MIDTERM - CR Post Four

 

    Interviewing:

Interviews were filmed slightly far from the subjects leaving too much headspace. Lighting was okay, it could've been better.  Setting was off, the two interviews were too similar which allowed them to be more as one instead as two. Besides that, the questions allowed well-elaborated answers.

As a subject, I realized during editing that being interviewed and sharing personal aspects of my life makes me uncomfortable.  This is a lesson learned, as I cannot be a creator and subject of a project, It's not impossible, I'm just not comfortable being both, especially if I have to share with the class. Day two of critiquing, I skipped the class. (I'm sorry, Mrs. Stoklosa) I couldn't be there, I was so anxious of my peers seeing my personal life and afraid of their judgement. I didn't mind them critiquing my project but my life is too much. Not that they did critique my life. Nonetheless, I couldn't risk it. I felt my stomach churn, my heart sink, and my throat close up at the mere thought of being in the same room as my peers while they watch my life and silently judge.  So I just didn't go. 

Despite my absence, I read the critiques on my project. I'm glad to say I hadn't seen anyone cruel enough to critique my personal life...yet. I found the critiques useful and reassuring.

MIDTERM - CR Post Three

 

Production:

    B-Roll:

During production, we had the subjects record themselves for the b-roll. In retrospect we honestly shouldn't have. At least not for everything; only in their workplace. School, home,  and in the car, there should've been a tripod or someone holding the camera.  As result of our choices, the production just looked poorly filmed.

    Editing:

Editing was done by another group member. It was well done, the way the clips were organized made sense and allowed the purpose to be clear. There was a glitch while exporting that made the clips overexposed and bright. I went back in and lowered the exposure. We used adobe premiere pro 2024 to edit our documentary.

Documentary CR 2

Research:

    In our research, as mentioned before in previous post, we had a lesson in which I took notes, but we also watched many examples of great documentaries, such as: Exit through the Gift Shop, American Promise, Abstract, and the New York Times' Op-Docs. In this process, we learned of direct and indirect interviewing, b-roll, and the affect of music in documentaries. Looking back, my documentary did not really challenge conventions but it sort of included a biased POV; I chose the topic and I was included in the documentary. I had a perspective in my head that I wanted to put across. It was that being a full-time student and a part-time worker is very difficult. At least it was for me but it could be different for others.

Planning:
    Planning could've been better had we chose a different topic where b-roll, tripods, and better lighting were available. But because we knew that in a workplace, without agreement from corporate, we weren't going to able to bring equipment, it was hard to plan out what we could and couldn't do.  Regardless we planned out what we could, such as shots we wanted and interview questions.

Production:

    Production was pretty laid back. The two subjects just had to turn on their cameras and set them down where it could focus them. During interviews, we used tripods and a tall, bendy lamp for lighting. However, as good as the lighting was on camera, in editing it was not. So we had to dim down the exposure a bit. I failed to take in account that my screens are brighter than school laptops so it looked oddly dark on everyone else's screens. 

Overall:

    I enjoyed the topic and the purpose was clear. I wished we could have executed the production better but it is what is. I realized that the music didn't add as much as I wanted it to. It was sorta just there in the background. I would've liked to see more variety in subjects instead of two white girls who live in the same house but it is what it is. 

    Our product did in fact represent a group of people and an issue. Our social group was students with part-time jobs, whether or not the representation is accurate is not my problem. I was representing the issue that most of the students with part-time jobs I know face as well. Issues such as, lack of sleep and time. We also wanted to address misconceptions from teachers (not you Mrs. Stoklosa) in Cypress Bay High School that all students don't have things going on besides high-school and its sports teams. 

  Our target audience was mostly teachers and parents but also students. We wanted to prove a point to adults that it is not easy to handle so much and live without excess time. With that said, we also wanted to hear from students that what we were representing is valid and it wasn't just us creating a victim mentality.  From sharing the documentary to the class and my friends, the audience has agreed that the topic and purpose were very relatable. So with the lack of proper technique, the point was received by the audience and I'm grateful because that means the project wasn't a total flop. As much appreciation I have to this project, I don't believe I will continue it for the Cambridge portfolio project for the mere fact that we cannot improve the angles and lighting for most of the clips. 

Documentary CR Post 1

     Describe the documentary project and your research, planning and production processes.

    For the documentary project, we were to create a short documentary on any topic of our choice. My group and I chose high school students with part-time jobs. Our documentary's purpose was to shine a spotlight on these students and the challenges they face. 
    For research, in class we had seen a couple documentaries, including Exit through the gift shop, American Promise, Abstract, and NY Times Op-docs. Through the lesson and documentaries, I've learned the purpose of direct and indirect interviewing, the importance of music and b-roll.
    In planning, my group and I started with what shots for b-roll we wanted and the subjects we would make the documentary about. We chose myself and my sister as we both go to school full time and work part-time. We later moved on to the interview questions. We tried focusing on the struggles they face and their daily life.

    During production, filming b-roll was a bit difficult as we couldn't bring tripods or extra hands to film for us to our work places. Most of the time we just set the camera down anywhere where it could stand on its own. For interviews, we used my mother's lamp and a tripod for lighting and filming which the clips looks okay for the most part on its own. During editing the exposure on the clips went a little wild so we had to dim it down but on my PC, I have a vibrance mod that makes things brighter than they are. Which I didn't take account for. 

MIDTERM - CR Post Two

        

        Planing the documentary project was simple as we had talked about the idea before.  We decided our topic to be students with part-time jobs. We went ahead and started planning  ad deciding the subjects. We decided on my sister and I, as we both have part-time jobs whilst being a full-time student. 

        Once the subjects were picked, we planned out the b-roll we wanted. For b-roll, we wanted to capture parts of their daily life. Waking up, getting ready, at school, at work, doing homework, etc... The purpose of the documentary is to know the in's and out's of being a student with a part-time job, thus we had to show the lives of the subjects.  

Next for planning was the interview questions. To express the life of the subjects we asked about their daily schedule, their work, the "why's" and "how's". 

MIDTERM - CR Post One

 

        For research, I watched op-docs and full documentaries. The first documentary being American promise following two boys from their childhood to freshman year collage. This documentary used both direct and indirect interviewing. The second documentary was Exit through the gift shop following popular artist, Thierry. This documentary is a major example of how opinion and perspective can form the audience's view on topics. I then watched episodic documentaries by ABSTRACT on Netflix. It showed different techniques including animation. 

I then watched two op-docs. The first I watched followed the locals of Norilsk, a heavily polluted city in Russia that is also very cold. The documentary had several interviews and engaging b-roll of the residents day-to-day life.  The op-doc was very raw, minimal technique and I believe that was its purpose. No animation or major music and sound effects, not even cinematic overlays. Just pure footage of the city slammed together over interviews. I really enjoyed this Op-doc.

The second Op-doc was close to home for me.  The familiar tongue of my home country. This op-doc was peculiar not because of the language but because it was pure interview footage, almost no b-roll. It was also silent. No music in the background just their words hanging in the air. There was use of both indirect and direct interviews. This allowed the slaughterhouse aspect to escape, and the topic of family to creep in.

I honestly enjoyed the op-docs and learned more of a minimalist technique.