This short documentary film looks at two different insects that can have a serious effect on forests in Northern New Mexico, the bark beetle and the tussock moth.

I want the audience to leave the film with the knowledge that even though insects are small, they can have huge impacts to our forests. I also want to audience to leave with the understanding that all insects have a role to play in the way that the forests function. While insects can be beneficial for the forests survival, they can also be destructive. It would be beneficial for the audience to understand that insect infestations can seem so catastrophic mainly because the forest they have infested is either unhealthy, stressed, or both. The main message that I hope the audience takes away is that the forest needs balance in all aspects and most of the time as long as the forest is healthy, they will be able to maintain themselves. however, when the forest is unhealthy and stressed it has a more difficult time providing this balance to itself.

I had the most fun filming the second interview. I enjoyed this because I was able to go out to an actual infested area of the forest and get to see the damage for myself. Being able to see the damaged trees. the pupas. and the effects that insects can have was so incredible and eye opening to me. When filming this scene, I kept looking around at the trees and thinking about how devastating it would be if all of our forests looked like this. While this is a natural part of the forests, forests typically should be able to fight off these infestations before they become to detrimental. However, due to human impact as well as climate change, the forests are stressed, unhealthy, and unable to defend themselves.

Opportunities like Film Prize Junior are important to students like me because coming from a rural and small town, these opportunities allow me expand my views. These types of opportunities are also important because by being able to make documentaries and make film, I am exploring and learning skills that I might not otherwise be exposed to. With this opportunity other students and myself might feel more motivated to create media and go out, asking questions. This is the way so many of us can learn and experience the world of media and technology. This opportunity would also be important for students like myself by giving me something else to add to my college applications and resumes. My goal is to be able to go to college and get a degree. By having opportunities like this, it would help me be able to get into a school I want to go to.

Some obstacles that challenged me the most when completing this film were finding people to interview, coming up with the right questions to ask, and editing. I had difficulty finding contact information for entomologists near by. Once I was able to schedule the interviews, I struggled a bit with coming up with questions. I knew I was interested in insects, but I didn’t know much about insect infestations. This lack of prior knowledge made questions a bit difficult. Luckily, as the interviews went onward many of the things that the experts brought up made me think of another question. Editing for me, was another challenge. I had not edited anything prior to this film and I was quite intimidated by it. With some help and guidance it became easier to me. The main challenge for me I think was overcoming my own fear intimidation.
By making this short film I learned more about insect infestations and how they can play a role in the functioning of the forest. I also learned how to edit and take over three hours of footage and cut it down to around five minutes. Making this film also taught me the process regarding making a short documentary.

Some advice I would give to future participants in Film Prize Junior would be to put a lot of effort into pre-production. By spending time thinking about what questions you want to ask and who you want to ask these questions to will make it so much easier and so much less stressful. Being organized throughout the filming process is also a great piece of advice because it makes the editing process go so much smoother. I also think that by trying to look past one’s own fears and doubts is so beneficial. For me, once I was able to get over the intimidation of asking questions and editing I felt like my project was coming along so much smoother.