While some people may think that being deaf is a disability, two Ball State students set out on a journey to prove otherwise.
After first hearing about Vibrations, a deaf show choir in Indianapolis, senior directing major Keaton Wooden was determined to work with this unique group of performers by producing their promotional music video. But after meeting the children involved with Vibrations, he, along with graduate student Paul Symons, decided that this was a story that needed to be told. The two finally set their minds on filming a documentary.
Starting off to work on this documentary seemed simple enough, but actually being immersed in this new community provided a few surprises for the two filmmakers.
"The first day that I went down to the Indianapolis School for the Deaf to do a shoot and to meet all of the kids... It was like a bombardment of music and then feeling isolated from a room full of kids who do not stop [signing] and yet I had no way of understanding them," said Symons.
The performers in Vibrations range from ages 8 to 18. Instead of singing like a traditional show choir, these children sign to the music by feeling the beat emitted from large subwoofers.
Wooden and Symons' walk around the children's school was an eye opening experience as well.
"The atmosphere when you walk into a deaf school is that it's completely silent but you know that there are 500 people somewhere. You can feel air just flying around... We walked into the cafeteria and the only thing you could hear were spoons hitting tables. And then you look around and everybody is [signing]. Fundamentally, it's a highly energized silence," said Wooden.
Along with capturing and discovering this new world, they have had to change some of their preconceived notions about being deaf. Wooden learned how the deaf community responds to being labeled as disabled in his interview with Vibrations director Debbie Fetzer, whom is also deaf.
"The interpreter almost didn't sign [the question] because as soon as he did, her face completely changed. She said, ‘Well the first thing you need to know is that being deaf is not a disability and no one here thinks that, so you don't want to say that ever.'"
Filming Vibrations has taught Wooden and Symons how important communication is, but that most importantly, it doesn't have to limit or define who a person is.
"What Vibrations does is empower them. It gives them a chance to do something that perhaps a lot of deaf students might not ever feel like they can do," said Symons.
At the end of the day, Wooden and Symons set out to show a different side of the deaf community through the face of an inspirational show choir. They not only succeeded in capturing the essence that is Vibrations but by doing so, opened their eyes to what communication really means in today's world.
"The hope is that the deaf community and the hearing community can integrate with each other more and more. There's no reason for the deaf people to get cut off anymore. They are empowered and they are making a lot of progression and it's amazing," said Symons.
After five months of hard work, Wooden and Symons' documentary will be airing late this summer.
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