In short: It was so much tougher than I imagined.

I have had experience editing in the past and I knew it was a long and tedious process but in reality I had never had a time constraint put on my videos, because they had always been for my own personal use. Having to stick to the time constraint was stressful because even though my interview was just 11 minutes long, I felt everything my subject said had meaning and importance.

My rough cut was 5 Minutes, which I thought was a good start but then when I had to cut it down to 3 I didn’t realize how little time 3 minutes really is. I had to take out portions of my interview which that I really enjoyed and thought were important to telling my story, but in the end, they were not important as the clips I kept.

Having to cut so much out, it really made me realize the power you have as a documentarian. The power you have to control what of what your subject said gets to be heard by the public. Its a daunting and potentially intimidating thing.

Before watching Tickling Giants I had no backstory on the “Egyptian Jon Stuart” Bassam Youssef. The documentary was so incredibly made, and I loved how they incorporated the story of Bassam Youssef but the story of the lives that he influence by starting this satirical comedy station. I found myself almost wanting more backstory on each of the workers in the documentary, even though I realize how that would not be feasible.

Another aspect of the documentary that especially caught my attention was how they introduced the animator of the documentary and the show initially as a fan and walked you through his journey and showed how the animator himself was involved, or at least his are was involved, in the final documentary. The animation allowed for a break from the film and while gave some comedic relief, allowed for the audience to dial down the intensity of the film at times.

When I left the screening I couldn’t stop thinking about one thing. The timeline of this film. It began in 2011 and was not completed until 2016. It was daunting even to me, a spectator thinking retrospectively, to imagine embarking on this journey of telling one man’s story and creating such an inspiring and impactful film. How was she to know when she began filming Bassam that all of these events would transpire? How did she know when to end it? I found myself at times during the documentary expecting an ending but just when I thought the story was over, it continued and another event/layer/complication arise. That being said, I wasn’t wanting the film to end, but I just thought a conclusion was coming. I kind of side tracked, but it just amazed me, the commitment she had to telling this story to it’s entirety and the following of one man, not knowing where the story will go but realizing there was a story there. It was and is impressive and inspiring.

Bassem Youssef

Louise Fraizer fine cut interview video

https://drive.google.com/a/lafayette.edu/file/d/1bJOTD3L-nixMdPNY6GGt6a8NaiEkzIXB/view?usp=sharing

no te preocupes, Puerto Rico:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s26b6r4vabgiln5/FINAL%20Interview.mp4?dl=0

vimeo.com/244099193

This is the link to my finalized personal interview. I wanted to add music because it would make it feel more complete, but since I recorded Olivia’s volume so low the music overpowered her (even on the lowest volume).

Every time that we watch another documentary in this class, I feel like I have found a new favorite that has opened up my mind in an entirely different way! I am really grateful that we are able to go to these showings during class because in previous years I would have seen email announcements or flyers and been interested but never would have had the time to be able to go them.

I really enjoyed this documentary in the sense that it was very real and laid everything right out there for the audience to take in. I always think of myself being global-minded or aware of the world, but I had no idea about the extent of all the political unrest in Egypt and this documentary was quite shocking!! This is just another reason why documentaries are powerful because it’s a medium in which everyone can learn and be educated. I loved the integration of the news clips, with the interviews of Bassem, and then with the cartoons interspersed. It was so special that the cartoons were created by Andeel, who initially was just a fan of Bassem’s and then became an integral part of his show.

At the end of the show, I was secretly hoping that Bassem would be waiting in the lobby to answer questions, and I think it would be great for him to come to Lafayette to speak about the power of political satire and risking one’s life in order to make such great societal strides.