After months of scheduling and planning, filming, interviews, and editing, Margie and I have finally finished our project. We experienced many ups and downs throughout this long journey, but I think we can both say that we are very happy with how our film ended up.
The most frustrating thing of the whole process was trying to coordinate schedules with other people we wanted to work with. On top of that, some people who we tried to schedule interviews with would sometimes not get back to us. We had to work around many obstacles that were put in our way to end up with the film we have. When we first decided upon our idea of making a film about Easton’s new restaurants, we wanted to interview newer restaurants such as The Bayou, Oak, and Stoke compared to older restaurants such as Maxim’s 22 and River Grille. As these restaurants are very popular, we could it almost impossible to find a time to interview with them. The three places that we did interview; Tucker Silk Mill, Playa Bowls, and Chocodiem, all came about spontaneously. I believe some of the most interesting moments in a film can happen by accident, and that is what Margie and I were handed.
Another challenging part of the process was editing and choosing what footage we wanted to include. Margie and I probably shot b-roll footage on seven different days, so by the time it came to the editing we had so much to chose from. Trying to organize three different stories into one cohesive piece also turned out to be more challenging than I thought. Once we figured out the order of the story we were trying to tell, it became easier to assemble our b-roll together.
This was the first time I have created a documentary piece with another person, and it was a very beneficial experience. I am very proud of the work that we created together and am excited to show to the class on Wednesday night!