IRD Post 1

The documentary I chose to watch was Harvard Beats Yale 29-29. It was produced by former Harvard graduate Kevin Rafferty. The film switches between game footage from the Harvard-Yale football game in 1968 and interviews with over 50 of the games surviving participants. The interviews discuss the game itself as well as life in 1968 at Harvard/Yale and in America. Rafferty decided to produce this film for the fortieth anniversary of what is considered to be "the greatest game in the history of the Ivy League."

Rafferty mainly presents the film by switching between archival footage of the game, interviews with the surviving players, and with images and videos of America during the 1960s. In his interviews he uses expert testimonial to present the feeling of the game by having different players from both Harvard and Yale discuss what they remember from the 1968 game. He also alludes to Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury comic, which included small plots about the Yale football players such as Brian Dowling. By using Trudeau's comics, Rafferty shows the attitudes towards the Yale players on the university, which was a jock-like attitude. Rafferty uses archival footage to show the game itself and uses the actual broadcast to recreate the game and how it played out. By using the archival footage, Rafferty is able to show how people saw the football teams and the excitement created by Harvard when they scored 16 points in 42 seconds to tie the game. Rafferty is able to establish credability by showing his interest because he went to Harvard and objective viewpoints by having interviews from both Harvard and Yale players.