Students help rebuild homes in Joplin

Television never portrays things as they are in real life.

The news provides its viewers with the closest representation of reality, but even then, bias somehow works its way into this media as if it were a work of fiction.

When the category five, multiple-vortex tornado struck Joplin May 22, the world found out through images seen on television. Words could hardly describe the devastation that claimed 162 lives. The death toll makes the tornado one of the deadliest in recorded history.

Rebuilding efforts could reach $3 billion, but work is underway. That's why the producers of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" decided to provide their services to families in Joplin. But they could not complete the task on their own.

In a matter of hours, crews from all over the nation banded together to make trips to Joplin and help in the efforts.

Two teams composed of Stephens women made the four-hour trip to Joplin to help the community build seven homes for seven families in seven days.

The construction projects for the show began Oct. 19, and crews worked 24 hours a day until Oct. 26.

Typically, the show focuses on one family and works in the seven-day period to build one home, but for its 200th episode, the show took on this challenge.

Shelly Vincent-Masek, an adjunct interior design instructor, spearheaded the customization of one of the homes as a team leader in the event. In this design, many students were needed for window treatments, bedding and other upholstery projects.

"I was responsible for making sure that the custom items specified by the production designers were constructed for five of the seven homes," she said.

"The bulk of the work, 750 yards of fabric, made into bedspreads, draperies and pillows, was completed in three days."

For one of the homes, students created a specialized mural to display inside. Melissa Fredericks, a junior interior design major, said they created the mural by drawing inspiration from the house's design.

"We were to come up with a design to go on a wall and a design for the backsplash," Fredericks said. "(We) looked at pictures from Google that went with the theme of the house, then we just started sketching. (The design producer of the house) loved them so much that she wanted us to do them in the house."

The teams logged their daily experiences through a blog, uploading pictures with each post to show their progress.

One post from their third day in Joplin said, "We arrived on the site and saw all seven houses and were amazed at the progress that has been made. Yes, they build seven houses in seven days! The exteriors were in my opinion 80 to 85 percent complete."

While the interior design students blogged about their experience, two senior film majors, Jacqui Joyce and Wynde Noel, documented a couple days of the event.

After being recruited to film the event for the college, the two students dropped everything and left on Oct. 23, staying in Joplin for two days. No day ever played out the same, which made it difficult for the duo to capture every aspect on film.

"We ended up staying about 30 minutes away from Joplin, which was a hassle at times when we needed to dump footage by having to go back and forth," Joyce said.

"It's difficult to try and keep on top of who you're trying to interview, where they are and how you need to meet them there, then set up equipment. It's easier when you have someone solely to keep things organized."

Aside from the technical challenge of filming, Noel said she became physically ill witnessing the damage in real life.

"I got sick to my stomach because I just felt so awful benefiting artistically from these people's strife," she said. "The houses had spray paint on them about who had died. It was harder than watching the news because I didn't have to look at it. I could turn it off. This time, I was forced to look at the damage and keep driving through it."

Camera crews other than the Stephens students also filmed footage for the reality show. Being involved and seeing all of the behind-the-scenes work, some students said their opinion of television changed.

"I understand that it's hectic, and it's very difficult to get everything you need on camera — the idea of faking responses and such," Joyce said. "What makes this whole show unique is the idea of building a house while filming, which brings a whole other aspect besides making it in a week."

Fredericks said some of the crew was starstruck at first, but seeing the reality behind the celebrities changed their focus.

"There are two sides to the show that a lot of people don't see, and, by the end of it, I wasn't obsessed with being on the show. I was working hard to make the mural amazing for this family," Fredericks said.

"We might be in a clip when the show airs, but we know that we did for that family is something amazing, whether it is on TV or not."

Noel, who worked on a crew for "Extreme Couponing" this past summer, said her views on reality television changed before this event.