Things that I liked:

• How I had a timeline of Mikes journey through football
• The b-roll that I did get like the jumping jacks and interaction with coaches
• The lighting and focus

Things I wish I could have done differently:

• Mike tended to ramble which meant I had to cut him off and use a crossfade to make his floating head, less awkward. More b-roll would have helped make his head float less
• Interaction with his teammates. Getting b roll of him not at practice
• Incorporated his family and girlfriend. Mike talked about how his family and girlfriend have helped him get to this spot. Unfortunately, with the time restriction, I wasn’t able to fit that in nicely.

Biggest problem I ran into

• I had a shorter interview with mike that had some great stuff but the audio was bad because of the room I was in
• I could not get permission to be on the sidelines of the game, therefore, missed some b roll opportunities.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_oEKoWsZftnBNCCWBnOIFxiYl03ez2GX

LaFarm harvested 5225 pounds of fruits and vegetables in 2016.

Lafarm donated 1300 Pounds of vegetables the equivalent to 1085 meals or $3277 of fresh food.

19 Lafarm worker put in a total of 941.50 hours of work.

The estimated pounds of compost applied annually since 2014 is 15,000 pounds or about 15 cubic yards. This is roughly 150 wheelbarrows worth yearly.

Lafarm spent $18382 dollars in 2016 on expenses ranging from greenhouse and soil to equipment and hardware to seeds and plants

This past Monday was a nice change of pass. For a while now we have gotten into the groove of watching a film having a Q&A with the director and then finishing the class with a short activity. This week we really delved in on analyzing various forms of documentaries. I really enjoyed having the Lehigh student come and show her short documentary. I thought it was a good way to see kind of what our short documentary would model. Even her, someone who has done documentary work, still had room to grow. I also thought it was interesting how even though she was the editor and got a lot of creative freedom there were aspects of the film she didn’t like. Finally, I really enjoyed watching other people individual interviews. Even though there was not enough time to see mine I felt like I was still able to gain a lot of insight into what I can change and improve on.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=10gClV34d0gkzvgRsqPsoF85OcBW5wVzq

To watch Kim Snyder’s documentary Newtown and not feel an ounce of the pain that Newtown felt on December 14th, 2012 would be impossible. While the documentary focuses on the town and victims’ families before, during, and after the shootings it does have an underlying argument for gun control policy changes. Snyder’s ability to form close connections and bonds with the families directly affected by this event allowed for her to show less graphic information but still tell a brutally honest and real story. One of my favorite parts about the film was that the killer was not named. It emphasized Snyder’s desire to keep the documentary about the community.

During the talkback, Snyder talked a lot about ethical dilemmas she faced on more than a daily basis. Snyder believed that graphic reenactments were not necessary sometimes the facial expression of the interviewees were enough to convey the horror. This is similar to Grizzly man where just watching someone listen to his death was enough to understand the tragedy.  Overall this documentary is a great case study of ethical dilemmas that documentarians face.

Ultimately, Newtown was successful because of Kim Snyder. She is a caring, compassionate woman who was able to create real relationships with the families and therefore an honest and true documentary.

It has taken me a few days post watching Night and Fog to be able to write about it. It’s brutality and uncensored film clippings were harsh and conveyed the severity of the situation going on. As I sit here writing my blog post though, I realize that the intent of the documentaries brutally disturbing clips was to spark action and reflection and in all honesty, I did the opposite. I shut my laptop at the end of the credits and did not allow myself to process what I had seen. It was a lot. I think it’s safe to say that the Holocaust is a well-represented event that is taught in the majority of high school history courses. I have read textbooks, fiction novels, and news clippings about this event but nothing has made me more repulsed then this documentary. The documentary did indeed remind me to not forget the past while in the present. Alain Resnais achieves the connection between past and present by switching from the colored film of the abandoned camps to the black and white film of the camps during that time. This juxtaposition brings the audience back to the present and is a reminder to never forget these terrible events. Overall while the documentary was harsh and at first, I fought the reflection of the documentary it had a unique way to highlight the severity of the events and to remind the audience that even though it is over the events should not be forgotten. The title brings all of this together where night symbolizes terror and fog symbolize uncertainty just like the emotions felt during that time and watching this film.

Interview Pitch:

I am interviewing Mike Donnelly one of the captains of the football team, originally a walk-on now scholarship player, an economics major, brother, and son. Through Mike I hope to highlight what it takes to be noticed. Coming from a Freshman walk on to know not only a leader but a scholarship athlete is an incredible feat that probably had many highs, many lows, and all in between. Mike possesses a great deal of tenacity and passion something that drives his football career and his everyday life.

My first interview with him is Friday, October 27^th. We are meeting at the field house with the hopes of getting the interview either by his locker or in the football house. I will ask him about his family, his overall football history, what his path to the top looked like, what drives him, what inspires him, if he has any pregame rituals. With all this information, I hope to convey what skills he possesses that led him to success and how these skills can be transferable to others.

First off, I want this interview to stay about Mike and not have his spotlight taken by Lafayette football. I hope to show what his life is like on and off the field. While I will be getting footage of him in the field house I hope to also get him doing other day-to-day activities. When interviewing him I will focus the camera on-axis so to the audience it feels like they are having a personal conversation with him. I hope to get b-roll of him at practice, how he acts around his team, and anything else he does on campus. I am going into the first interview with broad topics I would like to talk about and open-ended questions. I am hoping that as we get going I can find more of a path. I want to take a relaxed approach to make Mike feel more comfortable with opening up.

Overall, I think the topic of “The F Word” is interesting. I have only really seen documentaries on in-vitro, surrogacy, or adoption. Most of the time foster care adoption is not highlighted. While I think the topic is not only interesting but important, I do believe the series fell short in some areas. For one, I did not like the music used throughout the series. Often it was used too much to instill emotion in the audience, rather than letting the audience decided how they felt about the situation. I also think they should have interviewed the two women separately more. I think they both had different fears and thoughts about the situation which were probably not highlighted when they were together.

One aspect of the show that I did like was when Nicole and Kristin interviewed parents who created their families through foster care adoption. I think that the vibes of these interviews were different, in a good way, then if the director or another member of the camera crew had interviewed these couples. I like how those conversations focused on both advice and personal experience which was an unusual combination of emotions and feelings.