The development of a short historic film about Mercer Street in Dripping Springs, TX.

The Request

The Dr. Pound Historic Farmstead reached out to me in the spring of 2020 asking if I could produced some sort of video about Historic Mercer Street using a mini-grant from Humanities Texas. 

The Problem

  • COVID-19 cause walking tours to cease, including the annual 2nd grader’s tour of the downtown area.
  • The local scholar & tour guide was getting older, creating a desire to preserve his information & experience.
  • There was a general lack of access to a tour experience & information about this historic area.

The Solution

Produce a video tour firm of Historic Mercer Street.

Obstacles – A Slow Start

  • Completing Humanities Texas mini grant & waiting for approval
  • Adjusting to COVID-19 (no interviews)
  • Obtaining Proper Permits/Permission from the City of Dripping Springs

Assets – A Helper

  • Production Equipment & Skills
  • Melanie Scroggins Voice Over (melaniescroggins.com)
  • Jenny Pack – Director, Friends of The Dr. Pound Historic Farmstead
  • City produced historic brochure
  • Mercer Street Walking Tour notes written by local scholar

Pre-Production

Script Transformation Example

Original Walking Tour Notes: Intro

When W. T. Chapman decided to plat the town of Dripping Springs in conjunction with the building of the Dripping Springs Academy, his plat consisted of twelve blocks south of the campus divided by six named streets. Five of the streets were 50 feet wide, while the main street, bordering the southern end of the campus running east to west was 75 feet wide. That street was named Mercer after Chapman’s son.

Voice Over Script for Film: Intro

William Chapman is one of the Texas Pioneers that is responsible for the creation of the town of Dripping Springs. His plan consisted of twelve town blocks, divided by six named streets. The main street was named Mercer after his son. This is the story of the buildings that remain on Mercer Street, and a reflection of a way of life.

Production Methodology

Initial Plans

  • Documentary Style
  • Interviews with B-Roll Footage
  • Host On Screen “Leading the Tour”

After Further Analysis

  • Scripted Voice Over Documentary Style
  • Voice Over with B-Roll Footage
  • Host Leads by Voice Only – With Exception to Introduction
  • Higher effort in Post-Production with Acquiring and Editing Appropriate Archival B-Roll

Why the Shift?

  1. Delays in production.
  2. We moved!
  3. Filming on location outside can be difficult to manage quality.
  4. Easier for Host.

Overall: simpler, and less filming on location, and more post-production work made the most sense.

Acquired Assets

Historical Photos

  • Jenny Pack of the Dr. Pound Farmstead provided archival photos.
  • This collection was far greater than the city itself had in its possession.
  • The photos were already clearly labeled and organized. It was a treasure for this project.
ca 1895 Applewhite Store

Archival Footage

  • No footage of Mercer Street exists to our knowledge.
  • Archival and stock footage was chosen in post-production to best match the interpretive theme for each segment in the film.

Production

Filmed On Location – Only a Few Hours

  • Arrived on location predawn with shot list prepared and map of location.
  • Started with drone shots of area before vehicle traffic and highest contrast with sunrise.
  • Filmed Host introduction in front of first building – Start of Tour
  • Continued filming building to building, capturing various shots and angles as able

Recorded Audio – Voice Over

  • Melanie Scroggins recorded all voice over scripts in her recording studio.
  • She edited the audio and provided it to me.
  • More re-recording was done later with subsequent edits.

Post-Production

Edited Video & Audio Sequence by Sequence

The Editing Puzzle

  • The initial editing process, cutting together location video, voice over audio, adding appropriate archival & stock footage, took around 40 hours.
  • Decided to used each building as its own sequence within the film, almost like a vignette to capture the whole story of the street.

Added Numerous Clips of Archival Footage

The Decision and Sourcing

  • I decided to use archival footage mainly because it added interpretive value.*
  • I sourced all of the archival footage from the Prelinger Archives at archive.org
  • Most clips were original US Government sponsored films or early TV commercials.

*Historians are generally not in favor of using archival stock footage because it is not a true account of the location or people. I decided to use it for its representative value, much like using a replica, or other example media for telling a story.

Archive Footage Selection & Processing

  • I selected each archive clip based on the sequence I was currently editing.
  • Clip lengths ranged from five minutes to an hour.
  • I downloaded several dozen clips after deeming they had relevant visuals.
  • I scrubbed (fast forwarded) each clip for desired content, then cut those clips to edit into the sequence.

Added Music & SFX

Music and SFX Decision and Source

Almost every film is more engaging with music and sound effects.

  • My selections for both were predominately guided by the availability of free, copyfree, non-attribution assets to avoid all additional costs and copyright infringement.
  • All music was sourced from YouTube’s Music Library, non-attribution section.

Title & Credits

  • I added additional graphics and text to bookend the film to give the film a clear opening and closing.

Reception

Pre-Publication Screenings

  • Viewed by Dripping Springs Historic Preservation Commission.
  • The Mayor joined in and praised the film highly stating that it was a job well done and is something that every member of city government will be required to watch.
  • Other viewings organized by Jenny Pack for community members praised the video.

Publication & Distribution

  • The film was published publicly on YouTube for easy access to all community members, including local groups, schools, and/or anyone interested.

Feedback

Positive:

  • The original scholar of the History of Mercer Street praised the film stating that it is what he originally hoped for when envisioning capturing the history of Dripping Springs, TX.
  • The City of Dripping Springs praised the project and is excited to pursue more collaborative efforts with the Dr. Pound Historic Farmstead.
  • Numerous locals were happy to see the project come to life as a method of capturing their small town’s history and being able to share it.

Negative:

  • A member of the Hays County Historical Commission, that I have worked with on a separate project, was generally in favor of the film, but objected to the use of archival footage.