This past Friday, Anna, Devin and I went out to start shooting some b-roll for our documentary thats due in just a few short weeks. From meeting together in person to solely focus on creating this documentary  it was clear the benefits that it brings, and inevitably the struggles that might arise due to having group members who doesn’t go to the same school. I thought I’d share some of the struggles we faced in case anyone might experience these issues as well!

Firstly, having to plan where we are going to film ahead of time to coordinate between all members was not too hard but having to account for the 30 minute commute of members is something that had to be accounted for and just highlights the importance of time management. Although finally meeting outside of class showed the benefits of meeting in person. We were able to actively share our ideas, visions and opinions on our project. As soon as we discussed our vision and were ready to shoot, our camera conveniently died before we could even take our first shot. Anna had charged the back up battery all morning so we thought we we’re fine but alas, when we put the second battery in nothing happened. We were right by the WAC so we ran over and found a FAMS major wandering the halls, and he luckily offered to help us, and we found that, just our luck, we had a dud battery! So just a word of advice to make sure to check all your batteries work and equipment works before going to film.

Just thought I would share that experience and advice to try to avoid it happening to anyone else!

I am going to interview my friend Bobby. I chose Bobby as an interview subject because he may come off as a typical student athlete involved in greek life, but he is actually in a band and takes it very seriously to the point where he records his music and posts it on Sound Cloud. I wanted to interview Bobby because I think being in a band in college is more rare now than it has ever been and I think it is especially interesting since he is involved with more stereotypical college activities such as playing a sport and fraternity that many people would not assume he had his own band.

I am going to do an interview in Bobby’s room in his fraternity house. His room is completely decorated from wall to wall and it is very unique to Bobby’s personality. There are guitars everywhere and records hanging on the walls. I think interviewing Bobby in his natural habitat will portray his personality better. In terms of B-Roll, I am planning on filming his band and potentially his life in the fraternity and on the ice, but I am really trying to focus on the aspect that him being in a band is unusual and special in the current college lifestyle.

Knowing Bobby, I predict that this interview will turn out very funny and entertaining. He is super interesting and a jokester in general so he will definitely be making jokes. He is really passionate about his music and makes it a priority in his life even though he is very busy with hockey and his greek life responsibilities plus his academics as well. I am really excited to see how it turns out and I hope I am able to portray my goals in terms of showing the specialness of him being involved in mainstream considered cultures within the college culture, but also remaining unique and loyal to his love of creating music.

For my project, I would like to interview Mike, the friendly custodian who works in Skillman Library. Mike is a very interesting guy–he knows everybody’s name, but few know his. He is always smiling, asking people how they’re doing and being the friendliest a person can be. He is someone that would often be overlooked if it weren’t for the fact that he never overlooks anyone. I want to know Mike’s story.

Questions I would ask:

1. Do you like your job? What makes you get up and go to work everyday?
2. How did you start to work at Lafayette? What brought you here? How did you get to this point in your life?
3. Do you like the kids at Lafayette? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it makes a difference when you interact with students versus if you just performed your job strictly with no interaction whatsoever?
5. Tell me about yourself. What is your family like?
6. What are your values?

I would want to get the interview somewhere in Skillman, because that is where he mainly works. I think I would try to get footage of him on the steps to the basement on the bench, or in a study room to avoid people passing in the background. It would be ideal to do it on a weekend, like a Saturday because its usually not busy, which would make for less distraction in terms of visual and sound.

For B-roll, I would get some footage of him interacting with students, perhaps some footage of his family and personal life to highlight that he is more than just a custodian. I think it would be really cool to get an interview of Mike because a lot of people know his face, and (I think) would find it interesting to know more about him.

The title of my solo interview is “Through The Eyes of a Photographer” with photographer of the Brown and White newspaper, Roshan Giyanani. Since freshman year, Roshan has been a key member in Lehigh’s news outlet, taking photos that capture the raw emotion of stories he’s been assigned to, such as the 2016’s debate on Presidential candidates ; giving readers a view at an important moment from each event. Also before I took Documentary Storymaking , I took a journalism class during sophomore year and was a part of the Brown and White. While I was there, Roshan was a helpful guide, open to any questions I had with assignments and provided advice throughout my drafts. I believe he would be open to expressing his talents and views of photography to the lens. Since photography and cinematography share many of the same fundamentals through documenting stories, understanding how Roshan describes a story would be meaningful for improving my documenting skills as well as seeing another perspective up close.

The location of the interview will be interview will be the Media room at Coxe’s Hall, the area where most of the planning and production occurs at the Brown and White. He would be sitting at a table next to white board and computers. This would show the area that Roshan works in as a place that is busy yet productive, getting captivating news content out in a minute. During the interview, I’ll ask him some questions relating to what does he enjoy about photography, what does he look for in his photos, and what are some of his favorite photos he taken at the organization. With his favorite photos section, I’ll try to zoom on the photos to capture the details he is mentioning and his expressions towards them. Throughout the process, I’ll have a few close ups of Roshan as well as some medium shots. For B-roll, I’ll have Roshan looking through the camera of his, writing notes, and looking through a window in the Media room.

I am interested in doing my personal interview project on Sweet Girlz Bakery in downtown Easton. I enjoy making films that make other people smile and usually have a happy and carefree message in them. Not only is Sweet Girlz a cute and pink cupcake bakery, but it also sends a good message to other small, local business owners. Sweet Girlz takes pride in the fact that they are such a small business and use that to their advantage in getting connected with other local Easton events, such as Baconfest. I have had cupcakes from largescale companies such as Sprinkles, Baked by Melissa, Magnolia Bakery, Georgetown Cupcakes, etc, but they do not compare to local businesses such as Sugar Babe Cupcakes, Sweet Girlz, and Vegan Treats, all located in the Lehigh Valley. Anyone can order cupcakes from Baked by Melissa to any location in the United States, but there is something special about having Sweet Girlz’s amazing cupcakes that are only accessible to people living in the little town of Easton.

If I get the opportunity to interview an owner of Sweet Girlz, I would like to ask her questions from how she started her business to her favorite cupcake flavors. It would be very exciting for the viewer to get a backstage look on how their desserts our prepared, so I would want to get lots of b-roll from inside the kitchen as well. The interior of the store is very pink, vibrant, and girly, which is a key element of how I want the feel of the film to be. The colors and look of the interior of the store will be just as important to making the film as the interview with the owner will be.

An interview with Sweet Girlz’s owners could also go hand in hand with the group documentary I am a part of, and the company could double in the other film about the community of Easton. I emailed the owner of Sweet Girlz yesterday and am waiting for a response back about the interview.

My interview subject for the “Watchable Interview Assignment” will be Zikreta Bjelosevic, or “Z,” as she likes to be called. Z worked in Rathbone Hall, Lehigh’s dining hall, during my freshman and sophomore years here, and had profound impacts on several students including myself. Z sat with us for hours at times in the dining hall telling us her past stories including her escape from the Bosnian War and her struggles getting to America. She has two grown children, both whom were able to go through college in the U.S. and become successful. Despite all she has been through, Z’s outlook on life is still profound. Her story is definitely one that needs to be heard, so I am excited and grateful to have her as an interview subject.

I plan on going to Z’s house to conduct this interview. She lives right in South Bethlehem, and I believe doing it here will be able to capture who she has and how far she has come. I plan on getting different shots of Z speaking, and also several b-roll shots of her home and belongings. I am interested to see what belongings she has carried with her throughout her life and get shots of those. I plan on asking questions about her escape from the war, the hardships she went through, and what it was like coming to America, finding work, providing for her children, and starting over. I think depending on where Z decides to go with her story (there are so many potential directions it may go), I will try to get b-roll shots that correlate to what she says; the visuals will be important in how she is portrayed.

Title: Mitch Mandel: Man vs. Wild or Wild vs. Man? OR The Cliff Climber.

“Ain’t no mountain high enough”, definitely rings true for Mitchel Mandel. If there’s a mountain with an intimidating looking cliff, he will climb up it and across it! This film will document the transformative identity of Mitchel, from reserved piano-playing always-studying freshmen to rugged cliff-climbing always exploring senior and uncover if the wild was always in him, or if it somehow developed slowly over the years.

Shots to get:

• Delaware Water Gap
  • Perspective; from his point of view looking down and looking up
  • From the ground looking at him climbing up
  • From the top of the mountain looking down at him climbing up
• Lafayette Indoor Gym
  • Shots hooking up other people; teaching other people to gym?
• Fade in/fade out on LOST sticker
• Fade in/ fade out on pictures of his past climbs on his walls
• Interview out in nature @DWG or on Arts Trail with water swooshing
• B roll of nature/mountains/ challenging terrains
• B-roll of chemical lab
  • If possible, have test tubes, science things, and then knock them down in slow motion
    • Inspiration: Errol Morris, Thin Blue Line with the milkshake falling down
• Long shots of Mitch just looking out, off the mountain; kind of cliché, but powerful
• Go Pro him on the climb

Sounds

• Silence
• Birds chirping
• More silence, with just wind rustling

Interview Questions

• Why do you climb?
• Where have you gone?
• What would you tell previous Mitch? How are you different from freshmen year?
• You just decided to not apply to medical school. Why?
• You met your girlfriend climbing, do you think that anyone who is going to stay in your life for quite some time needs to also want to climb?
• What is a climbing gym?
• Are you ever afraid?
• So your abroad experience involved meeting a lot of strangers along the way. Tell me about some of those interactions. What was it like trusting people? Language barriers?

Morris’s documentary of a man convicted and sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit contained a lot of re-enactment scenes. What was interesting about these re-enactment scenes was that they were built carefully from witnesses’ statements. Furthermore, what is even more interesting is how Morris recreates several versions of the shooting, but does not recreate one in which David Harris shoots the officer. Morris’s decision on this choice, then reveals his skepticism as to whether, Harris committed the crime.

I want to interview a staff member at my college, Afaf Waz. Over the course of my Freshman to now, I became close with Afaf by exchanging stories and joking with each other. The more that I get to know Afaf, whether at the front desk at LSC or at the swipes for Mule Express, the more I find myself relating to her. Her and I are both immigrants living in this country and have to deal with issues that concerns being a foreigner away from home. Through speaking with her, I have learned of the obstacles she’s had to face; such as, a car accident and potential job termination due to lack of proficiency in English. However, these obstacles didn’t deter Afaf from accomplishing her dreams. Her great personality and work ethic allows her to face any type of situations. Furthermore, Afaf’s character is very inviting; thus, she has become a second mom to the students at my school. She talks and provides advice to students who seek her help. Afaf is willing to go out of her way to make sure that the students are well. She shares stories with them and vice versa, which allows her to connect with them on a personal level. Afaf’s presence on campus is one that allows students to escape worries, vent, and laugh. My interview of Afaf will be recorded with her working at her position at my Muhlenberg’s Life Sport Center. I will gather b-roll footage of her working at her other position, which is where she has most interactions with the students.

I thought the author’s insight on “The thin blue line” were interesting. In general, I thought what she mentioned about documentary was interesting as well. One of the most compelling points is this idea of contradictions of the moving image: on one side there is not just one truth to what the image is showing/representing but on the other side documentaries have the power to show a truth the audience did not know about before.

Talking specifically about “The thin blue line,” the essay brings important insight on how even though it is a documentary it still has a specific story and the docu-auteur purposely reveals certain things at certain times, that in a way it is “staged.” The author mentions one moment that I thought was really interesting in the documentary and that kind of shifts our entire view of the story: when we see Harris’ hands for the first when he scratches his head and we realize that he is handcuffed. In this moment we realize that he is in prison as well but we know that he accused Adams of the murder so it makes us rethink the entire story right away because we know that Adams was accused by Harris but if Harris is in jail as well we question if he came forward at some point or is in jail for some reason. The tiny detail of him just scratching his head reveals so much more to the story line.

Another interesting insight is when the author of the essay mentions that documentaries who are more powerful do not set out to just follow one truth or go for a single target which is why “The thin blue line” works so well. The director originally was not looking to just show Adam’s innocence but was more interested in the story of the psychiatrist whose testimony is kind of the reason Adams was on death row and the psychiatrist was known for sending multiple people to the death sentence. Therefore, the director may have wanted to follow that story at first but ended up not just focusing on this point. He still mentions it in the documentary but he does not follow just one target in order to make the story more powerful.