New Student Documentary Provides Work Experience

 “Changes through the Ages” follows the life of a modern American from childhood until death. Between December 2025 and February 2026, Rziha interviewed six people of different ages and backgrounds about their life experiences. Rziha melded the stories together to form “Changes Through the Ages”' one main character.

Rziha is studying media arts and film production at Butler. His major prepared him for co-directing "Changes Through            the Ages."

“The stuff that I learned throughout last semester have definitely helped in the progression of this [documentary], and it’ll definitely help towards filming, not even camera work, just time management itself,” said Rziha.

Rziha learned about time management through tight college deadlines in his first semester at Butler.

“It was really bad because I was forgetting deadlines. I wasn’t prepared for college...This semester, I downloaded [a] better Canvas. I made sure my girlfriend helped me with some             Daniel Rziha is co-director of "Changes through the Ages"                         homework [to] make sure that I got  on stuff [on time]. And for   (Photo by Josiah Rich)                                                                     most of [this] semester I’ve had A’s,” said Rziha.                                                                            

“The classes here [at Butler] help[ed] me learn time management to be able to get work done.”

Managing deadlines is vital to the filmmaking career that Rziha is aspiring to reach.

Rziha noticed how the documentary pushed him to learn more about the technical aspects of filmmaking from his professors.

 “[For example] I know I’m going to have to work color grading, making sure the color looks natural. Editing Professor Ian Bailey—I asked him if we can learn some more about color grading and he said, ‘yeah’,” said Rziha.

Peter Harrison, an associate producer of “Changes Through the Ages” with Rziha, also developed practical filmmaking skills during his Butler classes.

“One of the biggest examples [of a filmmaking skill] is confidence and leadership. You have to be on camera. You have to be ready for everything and especially when doing interviews it’s extremely nerve-racking,” said Harrison.

“Teamwork is a big part of film, so it really helps to have those teamwork skills where you can connect with everyone and be able to lead them and work well with them.”                                                                                                         Peter Harrison, co-director of "Changes through the Ages"                                                                                                                                                                  (Photo by Josiah Rich) 

“The instructors [of my classes] don’t tell you how to lead, but as they give you assignments you have to take the lead on them and that helps you to learn how.”

Leadership will be vital as “Changes Through the Ages” makes its way to the filming stage.

Filming for “Changes Through the Ages” is scheduled to begin in the second week of June 2026. The documentary will come out on YouTube and possibly Butler’s theatre sometime during the 2026 fall semester, showcasing the directors’ hard work.