You may already have seen them. On Saturday, they might have witnessed you getting your groove on at the freshman semi-formal. On Monday, they could have caught you dozing off during a morning lecture. On Tuesday, perhaps they watched while you scarfed down your breakfast in Mathey dining hall.
No, your parents have not hired a film crew to monitor your college activities. It is here for another purpose.
Several undergraduates from Germany are the subjects of a documentary series about German students at elite American universities. According to Clemens Morgenroth '02, who is a subject of the film, a four-person crew arrived at Princeton last Saturday to record the students' daily lives and the atmosphere of the campus. They plan to keep filming through Friday.
Morgenroth said the documentary is being produced for German national public television and will deal with undergraduates at five top institutions: Princeton, Harvard, Yale, MIT and Stanford. "The producer's plan is to go to the most renowned American schools and do one-hour features that capture the college experience of German students and compare the universities."
According to Eva Petschnigg '03, another subject of the film, many German undergraduates received an e-mail last week informing them of the opportunity to be in the documentary. From that list, she said, "about six or seven people are participating at Princeton."
In addition to getting acquainted with the University, the film crew, directed by Volker Wild, has been interviewing students and following them around campus.
"They've taken a tour of the campus, met with President Shapiro and interviewed Peter Singer in order to get a broad impression of Princeton," Petschnigg said. "They also have come to our classes, extracurricular events and social activities to see how we live here as Germans."
Morgenroth said the film crew has asked to record all facets of his life as a University student, including his friends and activities. He added that the producers seem particularly interested in portraying the University's social scene.
"They've been trying to get a sense of the party life and especially the eating clubs as something that sets Princeton apart from other schools," he said.
Though he said he has enjoyed the experience so far, Morgenroth said his involvement in the documentary has been stressful at times. "They want me to act completely normally, but then they made me do eight takes when I called someone on the phone. Overall, it's been very fun, though," he said.
According to Morgenroth, the presence of the cameras has often created quite a stir on campus and people are generally excited when they see them. "It draws a lot of attention because people really want to get on film," he said.
History professor Jeremy Adelman, whose lecture received a visit from the film crew Monday, said he was not bothered by the distraction of the cameras. "I actually thought it was a little funny," he said. "I don't think the students minded at all, either. They seemed to find the situation as humorous as I did."
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