Wow, you know I really didn’t think we would be able to do it but… we did!

At the beginning of this journey, I never could’ve imagined the road to a finished documentary. It was long hours, lot’s of driving and compromise but we made it! I’m really happy on how our SOS documentary ended up, and was actually proud to have it be screened in Buck Hall. Especially when we had our rough cut I never imagined that our final product would look the way it did. I was astonished by how much the material we acquired just days before the screening completely transformed our documentary.  Of course I saw the flaws of the documentary while it was being screened but the worries of the impact of those flaws were lost in the compliments given to me after the screening.

I thought everyone’s documentary was incredible and loved to see the final product and creative angles people took! One thing that especially struck me was how unique and enticing everyone’s opening sequence was. I thought it was just interesting to observe how people approached reeling people in to the subject.

Overall I think everyone did an amazing job on the documentaries and I’m excited to see the future work of anyone in the class!

The Blue Line was a good film, but it was honestly one of the harder assigned films to get through this semester. I personally have a harder time connecting and ultimately enjoying older films. I am still searching for a film that will change my opinion on this, but I do think that The Thin Blue Line has done that for me.

Aside from my complaints with it being an older film, I did find the story and structure of the film to be interesting. As an African-American man in this country, I often worry about of situations where I could be wrongfully accused of a crime and sentenced to prison. All throughout film, I kept thinking about this and putting myself in Randall’s shoes and this increasingly made me frustrated. At the same time, I found it hard to feel bad for Randall himself because he is a white man in an older film. Perhaps, I have some buried thoughts I need to sort through.

Regarding style, I am still a bit unsure about how I feel about noir films. I believe that this film captured that vibe and used it to its advantage. However, I feel like I must see more films like this to really form a strong opinion. I did like use of reenactments throughout the film. I never really thought about this as an aspect of documentary making but it definitely makes sense. Who knows, maybe I’ll even use them in some of my future documentaries.

I am working on a project about a local thrift shop in Allentown, Pa that supports a community WIFI program. From my discussion with my fellow group members our tag line goes something like this:

“A local thrift-shop that is shifting the paradigm of the structure a local business by using its earning to fund a local WIFI program and other community endeavors”.

Honestly, this was not my first choice for a project. I originally wanted to work in the Arts Valley, as this was the idea I originally proposed. However, after meeting with my current group members I decided to commit to this project because I wanted to step outside of comfort zone. As a person who is very interested in music it is often easy for me to work on projects that cater to that subject. However, I think it is important to explore different interests and ideas in order to maintain a more interesting and holistic world view. With this in mind, I am now very excited to work on this project with the rest my group because I am getting an opportunity to learn more about local business and its role in community engagement. I think if we commit ourselves and remember to have fun that this project will turn out well.

Hearing Robert Seidman speak in class was truly a treat. I had not been too familiar with him or his work before coming to class, but his fun-loving personality quickly turned me into a fan. I enjoyed a lot of the scenes that he presented to us in class. I especially liked the clips from his film on Hasidic Judaism and from his film about Billy Strayhorn. It is likely that I will revisit these films in the future.

While I enjoyed his presentation overall, I was a bit confused about the points he was trying to make. I could not tell if he was trying give us some sort of message with each clip he showed us or if he was just trying to share his experiences with hopes that we could draw something from them. I would have liked him to be a little clearer about his intentions. I think in the end however, I did take away a lot from his time with us in class. For one, I was reminded of the importance of compromise in collaboration when he began to speak about his experience working with Hasidic Jews. Another big take away was being exposed to the idea of a scripted documentary. Finally, I feel I have a better understanding about what a screenwriter does and their role in a non-fiction film. These are valuable lessons and ideas that I will try to carry with me as I go on as a documentarian and a film maker.

After watching The Above for the first time I was admittedly a bit confused. More specifically, I did not quite recognize the ideas KJ was trying to convey to her viewers. I thought there was something specific that she wanted us to think about the balloon. I kept asking myself whether she wanted us to believe that the US had weapons on board the balloon, or perhaps the balloon itself is a bomb the U.S is plotting to release on these people. I felt like I was missing the big idea that everyone else could see. Finally, after watching the video a second time, I think I understand what KJ was trying to tell us. I believe the point of the film was not so much to expose U.S plans against Afghanistan, but rather to expose the creepy and ominous nature this balloon. Her biggest point is that no one really knows what the true purpose of this floating contraption. Yet it is always there; watching and lurking. I feel that Kirsten really captures the eeriness of this situation with her use of the camera. Many of the shots in the film focus on moments of everyday life while the balloons rest slightly out of focus in the background of the frame. This gave personality to the balloon. As it rested in the background of these shots, I would feel the strength of its gaze. I become uncomfortable. I became concerned.

As I mentioned in my post about my rough-cut, shooting this interview with Jasmine started off as exciting and quickly became very frustrating. I had a lot of trouble translating my ideas into a film that looked and felt good. Specially, I wanted the film to feel like it kept moving. I did not want my interview about a lively and upcoming DJ to come off as boring and dry. To achieve this, I reshot my main interview with Jasmine. I took myself out of the frame and spoke to her in a room that was better lit. When I got home I was proud of this new footage, but I once again became disappointed when I realized I forgot to turn the mic on during the interview. With Thanksgiving around corner, I found myself having to work with what I had. What I believe really saved this project was my B-roll. I felt like it not only filled in the gaps between the interview, but it also gave better insight into the type of person that Jasmine is. Thus, in this project I learned to take my time when shooting to help insure that I get better footage and to try and find ways to stay passionate about my projects even when they are not going well. I am a lot happier with my final cut.

Seeing a couple of examples of rough-cuts in class today got me thinking about individual creativity. Specially, I have been thinking a lot about different artistic prospectives and what drives someone to create what they do. My hunch is that it has a lot to do with how people understand their experiences and a lot do with how they want to see the world. Thus, for me when I see other people’s creations, I feel like I am getting a glimpse into their world, their mind, and values. For example, I was really fascinated with the intro and build-up to Francis’s interview in D. T’s rough cut. I think it was not only visually satisfying, but I also think that his shots went a long way in setting a mood for the film that gave us a glimpse of how it feels to be in a room with Francis. What is both interesting and frustrating to me about this is that I really do not believe anyone else could have thought to do this in exactly the way that D.T did. I guess that also shows the value off collaboration and sharing your ideas with others.

As a person who considers himself a creative, I am constantly coming up with ideas that I am passionate about and want to pursue. Thus, it was no surprise to me how quickly I found an idea for this interview that I was proud of. I wanted to interview DJ Zen (Jasmine Baneful) because she was quickly becoming an influential character on campus and because I feel we could relate in our passion for music. I thought this idea was perfect…. until I started filming it. All the situations that I imagined shooting her in, like a basement music studio and during a live performance were all unaesthetically pleasing and terribly lit. Realizing this after I had gotten a lot of the footage really killed most of the motivation I had for this project. I didn’t know what to do and ultimately, I ended up reaching for online footage to fill in the gaps between the not-so-perfect interview. Admittedly this was just to get the assignment done in time for class. But, I do not like working this way. I want to be proud of the work put out. I hope to improve for my final cut.

Working in groups is often a very difficult thing even when you have good partners. If I have learned anything so far in this project, it is that things will go wrong and sometimes you must be willing to take a position in the backseat even though you really want to be the one driving the car. This week there were some issues in our group with getting together to shoot the B-roll. This ultimately meant that I was not able to be there when my other group members, Annie and Ayanna, went to shoot the film. Not being there was really a struggle for me. As I said in class, I was really concerned if my group members’ vision would match my own and I even questioned their overall documentary making abilities. All I could do about this was hope that some of the ideas I mentioned in our discussions would matter when they went to shoot. After they sent me the footage, I quickly realized that I had nothing to worry about. I feel they did a really good job and feel the shots they took will really work as a good foundation for our film. Overall, I feel like we could have had better communication with this and I wish I could have been there. However, I have also learned to trust my team and I am excited for the rest of this project.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10yh8TjE7GoI0gaCKUmuTHvnO8NTMJWFV/view?usp=sharing