In the 21st century where all the information in the world is accessible by a click of a button, the pressures on students and the requirements to get into college have exceeded grand expectations, and people are asking for perfection. Especially in the United States, college has become a crucial factor in succeeding in life (at least that is what were told). In our documentary we decided to follow this topic in several types of students and how it affects everyone no matter what social group it is.
In our documentary, we decided to interview two subjects, quite different from each other, and even provided outside points from the subjects' family members. For example, one of our subjects, Alejandra, is an immigrant from Ecuador, who moved here just a few years ago. She had to learn English and had to adjust to these unusual, generalized testing and pressures to reach these impossible standards. The other subject, Peyton, is a senior who juggles sports and academics all at the same time. Her place in the documentary represents student-athletes, especially for young women like her. How it is 10 times harder to be able to reach the point of an athletic scholarship. Women in sports are seen as less capable than men in sports, especially in a male-dominated area, basketball. Although Peyton struggles with a lack of sleep, she shows that her dedication to her academics and sports to get into college has come at a price. Nevertheless, the project met my representation goals as the subjects included their struggles and points of view. Alejandra9 incorporated a lot more than Peyton, which could have overpowered the representation Peyton could have offered.
The documentary's audience can be targeted towards teens from 14 – 19 and even parents who have a teen of their own. The target audience would be characterized by people who have also been struggling in school and who must endure balancing extracurricular activities along with academics. They would also be parents or administrators who are interested in bettering the lives of students and teaching students that life is not just based on academics.
Teens can relate to the struggles of applying to college and the stresses of having to juggle the social and academic atmospheres. With this documentary, parents have a chance to be shown behind the scenes what teens are going through and even see how family members see the difference. Our main target audience is students and the subjects being interviewed are also students, our audiences will be drawn in through the information their peers are providing and realize they are n the only ones struggling, even those who seem like they have it all together. The parents of teens can also see how students are struggling and how much school systems have changed since the last time they were in school. Colleges have created unrealistic expectations where academics are not enough, you must be the captain of your team or the president of your club to be even considered being accepted.
Research played a key role in our documentary, many of it was individual experiences both my partner and I had endured in our school years. We researched the statistics on how many students are struggling with their mental health and how most students in Generation Z are most likely to take advanced classes. This information helped pave the entire structure of the documentary and what our goal was with it. Prior research, like watching other documentaries such as American Promise and Exit Through the Gift Shop, helped us with the production and understanding of the conventions of this genre. It also helped us figure out how we wanted to conduct the interviews. American Promise has direct and indirect interviews while, Exit Through the Gift shop contains only indirect interviews, which helped us decide the best way to convey the story through our interviews. Since all our subjects are capable of forming complex thoughts and impactful utterances, we decided using indirect interviews was the best way to go, especially if we wanted a more raw and natural tone to the documentary.
Another piece I researched was a short op-doc, Fresh Water, that was more on the artistic side and nothing that I have seen before. The op-doc included reenactments and no interviews, just the narrator; it challenged the conventions of an interview but still held a great quantity of substance. But, for my piece, I found it to be about two completely different topics and wanted it to be something clear and concise as I often got confused in the op-doc. However, the documentary did challenge normal conventions, which we found, led audiences to confusion and a disorganized piece. The lack of name cards in the lower thirds left viewers confused about what the names of the subjects were. The piece also felt long and slow-paced, as it lacked a lot of B-roll, and when there was Boll, it felt very still needed more dynamic shots.
Although the piece did lack specific conventions, it still followed the common characteristics of documentaries. The use of music to set the tone was used throughout the piece to allow viewers to connect with the subjects and their interviews. Furthermore, the technical aspects of the piece were done well overall along with the interview shots. One mistake that was seen was the interview being shot in front of a mirror. In addition, many of the documentaries I researched before our production began had two different angles during the interviews, I wanted to incorporate that, yet we did not have enough cameras to conduct the technique.
Prior to filming the documentary, I had a lot of ideas of what we could do, but overall, the complications we endured as both of us were in different countries and time zones, made it almost impossible to achieve. The research we had conducted inspired me to create an almost artistic approach, but sadly, was not achieved in the piece.
Overall, the pre-production, production, and post-production of the piece was a big learning process. It has taught me that with a piece like this and its conventions, it takes much more time and commitment than it usually would take with something I am used to. The structure is complex, and the research is extensive.