Junior Ishi Metkar breathed a sigh of relief after her class, Making Movies: The Fundamentals of Narrative Dramatic Filmmaking, ended a half-hour early, giving her a few minutes to rest amidst an extremely busy schedule. In addition to her studies ranging from economics and strategy to film studies, she embarked on a new project for the year: following six freshmen throughout the year and documenting their experiences in a film.

“The Freshman Experience” shadows six diverse first-year students as they adjust to life at Washington University, attempting to encapsulate the freshman experience. Metkar says her personal experiences at Washington University prompted the topic.

Justin Ho | Student Life

Junior Ishi Metkar poses for a photo in the Danforth University Center. Metkar is in the process of producing a documentary called “The Freshman Experience,” which focuses on the experiences of six freshman Wash. U. students.

“My freshman year was a time of a lot of change. I came out of my shell a lot and met so many new people,” Metkar said. “I knew that this wasn’t only unique to me.”

Metkar first became interested in film alongside some of her friends in high school and hopes the documentary can be a stepping-stone into the production world of film. After working on a documentary at the beginning of the summer and seeing the production crew come together to make a finished product, she wanted to get a fuller understanding by making a film herself with an expansive but practical project.

“The only way I could…get to know this industry is if I enter it head-on and don’t look back,” Metkar said. “I learned a lot about the management aspect of filmmaking [this summer].” The many resources available to her at college gave her the confidence to get the project started.

Going in, Metkar anticipated the toughest task would be recruiting the cast of six freshmen, but as it turned out, that step was relatively easy due to heavy freshmen interest. She started by sending out a general information survey on the class of 2018’s Facebook group and was surprised to receive over 50 responses.

With a second survey, Metkar sought to narrow down the candidates by asking questions about their self-views and high school experiences.

“We were looking for diversity in the group, which was hard to do because it was difficult to select individuals,” Metkar said. She didn’t want people that responded in one word; she wanted demonstrated interest.

In addition to dedication, Metkar searched for a cast that was very open. “This is an anonymous survey, and the fact that [some kids] were open without any knowledge about who I was or anyone of the crew was showed me that they would be pretty open on camera,” Metkar said.

On the other hand, Metkar acknowledges that the selected cast could be missing out on the more introverted students at Wash. U.

“The more introverted kids [who] keep to themselves, which is a lot of the Wash. U. population, aren’t going to volunteer for this project,” Metkar said. Yet she still feels that the cast properly reflects enough diversity of experience to translate beyond the Danforth Campus.

“It has mass appeal to people, not just to Wash. U. students but to people who have graduated Wash. U. and have gone to college in general,” she said. “I would hope that kids in high school would watch something like this and consider higher education.”

“The Freshman Experience” is currently in production, with the filming slated to span the entire academic year. The costs of the project have been relatively low to this point—there have been no equipment costs because the documentary is sponsored by WUTV. With the help of alumni support and crowd funding, she says she should be able to cover the general liability insurance.

Filming began for the first time last Friday, though the freshmen themselves captured footage of their friends and family over the summer. Each Friday, Metkar will interview all six participants in order to track their progression through the year. Without a specific angle in mind, Metkar is instead trying to let the participants drive the film’s narrative.

“I want the footage to speak for itself. I’m going to try and keep it as objective as possible because everyone’s experience is going to be different,” Metkar said.

Metkar says she is looking forward to publishing the documentary and showing it to audiences down the road. Until then, production will continue in full force, with a planned release in early 2016.

“We’re hoping to send this to festivals,” she said, “but that won’t be until the time I’m graduating.”