Northwest Missouri State University(노스웨스트 미주리 주립대)Bochart’s love for filmmaking, marching band lead to documentary
Adam Bochart found a way to combine his passion for broadcast production and music at Northwest Missouri State University while providing members of the Bearcat Marching Band with a lasting record of a memorable season.
Bochart, of Creston, Iowa, graduates this spring with his bachelor’s degree in mass media broadcast production with an emphasis in video. He recently unveiled “Inside the BMB,” a 57-minute film documentary chronicling “the musical pride of Northwest.”
Bochart premiered the film April 14 at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts with a screening for band members as well as the public. He showed it again April 19 during the Northwest Film Club’s annual festival.
”The band is such a special organization, and I wanted them to have something to hold onto down the road, to say, ‘I was a part of that,’” Bochart said.
From the day he stepped on the Northwest campus as a freshman, Bochart has involved himself with Northwest’s broadcasting program. He witnessed the television studio in Wells Hall evolve through a renovation and the acquisition of a new Student Media truck to further enhance the practical experience students receive.
“Northwest has been the best four years of my life, easily – even starting from day one, getting into the TV studio, and everything was scary and intimidating,” Bochart said. “I look back on that now and some of the faculty that I was terrified of are some of my best friends now.”
Bochart began as a reporter for Northwest’s KNWT television station. He advanced to co-produce two shows. He became a production and promotions director and was general manager his last two years with the station.
During two years with CatVision, the broadcast operation inside Bearcat Stadium, Bochart was technical director for in-stadium production. He also was involved in directing and producing.
Additionally, he worked as video assistant in Northwest’s Office of University Marketing and Communication, and he was associate producer for the Bearcat Productions commercial broadcast company.
“I like to use my skills to make other people look good on camera,” he said. “It’s crazy to see how everything’s come together, and it’s led to job opportunities and internships.”
Through all of it, Bochart felt a kinship with the Bearcat Marching Band, too.
Bochart was a member of the band’s snare line during his first two years at Northwest, but his increased involvement in broadcast operations on game days caused him to step away from performing with the band.
As a junior, he stayed with the band as a drum line technician and instructor, and produced a “kind of spur-of-the-moment” video that introduced the Bearcat Marching Band to crowds at Bearcat Stadium on Saturdays.
Positive reaction to the video inspired Bochart to consider other ways he could document and share his appreciation for the band. He also admits he was looking for an excuse to be a part of the band and began formulating the idea for the documentary.
He filmed the band at its almost daily rehearsals, starting with the first day of band camp, and accumulated more than 4,000 clips during the course of the season.
“The band does so much, and there is such a family atmosphere,” Bochart said. “I wanted to be 100 percent certain that I was able to capture that, and I really think I was.”
The film takes viewers through the band’s preparation for its first performance during the August band camp. It also touches on some welcome growing pains as the color guard doubled in size and the band’s total membership swelled to more than 175 members, making it the largest in the institution’s history.
It takes viewers through the highs and lows of a long marching band season, offering a peek inside the making of the Bearcat Marching Band’s pregame hype videos, a philanthropy organized by the band to assist music students affected by Louisiana flooding, performing at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium and, as the Bearcat football team advanced deeper into the season, the notion that it could end on any Saturday.
Unfortunately for the 2016 Bearcat Marching Band, the season did end unexpectedly when wintry weather forced Northwest to cancel the band’s plans to follow the Bearcat football team to the NCAA Division II football national championship game.
“That’s the pinnacle of what we lead up to, and the fact that we didn’t get to do that – that’s the raw emotion. There’s sadness that everyone feels,” Bochart said, noting that he ended the documentary on a lighter note after the news of the canceled travel plans sets in. “Band members were open and honest in interviews about what the organization means to them.”
He added, “I’m just glad I was able to be part a special group and a special season like this. I’ve been a part of the band for four years, and this season has meant more to me than any other.”
As he completes his bachelor’s degree, Bochart says he is hoping to continue his education in Northwest’s Graduate School. Eventually, he hopes to build a career in sports broadcast production and maybe teach.
