By Jackson Santy ’13
THE ROUNDUP
Throughout his time at Brophy, Brad Lowe ’12 has immersed himself more and more in campus activities.
Whether it’s playing on the varsity golf team for two years, working on Student Council or standing as Co-President of the Photo/Video Club alongside Sam Wolff ’13, Lowe has indeed engrossed himself in Brophy.
Among all the activities he participates in, there is one in particular that has stuck with him.
Lowe sparked his passion in videography reluctantly, early on during his junior year.
“I was in keyboard for first semester of junior year and I was just not very good at it,” Lowe said. “For some reason, I couldn’t play with both hands at the same time and the only class I could drop into was Video Production.”
“I really loved the class and I’ve done it ever since,” Lowe added.
Since then, Lowe has produced more 20 videos through his enrollment in Video Production and Advanced Video Production.
Lowe’s biggest achievement in videography was his recent self-made documentary “Fame vs. Talent: A History of Hip Hop.”
The idea sparked when Mr. Tommy Smith assigned his Advanced Video Production students their final project.
“The assignment was for students to concoct a five to eight minute video about anything we wanted,” Lowe said. “I had a lot of time.”
When the due date came, Lowe turned in his 35-minute documentary on the history of hip hop.
“The basic thesis of it was that hip hop has been seen as a genre that’s a degradation of society; I describe how the founding of hip hop was based around the ideals of peace, love, unity and having fun,” Lowe said.
The film begins with several music videos playing in chronological order, going from DJ Kool Herc spinning records, to Grand Wizzard Theodore creating the record scratch, all the way to Eminem’s “Not Afraid.”
“I pulled together a lot of interviews off of different sites that have focused more on both the origins of Hip Hop and where it stands today by comparing and contrasting the different aspects of the changing culture,” Lowe said.
After putting it all together, Lowe wrote out a 17-page script, which he narrated over the film.
“Along with collected online interviews, I also spoke with several students about their take on the genre and tested their knowledge on it,” Lowe said.
The documentary debuted at the Fine Arts Extravaganza last November.
Brophy Student Council moderator and fellow videographer Mr. Pete Burr ’07 has had the opportunity to both teach and learn from Lowe over the past year.
“He’s a very driven, methodical individual who knows what he wants,” Mr. Burr said. “It’s obvious to see that there’s a greater purpose for Brad, as he’s consistently following it and getting after it.”
“I’ve seen things that he’s done and it’s motivated me, giving me a new take on how I can go after things,” Mr. Burr added.
According to Mr. Burr, Lowe’s style is wonderful to watch.
“His style is more of a classical filmmaking style with narratives,” Mr. Burr said. “I’ve seen thing that he’s done and it’s motivated me.”
Lowe and Mr. Burr both said that videography is much more “under the radar” compared to photography and drawing, especially at events like the Fine Arts Extravaganza.
“Videography is definitely a different take on art; it’s an easy way to slow things down for people to see all the incredible things that are happening around us in a world that moves so fast,” Lowe said. “It’s really cool to be able to take something and allow everybody to see it.”
Lowe is attending Texas Christian University next year, pursuing a dual major in English and film.
