OSU student Pat Ball made a documentary about a storm chasing OSU alumnus which will air on current TV in the fall.
The sound of thunder interrupts the monotone voice of the national weather service update.
Driving all day has left the truck’s occupants weary and stiff-jointed.
It is beginning to hail and the possibility of more severe weather fills the cab with a new feeling of hope.
Night has fallen and one has to wonder if a tornado would even be visible in this kind of darkness.
The flash from a distant lightning strike reveals Pat Ball behind his camera in the back seat, unfazed by the situation and completely in his element.
Ball, a broadcast journalism senior, watches through the lens, taking in footage for his newest documentary, “Chasing the Storm.”
The documentary centers on one storm chaser and his quest to warn the public. Ball said he tried to divert from the crazy “Twister” angle of storm chasing to show a side of storm chasing that people can relate to.
David Hogg, a 2008 OSU graduate and the subject of Ball’s most recent documentary, said he hopes the film can convey that storm chasing is a service to the community and not just about thrill seeking.
“I was impressed with Pat’s professionalism,” Hogg said, “He was able to ride along and do all that was necessary to fulfill his vision for the film without interfering with what I do.”
“Chasing the Storm” is Ball’s most recent work. He has made several documentaries and numerous other works since switching his major to video production.
Originally an English screen studies major at OSU, Ball switched to broadcast journalism with an emphasis in production after his freshman year.
“I realized I wasn’t so much into the theory of it all as I was into actually doing it,” Ball said.
Ball has done a variety of projects in the past few years including freelance for Billboard magazine, the Halsey Institute and the creation of the Spears School of Business channel here at OSU.
Ball is in New York City for the summer interning at the television network Bravo through the International Radio and Television Society Summer Fellowship Program.
“I am actually getting to do some camera work here at Bravo,” Ball said. “It’s been really nice.”
This fall, Ball plans to start a project with the city of Stillwater to incorporate video production into its all-PowerPoint government access channel.
Ball said those starting out in video production can’t be afraid to take risks.
“Be willing to take the chance to start any video even if you don’t know how to finish it or how to use the equipment, try it anyway,” Ball said. “I have done that several times, the fear of not knowing motivates you to learn more, that has been something that has pushed me to be better.”
“Chasing the Storm” will air on the international cable channel Current TV and http://www.current.com in the next two weeks.
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