Zac Boesch and Mackenzie Bruce Win Dean’s Award for Multimedia Enterprise in Mastering the Method Contest
The Winning Entries Tell Stories About the Spirituality of the Organ and Mixed Martial Arts
Columbia, Mo. (April 10, 2014) — Zac Boesch and Mackenzie Bruce are the winners of the Dean’s Award for the multimedia enterprise category in the Mastering the Method contest at the Missouri School of Journalism.
The contest recognizes outstanding work by undergraduates in the areas of broadcast, multimedia, photography and writing. The top two winners in each of the 14 categories receive a $100 gift card.
Boesch and Bruce’s stories were chosen from among eight entries.
Zac Boesch
Boesch’s story, “Spirituality of the Organ,” was published July 1, 2013, in the Columbia Missourian. Faculty editors were Professor David Rees and Assistant Professor Brian Kratzer.
“Zac’s documentary shows organists as they personally relate to the creative and inspirational skill of playing the instrument,” the judges said of her story. “He goes beyond the power of the sounds and gets into the emotional connection.”
Boesch shares the story behind his project:
The project stemmed from a profile on one of the organists for an earlier project. When I was growing up I sang in choirs, and often we were accompanied by an organ. I found the instrument so mesmerizing and powerful as a child. I wanted to explore not only the uniqueness of the organ, but also those who play it.
I found that it takes a special person to devote so much time to the organ, and I enjoyed hearing about the importance of it in their lives. I also was spoiled during this project because I got to spend time listening to beautiful music. As my senior capstone this project was also bittersweet as I am entering nursing school at St. Louis University and saw the story as one of my last pieces of multimedia for some time. The project would not have been possible without the help of Professor David Rees and the critiques provided from fellow capstone students.
Mackenzie Bruce
Bruce created her project, “Raymond Gray: MMA Fighter and Trainer,” as part of an Electronic Photojournalism course during the fall 2013 semester. The faculty editor was Assistant Professor Keith Greenwood.
The judges said of this entry: “An artful story about a mixed martial arts competitor and ex-football player that gives entry to telling the human side of a tough guy.”
Bruce shares the story behind her work:
I got into this project the same way I’ve encountered many journalism assignments here at Mizzou: by talking with a friend.
My friend was getting his car fixed when he heard about a new gym opening up in town that taught mixed martial arts. I got in contact with a man at the gym, who then got me in touch with Raymond. The first time I met Raymond, I just took a few photos and interviewed him to write an article. However, after going to the gym and hearing Raymond speak, I thought it could be a story better told through multimedia. So, I had some time in my Electronic Photojournalism to plan exactly how I wanted to present it. I love stop-motion (used in the beginning sequence) and thought a video portrait would be a powerful element. I knew I wanted to incorporate those into the piece. The rest of the story just kind of fell into place.
Updated: July 24, 2020