night to capture the Oxford City Council Forum. The candidates for City Alderman and Mayor were on hand to discuss the issues and their goals if elected. Tune in to OMTV Ch. 99 Thursday night at 6pm to watch the event.
"The Rundown"
As part of the film restoration and transfer work we used to do here at the Southern Documentary Project , we came across many incredible moments from history. This one is from the 1963 UM vs. LSU football game. Featured is a punt return by the late Joe Labruzzo of LSU who was (I imagine) quite surprised to not have reached the endzone on this runback. The man chasing him down is Stan Hindman, one of the best athletes ever to put on the Red & Blue. This is a play that I’ve heard many Rebel fans talk about through the years, and I was very excited to finally see it. The play truly lives up to the legend, as this is one of the most amazing run-downs I’ve ever witnessed. That’s a 6’3″, 230 pound defensive end chasing down the All-SEC speedster Labruzzo. Incredible.
Although Labruzzo was marked down inside the one, the stout Rebel defense held on four straight downs en route to a 37-3 victory over the Bayou Bengals.
*film is silent – click the arrow in the center of the screen to play
In a flash…
Recently we cleaned and transferred an old 16mm “Castle Films” news reel featuring the game-story of our heart-stopping 1959 football game with LSU. During the transfer process I realized that one of the frames of film actually caught the moment in which Billy Cannon had his famous snapshot taken. As you can see, that’s a lot of light in that fraction of a second when the bulb explodes. What a moment for both schools. It was the lone defeat for the Ole Miss Rebels that year, and on top of that, it was one of only three touchdowns allowed ALL SEASON by the grid-iron Rebs. The 1959 Ole Miss Rebels were one of the best teams ever fielded anywhere, as was evidenced later in that same season when they were rematched with Cannon and his Bayou Bengals in the 1960 Sugar Bowl. The Rebels came out on top that day, taking a 21 to 0 victory and holding the Heisman-winning Cannon to just 8 yards rushing.
Click below on the image to see full resolution.
Honoring Chucky Mullins…
Always a moving event, this year’s Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet marked 20 years since the inception of the award. Chucky Mullins will forever impact this University, and all of us at the Media and Documentary Projects Center are honored to work on the event. This year, we produced video elements that played throughout the night, featuring remembrances from friends of Chucky’s, as well as former winners of the award and members of the current coaching staff at Ole Miss. Thanks to Chuck Smith, executive producer of “Undefeated: The Chucky Mullins Story” who allowed us to use excerpts from the documentary throughout the program. We also put together highlights of the three outstanding nominees for this year’s award, as well as a highlight reel of former winners of the award. Student Noah Bunn was our lighting choreographer, and he brought a beautiful color scheme to the evening, transforming the Indoor Practice Facility into a showcase-type setting. Good job, Noah, and thanks! We have to also thank Hunter Palmer for pulling grip duty all day and Matthew Graves for coordinating the live show and manning the camera! Also, thanks to our leader Andy Harper, who worked on his birthday to help us get set up for the night. All in all, it was a great team effort and a great night!
Micah Ginn
"Hit the (five minute) showers!!"
As part of last week’s Green Week here at Ole Miss, we worked up a special commercial to run at the Sunday afternoon baseball game. Assistant A.D. Jamil Northcutt came up with the hard-charging “Skipper Green” as the green-awareness coach for the Ole Miss Athletics Offices. As you can see from the commercial, Skipper Green has an aggressive method for message delivery.
The production spanned Thursday afternoon and all day Friday for shooting and editing. Student-workers Alyssa Manhold and Hunter Palmer pitched in on the shoot and we couldn’t have done it without them. Matthew Graves was, as always, keeping the whole thing together through a frantically-paced shoot.
Thanks to Jamil Northcutt, Pete Boone, and everyone in athletics who took time out of their day to help spread the word on Green Week. We had a lot of fun making the spot.
Micah Ginn
1971 Ole Miss Recruiting Film unearthed
I don’t know much about this film. It is a part of our archive here at the Media and Documentary Projects Center, and was produced by our staff 38 years ago. The title on the film canister says “1971 Recruiting Film”. It might be missing a narration track, as there is no voice-over at all. It is a bit disjointed, but nonetheless a nice slice-of-life look at the Ole Miss campus in the early 70’s.
This film transfer is part of our ongoing efforts to preserve the film history of the University. I’ll try to keep posting some of these films as I get them transferred and preserved. If you have any questions about this film, give us a call at 662-915-3475.
Toyota Talks Green
Andy Harper and Matthew Graves were in the Johnson’s Commons Ballroom today filming Toyota General Manager Kevin Butt. The keynote address was sponsored by the Center for Manufacturing Excellence in conjunction with Green Week.
That's Swale!
Check out the first in a series of events we’re taping for Green Week. In this video, Landscape Architect Bob Mercier demonstrates the new BioSwale he designed on campus next to Crosby Hall.
And the Winner is…
Here are some pics from last night’s Chucky Mullins Courage Award Ceremony where Defensive End Marcus Tillman came home with prestigious award. This was the 20th anniversary of the event which began as a way to honor Ole Miss defensive back Chucky Mullins. Our own Micah Ginn produced the event creating video tributes to Mullins and highlight reels for the night’s finalists. It was a large effort but the night was a great success. Noah Bunn, Hunter Palmer, Andy Harper, and Matthew Graves were on hand to help the night run smoothly. For more information on Chucky check out the website for Micah’s documentary film “Undefeated – The Chucky Mullins Story”.
Cutting the Cord
Producer Matthew Graves had cameras rolling today for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies. Senator Roger Wicker was on hand for the event and offered his support to the program.
Handel Handled
Here’s a still from the video we shot last night in the Ford Center of Handel’s Messiah, performed by the University of Mississippi Concert Singers with Orchestra. Pictured is guest conductor Dr. Dennis Shrock.
Intensive English
Matthew Graves is in the studio today with students from the University of Mississippi Intensive English Program. He is producing a series of web videos for prospective students in their native languages. Stay tuned for the finished series.
Senator Thad Cochran in Kinard Studio
In this blurry picture you can see U.S. Senator Thad Cochran sitting down for an interview in our studio. Senator Cochran was here to give a short P.S.A. about the Center for Natural Products Research on campus. In addition, we were able to ask him a few questions about the Presidential Debate that happened last September. We’re working on a documentary about the event and Senator Cochran’s interview will be a nice addition to the project. Check back for more news and info about the upcoming Debate Documentary.
The Shooter
This morning, Micah Ginn and Matthew Graves went on location to the Oxford High School gymnasium to shoot footage for an upcoming basketball training video. This afternoon will be spent in the newly renovated studio to finish the shoot.
SROW Off!
This past weekend, the University of Mississippi hosted some 1,500 student orientation leaders for the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop (SROW). Micah Ginn and Andy Harper were there to record their Song, Skit, and Dance competition at the Tad Pad. It was a lively bunch and they showed tremendous spirit and sportsmanship (first time we’d seen other SEC schools doing the gator chomp in support of Florida!).

RIP – Bluesman Willie King
Highway 61 Radio was sad to learn this morning that Mississippi bluesman Willie King passed away this past weekend. Over the years Willie has been a great friend of the show and we have featured him on the program many times. He will be greatly missed.
A few years back Highway 61 producer Joe York and Preston Lauterbach produced a short film about Willie called “The Real Baptizing”. We hope it brings back good memories for you as it does for us and we ask that you keep Willie, his family, and friends in your thoughts and prayers.
For more information visit highway61radio.com
The Real Baptizing from Highway61 on Vimeo.
Keeping the Reunion on Track
This weekend, producer Micah Ginn directed the video content for the Ole Miss Black Alumni & Family Reunion held at the Inn at Ole Miss. The evening was a great success honoring several distinguished alumni. Pictured is Ginn at the computer and grad student Noah Bunn operating the video switcher. Check back this week for more info about this memorable weekend.
Get Ready to Research
Here are some pics from our recent shoot at the Thad Cochran Research Center for the upcoming “Are You Ready?” Research Center spot we’re producing. On the left, Producers Micah Ginn and Matthew Graves set up for a dolly shot in one of the labs. In the shot on the right, Graves sets up for a trick shot we’re hoping to use where the scientist pours liquid into a beaker right on top of the camera. Stay tuned for the final spot and look for the finished beaker shot.
London Calling
Dr. Adam Gussow was in the studio today for an interview with the BBC. Adam, an Associate Professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi, was discussing Mamie Smith and her signature hit “Crazy Blues.”
Click here to listen to Dr. Gussow describe the significance of “Crazy Blues.”
Adam Gussow makes a point to the BBC!
What is the QEP?
Here’s a short video we helped produced with the Office of Media and Public Relations. Last week, they went around campus shooting interviews of students asking them what the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is. We took the interviews and edited them down into the final video.