Carnegie Mellon graduate students Eileen Maxson and Ben Kinsley squint up at the contemporary, glass-and-concrete facade as they approach, juggling recording equipment and knapsacks. Even though they're not on campus today, they're still in class. Maxson has enlisted the help of fellow student Kinsley to tape interviews with the senior citizens who live at the nearby Fairmont Apartments as part of a film she plans to create for class.
Once inside, they meet the "Breakfast Club," a group of women who gather every morning in the commons area of the senior living complex to catch up on resident gossip, debate politics, or simply enjoy one another's company. Today, the lively group chats with Maxson about their earliest memories of television.
Kinsley records and Maxson talks.
"When did you first see a television? What shows did you watch? When did you get your first color television?"
The women chime in at different points. Adrienne Knox remembers watching television as a social event–family and friends would congregate, make popcorn, and watch The Howdy Doody Show. Janet Spells recalls how her father invented his own kind of color television by putting tinted cellophane over their black-and-white TV–until the momentous day when a color set finally arrived.
A few weeks later, several of the seniors interviewed gather in anticipation of their first feature film. The Fairmont, a 12-minute video produced, directed, and edited by Maxson, is being screened for the community through Tent Show Productions–an offshoot of Carnegie Mellon's Art in Context course, which challenges graduate and undergraduate students to use their art to interact with local communities.
As the film gets under way, Maxson sneaks a glance at the women. She's pleased to note that they're laughing, smiling, and pointing as they see themselves projected on screen, larger than life.
