The Hugh Sauer Documentary
Born in Preble County, Ohio in 1915, Hugh Sauer is a humble man who has lived through turbulent times in America. The Hugh Sauer Project is the creation of a video documentary about this man and his memories of West Alexandria, Ohio as a boy through his service in World War II.
Preble County Ohio's Web Photozine
Coming Soon The new Issue of Preble Life!
May 2010
June 2010
In this sample clip, Private Sauer talks about traveling to North Africa in a convoy stalked by German U-boats in the Atlantic during World War II.
July 2010
The Project Blog
Updated 16 May.
Hi, my name is Chris A., I'm a writer, photographer and videographer from the small village of West Alexandria in historic Preble County, Ohio. This year is the 175th Anniversary of the Village and to celebrate I'm working on a documentary about Mr. Hugh Sauer, a life-long resident of Preble County. Hugh was born in 1915 in West Alex and has lived a fascinating life.This web blog recounts my efforts to create this video. I'll keep it like a diary as I detail the various things required to take the documentary from concept to reality. It's a complex task that requires organization, thought and lots and lots of time. Come along for the ride as I work on this film. Perhaps you'll be able to help!May 4th, 2011: At the invitation of his daughter Victoria I met Hugh for the first time. He's currently at the Greenbriar in Eaton where he is recovering from a fall. In January he broke his hip. At 95 years, healing takes a bit longer. We sat and talked for probably an hour. I explained to Hugh that I wanted to interview and film him. He's sharp as a tack and was very curious and flattered that I was interested in his life. We made an appointment for me to return in a couple days to film an interview. Before I left Hugh permitted me to borrow his photo albums from his youth and from WWII.May 5th, 2011: Interview planning is vital to creating meaningful content. With 95 years worth of memories to consider I decided to narrow the scope of the documentary to Hugh's younger days. Consequently the line of questioning I developed was designed to try to learn as much as I could aboutHugh's life from his birth, through the end of World War II. I spent a few hours in the evening jotting down notes and preparing for the interview. I also set up my copy stand and started to photograph all the images in Hugh's scrapbooks that I thought I would need for the film. Most of the photos are very small, 2 by 3 inch images. However, photographing them onto digital media will give me the opportunity to include these photos in the documentary about Hugh. May 6th, 2011: Interview day with Hugh. I asked my friend Ted Allen to accompany me to the interview to help me set and to act as my assistant. Hugh is residing in a small one-room apartment at the Greenbriar and space was limited. Despite the constraints we setup a back drop stand and used a black backdrop. Lighting was challenging because of the limited space. Consequently I decided to use a single soft box to illuminate Hugh. To achieve professional audio quality for the interview I relied on a Lavalier stye remote microphone and transmitter system. This allows the audio to be clear and rich with a reduction in ambient noise. The transmitter is plugged directly into the video camera. In this situation I relied on a single Sony high-def video camera to capture the interview footage. With Ted monitoring the audio, I conducted my interview with Ted. My greatest concern was trying to keep Hugh on track but it proved not to be an issue. The guy is very cognizant, extremely attentive and an exceptional communicator. There was only one challenge to the interview and that was Hugh's hearing. Due to his advanced age, he's lost a lot of hearing capability and sometimes I had to ask questions multiple times. However, once he was able to discern my questions, he was Johnny on the spot with a clever and informative answer. We spoke for about two-and-a-half hours and filmed about 90 minutes worth of interview material. May 7th, 2011: Today I transferred all the raw video from my camera to my computer. This is a big operation and the data files are huge. I've allocated a one terrabyte hard drive just to contain the video and all the required images and data files I'll need to transform the raw footage into a genuine documentary presentation. After reviewing the raw film, the only real issues with the footage is lighting. It was tight in the room we filmed and occasionally Hugh would lean far forward in his chair while recounting his experience. This would cause an over exposure because he moved closer to the lighting. I'm hoping I can correct this with some editing and filters. The interview content is fascinating. I also did a bunch of research and found some material for sale on ebay that will help me with the documentary. I've also reached out to a few historian friends who have images and resources that will help make this an effective and powerful video. May 8th, 2011: Video Scrub day. Today I did the basic edits on the documentary. I watched every second of video and edited out all the dead times and wasted video. There were no re-takes on any questions, everything in the video is right from the hip from Hugh without edits or re-dos. After taking out all the extraneous data the remaining interview video was just under an hour of material. That's a perfect amount for what I am trying to do. After determining what I was going to keep it was time to start thinking about supporting data. Images and video I was going to need to find or create to help illustrate Hugh's recollections. Over the course of the day I watched and re-watched, while making notes and jotting down ideas. At the end of the day, my list of supporting material was quite extensive. The most difficult part of creating the video is going to be tracking down some of the atmosphere items I'll need. I also stopped and visited with Hugh for an hour. While I was there he loaned me some incredible photos of his days with the Ohio State Marching Band. It's great stuff.May 9th, 2011: With my wish-list of images and resources I needed for supporting the video I met with Susan and Audrey at the West Alexandria branch of the Preble County Library. Tucked away in the corner is an incredible archives of documents, photos and history of West Alexandria. I presented my list of requested documents and sought some help. With great enthusiasm, the historian folks set off to find information while I created a makeshift copy stand. Using a soft box and my Nikon D3 with a macro lens, I created a mini-photo studio right in the library. Over the next two hours, the staff of the archives fed me material. I would filter through it and when I found photos that I thought would be of value to the documentary I photographed them. I can't believe what I found and what I learned about West Alexandria. As hard as it may be to believe today, in the 1930s, West Alexandria seemed to be the center of the universe. I worked copying images and data until I knew the ladies were ready to go home. I packed my stuff and wandered back to The Spiffy Chicken Studio (where Preble Life is produced) and dumped the images from my camera onto my computer. Once home I edited and cropped all the images. It is amazing the amount of detail captured by those post-Victorian era photographers. Genuine moments of our collective history frozen on paper. Ghostly images of people, most who have been dead for decades, suddenly became real as their images appeared in front of buildings and places that I have walked or stood. I wonder what happened to all the images taken by the local photographers?May 10th, 2011: Decided to take a little walk around West Alexandria to see what I can find from the turn of the century. I also stopped by the Treasures, an antique/cool stuff, at 5 West Dayton Street in downtown West Alex. I shot the breeze with Ken Tubesing, the operator and former auctioneer. I talked to Ken about my project and he was very interested. He asked me to watch the store for a minute and he disappeared. A few moments later he returned carrying a box and said, Here, take thise stuff home with you, go through it and see if you can find anything for your project. Inside the box were photos, clippings an little snippets of West Alexandria history. I ran home and went through the box and found several bits of information directly related to the documentary. I also made a contact on line named Jim Hicks. Jim is a military history enthusiast from Texas. I spotted a photo he had posted on line of Fort Swift Texas, where Hugh went to basic training. I reached out to Jim for access to his unpublished photos and he hooked me up. Thanks to guys like Ken and Jim, the Hugh Sauer documentary project is going to be special. If you can help please send me a note.May 13th, 2011: Today I spent a couple hours at the Sauer Farm on US 35 just west of West Alexandria. I had the opportunity to explore the old farmhouse and the remaining grain silo. I took lots of photos and tried to soak in the atmosphere and get the feel for when the building was alive. Its in sad condition and would require an immense investment to bring it back to life. Sadly, I think the structure is doomed. I was also informed that Hugh was ill and had been taken to the hospital in Richmond, Indiana sufferring from Pnemonia. May 14th, 2011: Over the past few days the weather was wonderful so I spent a lot of time outdoors but continued researching the documentary. I spent part my Saturday, in New Paris, Ohio going to assorted garage sales looking for pieces of history. Found a few nice photos of the good old days and made a few friends. May 15th, 2011: Devoted six hours to working on the documentary. Arranging the video, looking for the best photos to support the stories and seeking video, music and sound effects as well. About eight minutes of the documentary has now been formatted but that doesn't include sound effects or background music. Still a very long way to go. I also was advised that Hugh is feeling better and his condition is not life threatening. May 16th, 2011: I put in a couple more hours on the documentary this morning and did some additional research on the Dayton and Western Traction Company. I'll be visiting the library this afternoon to see if I can find any vintage photos of one-room schools in the West Alexandria area. Standby for another update soon. Thanks for reading!
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Aug 2010
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Oct 2010
Resources I'm Seeking
Would you like to help? I'm seeking the following images/resources to help create this video. I have many of these photos but you may have something better, different, more interesting. If you have any of these items PLEASE e-mail me at chris_chrisa.us Everyone who helps gets a credit in the video. Scroll down for the list!- Photos of the Sauer Farm 1900-1940- Photos of West Alexandria 1900- 1940- Shoot Video of West Alexandria today - Dayton and Western Traction Company 1920-30- Dayton and Western Railway 1920-30- Photos Video from 1920-30- Photo of train tracks in Downtown West Alexandria 1900 t0 1930- Photos of the Car Barns in West Alex 1920s - 1930s- Photos of train cars from 1920s- Map of West Alexandria, circa 1920s- Photos of West Alex school 1930s- Photos of West Alex area one-room schools? 1900 to 1930s- Shoot Video of Cows in Pasture- Photos of Niagara Falls 1930s- Photo Road side Camping in the 1920s or 30s- Photos of a 1925 Buick- Photos of a 1917 Buick Touring Car- Photos of Gas Station in West Alex 1920s 1930s- Old Farm Gas pump photo 1920-30s- 1929 Stock Market Crash Video Clip - Dayton Stock Market Crash Newspaper Headline- Depression era coupons ration cards etc- Dayton Manufacturing Plan photos, 1930s- 1930s Dimes- Photos of the 1913 Dayton Flood- Photos of the 1914 Hoof and Mouth Outbreak at Sauer Farm, West Alex - News of Board of Education being out of money, 1933 No School- Photos from High School 1929-1933 Hugh Class President- Radiola 25: Vintage Radio Photos or an actual example to photograph.- Cornet photo of Hugh in high School- Photo of 1930s era cornet.- Photos of Hugh or High School 1929-1933 vocal groups or band- Vintage photo of The Ohio State University 1933 - ROTC photos from OUS circa 1934- Photos of Weigle and his all brass and percussion band- 1938 Graduation photo from OSU- Photos from Louisburg School from 1938-1941- Photos of Lewisburg downtown 1938 -1941 - Chorus and Band photos from Lewisburg 1938 1941- Pearl Harbor attack memorabilia or news clipping from Preble County or the area.- Draft registration document, circa 1941- A copy of a draft letter from the US Army in 1942- Video of WWII Convoy, Depth Carges, German U-Boat Images/Video- Mine removal photos in Italy, 1943-44- Photos of German Teller mines anti-tank mines- Video or image of Sherman tank being struck by a mine- Image of tred off the track on an M4 sherman- Fifth Army Logo WWII era or authentic uniform patch- Image of General Mark Clark Commander, Fifth Army WWII- Video of the bombing of Monte Cassino 1944- Photos of the monastary at Monte Cassino Italy, before and after- Germany Surrenders images or video May, 1945- Video of Nukes over Japan, August 1945- Photograph of the West Alex School Supt 1933, Eugene Derby- Preble County 4H Club photos or images, memorabilia 1920s-1930s- Photos of the Twin Valley Calf Club 1920 -1930s- County Four H band post WWII organized by Hugh photos
Oct 2010
Questions? Please contact me at chris_chrisa.us (937) 572-5581
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