From viewing the B-roll, I like the variety of restaurants that were included, from fine dining restaurants, to pubs, to wineries, and a ice cream parlor. It was a good way to show the multiple businesses that provide food to Easton’s residents. I love the use of stills and videos clips to show various places like the Easton food market. The types of shots were also nice. The panning of a restaurant’s street menu was good and the clear shot of the vegetable dish with the less focused cook behind it was a great way of directing the viewer towards the dish itself. I feel that the B-roll gives a light, joyful tone to the documentary, with several shots showing workers, such as the bartender and the chefs, smiling on camera, having a good time. Some of my favorite shots was with people in the restaurant like the two waiters smiling at the camera. It was such a genuine smile and it added more life to the film. The shots of the OAK restaurant really showed a beautiful interior inside and lets the viewer know that this is a fine-dining restaurant. Lastly, I enjoyed seeing the little girl playing the piano and skipping away, I think that would be a great way to end the documentary on another joyful tidbit. It was something so innocent and childlike. It would make a great transition. Two things I would consider when going into post production would be stabilizing some of the clips and color correcting, because they are a tad bit over exposed.
Overall, you did a great job capturing the essence of these restaurants in Easton. If your documentary is solely focusing on Easton’s restaurants this B-roll works in your favor. I think the story was, “Hey. Welcome to Easton. This is a cute little town and also a food hub here in the Lehigh valley.” I cannot see change and development in this B-roll. If it’s possible, you can try and get old pictures of what Easton’s main area looked like and what actually existed before many of these restaurants were built. I can only see what’s new and glossy here in Easton. I can only see an upper-middle class community. I was hoping to see more Eastonians and shots that would capture the reality of those who live here (people who we see hanging around Dunkin Donuts and the Dollar Tree store). Where do they eat? Where are they? The people who are in these restaurants don’t accurately portray the Easton community. I’m saying this because I reread the one sentence/main question which was “What happens when a community changes and develops? How do those changes and developments positively or negatively affect its community.” I know many locals cannot afford to eat in most of these restaurants that were shown. There are also many Mexican taquerias and other small American restaurants you can look into.
Yannick, Andrea, and Shreya