I found this project very challenging because it was my first time doing something like this and after watching it back I made many mistakes. My idea initially was to have Alejandra (the girl Luisa interviewed) to start it off because she was the strongest interviewee and had the most to say. And then it would transition to Peyton's interview and back to Alejandra because she then talks about the difference between the past and now. And that sentence would be like the bridge to the dad talking about his own school and how different it was back then. Although it made sense at the time, I realized that it could be jarring to the audiences since the subjects weren't formally introduced and Alejandra took up most of the documentary.
We also forgot to add the bottom graphic of their names, which we found confused the audience and was a mistake on our part. The music was, however, found to be a nice way to change tones and bridge to each interview. The B-roll also could have been better since a lot of it wasn't in school and it would have shown viewers the real stresses of school AT school.
Overall this project had a lot of bumps in the road, but it was our first time and it was a learning experience, i do think next time I would rather choose a topic that I am very passionate about.
We started our interview process separately, but Luisa had to start hers first since she was leaving the following day. I however had a bit more time so I did start interviewing the subject with a job, and I did it at school. The interview had complications with audio and many people were walking in and out of frame. At this point, I wasn't sure to include this interview in the final edit. However, the interview with the captain of the basketball team and the coach went smoothly and the interview's audio was clear a big improvement from the first interview.
Once Luisa had edited and added b-roll to her interview, she sent it to me and I was able to use the parts that I needed. I started by editing the interview of Peyton and her dad. Finding a B-roll was hard since I didn't film her at school or at her games, so I found videos and pictures online. and would use the zoom-in effect to create movement in the still images. Once I was done editing her part, I had to structure the overall doc. I did use constant powers throughout the video because the rapid change in different interviews, makes the sound change very obvious, so this way everything can sound smooth. We also added title cards of quotes in the beginning to start it off with context and how it is supported with facts.
while using this, we added dip to black so that it doesn't just jump cut to the interview but rather slowly fade in. Another thing we did to create this was start the interview audio early to create a sound bridge. At the end the interview of the dad/coach dips to black and fades into another quote to end it strong, along with adding a hopeful tone of music.
Now it came time to actually set up for the documentary and even figure out what it was going to be about.
Me and my partner Luisa decided to work on the doc together because of our mutual interest in TV production. Once our groups were finalized we realized it was going to be harder than what we had imagined. Luisa was leaving the following Wednesday for Spain and I was leaving for Colombia during Thanksgiving break. So the only time we could film anything would have to be that weekend. Luisa and I were struggling with our idea until we both decided that making our documentary school-based and having student interviews would be the most efficient way and something that we would find interesting. Our documentary would be about the struggles and pressures high school students endure with getting into college. This is something both Luisa and I can relate to since she's a senior and I am a junior.
Once we had our set idea for the documentary we started listing down who could be our subjects. We both had people in mind who could help us connect the message overall. We also knew we wanted to include either a teacher or parents so that it could also include a different perspective. We had initially decided on my friend who is a waiter and a senior and a girl who is captain of the basketball team, while Luisa had her friend who had come from another country and had to learn a whole new language. What we found beneficial was that Peyton's (the captain of the basketball team) dad was the coach of the school team, so it hit both sides that we wanted. Luisa's friend's sister was also decided on, so the subject's interviews can be supported from an external view. We now were on to the interview questions and how we wanted to structure the story. This was the hardest part but we got down to this set of questions:
Please state your name, and say I'm a
high school student
( What are your extracurriculars and
leadership positions?
( When u were little u probably had a vision of how high school was going to be like.
What did that vision entail?
How would you say what your high school experience is now?
What aspects of school cause you the most stress
How is balancing your school and work stressful
How does living this busy lifestyle affect your mental health?
What do you think people not a part of Gen Z, have to say about what this generation is experiencing with the current academic pressures?
• How do you think this generation as a whole deals with stress?
What do you think the school system should do to reduce these pressures on students?
What should we as a generation do to reduce stress?
How does living this busy lifestyle affect your mental health?
What do you think people not a part of gen z, have to say about what this generation is experiencing with the current academic pressures?
How do you think this generation as a whole deal with stress?
What do you think the school system should do to reduce these pressures on students?
What should we as a generation do to reduce stress?
( Closing statements?)
Parents + sister:
Have you seen any changes in your child since high
How does your child's high school experience differ from your own.
What are your takes on the American school system?
Once we had our questions done we had to plan out when the interviews could be filmed. We decided to conduct the interviews alone due to our busy schedules. We also began working on our production log to stay on track. Now we were set to start our production.
Hello, I am back for another year of research, filming, and post-production. It's been a long time since I've written on my blog and I'd like to admit that I have grown a lot from what I once knew (media-wise) I'd like to tell you guys how I prepared and researched how to follow the correct conventions of a documentary.
When Ms.Stoklosa first introduced documentaries, she discussed the different types of interviews, direct and indirect. Direct interviews are when the audience can hear the interviewer ask questions to the subject, this is mainly used when the subject doesn't or can't provide a lot of information on their own (like children). Indirect interviews are when the audience can't hear the interviewer asking questions and the subject tells their story, this method is usually preferred with adults because it makes the documentary seem more natural and raw. She also mentioned the need for a B-roll (footage that plays over the interview to cover jump cuts and keep viewers engaged), However, I already knew this from other classes.
Once the lesson part was over we went on to view (what I didn't know would be the best documentary i have ever seen), American Promise. This documentary helped me truly understand how complicated and time-consuming making a documentary can be. This doc followed two kids, Idris Brewster and his best friend, Seun. The filmmakers of this doc are Idris's parents. The documentary spans over 13 years, as the audience watches firsthand how the kids grow up. The documentary uses direct interviews with the subjects because they are about 5 years old and don't have many complex thoughts that can carry the story without audiences knowing what the interviewers are asking about. However, as time passes and the subjects grow older, the use of direct interviews is replaced with indirect interviews, due to the advancement in their maturity levels.
This documentary taught me a lot personally and as a filmmaker. It can show you how a film can take such a toll on your heart, and how it forces you (without you even realizing) to connect with the people in the doc. When Seun's little brother died, it broke my heart, seeing Seun go through such a vulnerable state got to me. However, looking at it from the filmmaker's eyes I also noticed the use of music to set the tone and also lack of sound to highlight the loneliness of the household.
Another documentary that honestly took me by surprise was Exit Through the Gift Shop. I'm not going to lie, when I first watched it, I thought it was going to be boring. The beginning was slow and it didn't hook me like others have until the documentary started showing us more about Thierry. Thierry's unique personality dragged me in, he is hilarious and a surprisingly smart businessman. The documentary is told by Banksy, a very popular street artist who was originally the subject but then took over, making Thierry the subject. This turn in the documentary was what made it so interesting, How the filmmakers were able to pull such a change off and still have a concise and interesting doc is very impressive.
This doc uses a lot of b-roll and what made me like it so much was that it wasn't just composed of interview shots, that it was on the street walking with Thierry as he talks to the camera and watching him graffiti walls and spills pink paint on his car. This creative decision made the piece feel so much more authentic and thats what I strive for in my own pieces, to make viewers feel that they're there with the subject.
Next is an Op-Doc that we were assigned to view at home. We could pick whatever op-doc we wanted to from the New York Times Op-docs. The op-doc begins with the narrator talking about the daily tradition her grandmother would make her do. She would walk with her grandmother and sibling and watch the river that was down on the plaza. Her most memorable moment with her grandmother was when she told her that water will never stay still it is constantly moving. The narrator then compares this to the flooding in her city, how the water doesn't move, it is still until it can be drained. She talks about the changes in her city where the houses used to be are now not there. This reminds her of where her family used to be,
Alabama. She describes her mournful feelings about the culture of Detroit and how it is slowly going away and getting "eaten up by the water". She asks the question of will our memories, culture, and city be forgotten in 1,000 years. This op-doc was different from what I have seen before. One thing that I did consider was the reenactments it had. As I was considering it for my B-roll in my own documentary. The documentary relied heavily on vague symbolism that connected to her family and her experiences. However, when she began to talk about the stillness of water when there is a flood, the overall video connected together. This piece was very artistic. Their use of calm music and ocean sounds, along with the narrator symbolizing water as something that washes away everything with it and leading it back to climate change has a very significant role in achieving the purpose. I couldn't connect to this doc as much as I had with past documentaries. So I knew I wanted to apply a different approach.
here is my script for my radio response for questions 1-2
Hello hello, welcome back to my radio show, y-100 my name is Aaronwellington, and today we have a special guest here with us, Mariana Sanin, the maker of Elation. A Drama film that captures the life of a teenage girl coping with grief. How are you doing today mariana?
Hi, I’mdoing great today Aaron thank you for having me.
Well, we have a caller wanting to ask you a question
Of course, ask away!
Hi, I just wanted to say I really loved your film and wanted to ask How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
Great question actually, how my film intro challenges conventions is the use of alternate timelines. My film intro begins with a girl refusing to go to her best friend's funeral, it then cuts a black screen and continues to show the same girl waking up at the beach hungover and confused. And after that we give the audience further context, displaying “3 months before” text and showing the main character’s true self before the tragedy. The intro also represents social issues by shedding light to people who struggle w alcoholism and drug problems. The film also represents different social groups by showing the character speak Spanish to her mother. Representing both American and Hispanic cultures.
Wow thank you so much for the info, have a wonderful day,
You too bye
Oh, looks like we have another caller wanting to ask you something as well
Hello Hii, I wanted to ask How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
Oh, wow well, how I arrived at my target audience was teenagers genuinely go down the path of drugs and alcohol to cope with extreme loss or grief. According to Newport academy.com, since teens do not have enough life experience to know how to deal with certain things, they will begin experimenting with drugs and alcohol to cope with grief. How some of my production choices and content works to engage my target was creating relatable situations like the mom of the main character always calling, to show that she is worried. And showing the numbness that the character is feeling. I plan to make my film available to audiences, is that I will post it on various social media such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. I will also post it on my blog to show the people that have been keeping up with my progress the final product.
Thank you so much for answering have a great day]
Of course, same to you bye
Well,that is all the time we have folks, see you tomorrow at y-100's radio station
Along with my responses for 3-4
How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
Well in the beginning of the project me and my partner began researching our selected genre, Drama. We found films that are similar and found what qualities we wanted to incorporate into our film intro. Movies like Things We LostIn the Fire and Gia have helped guide our ideas into what our video is today. And once we knew what we wanted our project to be about we began planning our story board, then location scouting. However, we did hit a few bumps in the road. In the start of the project, we began filming too early without the necessary research we needed, and got a bit too excited. The footage did not turn out good either because the camera that I had acquired had a dead battery, causing us to refilm those shots. Another problem my partner and I had gone through was that the main character could notrefilm her parts, so my partner and I had to improvise, I used my partner as an actor for the shots we needed and had mostly close up shots to not give away the fact that it is a completely different person. Overall, I have learned a lot since this project, I have learned to be more patient and realize the value in planning and researching before going to film and how to be adaptable when a problem arises.
How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
To film the video, I checked out a camera, a tripod, and a road microphone from my tv production class. For post-production, what I used to edit was adobe premiere pro and adobe aftereffects. I did, however, go out of my comfort zone with aftereffects since I had never touched it before this project. I created the title text on aftereffects and the typewriter effect for the “3 months later” part of my video. Technologydid help solve some problems like shaky shots. With the help of premiere, I can just add warp stabilizer and it gives it a smoother shot without any shakiness.
Ending:
Overall, I am proud of my film intro and tried my best. What I have learned is that it's okay to step out of your comfort zone and learn new things, and to be able to adapt to problems and find a solution. What I would do differently if given the chance, is that I would have planned more and done more research, rather than filming right away. What I could improve next time is my editing skills in aftereffects, as more time passes, the better I will be at it.
