My original idea for my interview subject was Mike, the friendly custodian who works at Skillman library. However, when I approached him to ask if he would participate in the project, he was reluctant. He said that students have asked him throughout the years to do the same, and he has turned them down, so he would like to remain consistent. However, he did say that if I couldn’t find anyone else that he would do it. He clearly felt uncomfortable about the whole thing, so I thought it would be best to pursue another subject.
I’ve worked at the front desk of Skillman library since my freshman year, and a lot of students that work there are international, fulfilling their work study programs. I’ve met people from all over—Rwanda, Nepal, Madagascar—and most recently, I have a coworker from Colombia. He is a really interesting person, because he moved to America when he was younger, for about 10 years, then back to Colombia, then back to America for college. He is both international and domestic—he doesn’t fit one category. He is very involved on campus, an eloquent speaker, and just an all-around friendly person. I think that since I already had a relationship with him prior to asking him to be my interview subject, he was much more willing. I learned a lot about him that I didn’t necessarily know before the interview, which I made the experience really rewarding.
I think going forward, I need to obviously incorporate b-roll. I’m going to ask Daniel if he has any photos or videos from Colombia and maybe just some footage of him around campus doing various things. If anyone has suggestions for b-roll, I would really appreciate it. I also need to cut it down. I ended up with about 10 minutes of footage when I edited my questions out, and just had his answers, so cutting it down to even 5 minutes was difficult. I think the message I’m trying to get across is that Daniel has a double-life. He’s not just an international student or just a domestic student; he doesn’t fit either mold. I think what I cut it down to revolves more around that message, but I’m open to any other constructive criticism.