The Indiana Department of Homeland Security called on Ball State University to produce public service announcements earlier this year, and communications students responded with eight 30-second commercials, which are being aired on TV stations around the state.
The commercials, which are part of the state's "Take Responsibility" campaign, encourage Indiana citizens to prepare for emergencies such as tornadoes and floods.
The advertising and telecommunications students involved in the commercials were hand-picked by the professors who assisted the project.
Journalism professor Dick Shoemaker responded after Marilyn Weaver, chairwoman of the Department of Journalism, informed faculty of the opportunity.
"We were looking for advertising and copyright skills, so I asked students to be involved who I thought would be most helpful to the project," Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker and his group of students worked on the strategy, writing and concepts for the commercials. Most of their work was completed on a Saturday morning in April, he said.
"I called it 'Crash-and-Burn Saturday' because we came in early Saturday and didn't leave until we were done," Shoemaker said.
Students worked through lunch and into the late afternoon to finish their part of the project so that they could give their material to TCOM students, who produced the commercials.
The students had to conduct research on the announcement topics before writing the scripts, said 2007 graduate Megan Frew, who wrote the script for "Family Emergency Kit."
Senior Andrew Raab wrote the "Winter Preparedness" script and helped shoot the commercials.
"It was hectic trying to combine all our ideas into one collective thought," Raab said.
Filming for the commercials took place in a studio in the Ball Communication building, and community members auditioned and were selected to make the announcements.
Once produced, the commercials were sent to the Department of Homeland Security for review. After the students received feedback, the commercials were edited and finalized so that they could be approved. Once approved, the commercials started airing across Indiana in May.
Frew described the experience as "incredible and invigorating."
Although most students had done class projects similar to the commercials, producing the announcements proved a different experience.
"It helped me to realize the importance of teamwork in completing tasks," Raab said.
The project also helped the students build their resumes, Shoemaker said.
The broadcasting of the commercials will coincide with which season they are most relevant to. "Family Emergency Kit" and "Pet in Emergencies" are currently being aired.
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