Planning, planning, planning

 Hey Blogger! In order to do everything for my portfolio project efficiently, it feels right to map out a plan of what should be taking place each week. Due to my insanely busy schedule, making a calendar is going to make me feel much better about what each week is going to look like, how I am going to stay productive, and how I am consistently going to be on task. Although I have placed specific days of the week I am going to do a task, my schedule moves around a lot so I am expecting for certain days to be changed when I have to get certain blog posts done. Despite this, creating the calendar has helped my brain spread out these assignments in not only a cute way by using a minimalistic Canva calender, but being able to visualize everything that must get done in my to-do list that way I can plan accordingly.    

Although I have an idea in mind and now have a map to match what I plan on doing each week, I am still considering other ideas about my portfolio project. Therefore, for the next week I will be also be brainstorming other possible ideas while creating storyboards, layouts, drawings, etc. in order to understand exactly what I would like to produce within my portfolio project. 

After this past week of researching episodic documentaries, I am sure that I want to take on that component within the portfolio project. Due to this, I will definitely be continuing my research on episodic documentaries that way I can be more knowledgable while producing my portfolio project and know more about what conventions and details the genre entails.

To-Do list for Week 2 (2/17-2/23)

- Brainstorm other possible ideas 

- Create storyboards for ideas I may come up with

-Continue research about episodic documentaries

-Research sub-genres I could potentially produce

Until next time!

Genre Research for Documentary

 Before I get ahead of myself, I wanted to delve deeper into the genre that I have chose to surround my portfolio project around. Although my class had a lot of time dedicated to studying documentaries, I wanted to understand more in depth what details and characteristics I should include within my documentary for my portfolio project. We had already discussed documentaries such as American Promise (2013), Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010), and were even introduced to the concept of episodic documentaries (which is something that I should be knowledgable about since my portfolio project is an excerpt from an episodic documentary.) Therefore, I wanted  my documentary research to be primarily surrounded by episodic documentaries since we had discussed it in class before, however, I want to be more knowledgable about what should be addressed and specific conventions that it may include.

Episodic documentaries consist of episodes that include an entire story with a beginning, middle, and end. They may have effects such as cliffhangers to keep their audience engaged throughout the series. Other conventions may include the episodes building upon each other, varying interviews of what is happening in that specific episode (a variety of subjects would be included within the series), consistent visual style, personal stories, fast paced episodes in order to receive the entire story, evolution,  and many other aspects that I could include within my documentary for my portfolio project. 

                                                            Episodic Documentary Examples

Chef's Table (2015)

Chef's Table is an episodic documentary series that stars a different highly acclaimed international chef each episode. Chef's Table includes the insight into the unique lives of these successful chefs, their talents for creating cuisine, and what inspired them to create their notorious dishes. Examples of chefs that have been featured on Chef's Table are Massimo Bottura with his restaurant Osteria Francescana, Dominique Crenn with his restaurant Atelier Crenn, and Grant Achatz with his restaurant Alinea. Some episodic characteristics within this documentary include a self-contained narrative, a deep dive into each different chef per episode, high quality cinematography, and a variety of philosophies that the chef's have towards the concept of cooking.

Our Planet (2019)

Our Planet is a documentary that covers and captures the beauty within our ecosystem while also including the environmental damages that earth is enduring. Featuring 8 different episodes, Our planet contains incredible cinematography and stunning shots of wildlife in their habitats. Each episode contains a different setting within the environment. For instance, it may discuss forests, deserts, oceans, and a variety of other places existing in nature. Different episode titles include Forest, High Seas, Grasslands, Deserts, and more in order for viewers to understand that each episode discusses a different topic and has a beginning, middle, and end. Some episodic features that our planet contains are stunning visuals, poignant storytelling, and a wide range of themes.

After doing a more in depth look into what features may be included within an episodic documentary, I believe it will allow me to have a better understanding of some effects and conventions that I should include within my own portfolio project. By using the knowledge that I have since gained, I will be able to begin storyboarding what I want to be featured within my episodic documentary.

It's all starting again!

 Hey Blogger!! It's been been a minute but here we are. Yesterday in class we went over our portfolio project. Of course I was expecting to begin soon but this all came up so fast. Despite this, I am really excited to begin this process once again but this time in A Level. I loved blogging last year in AS Level so I am really happy to be back on here. When we were taking notes on the portfolio project last class, all of the different choices that we had seemed extremely interesting and I believe that there is so much opportunity and creativity within them. 

                                                                Notes on portfolio project

 I am definitely considered all of the choices, however, I am really leaning towards doing a 5 minute excerpt from a documentary. I really enjoyed learning about documentaries towards the beginning of the school year and actually getting to create a documentary was even more exciting. I would really like have another chance to create a documentary after doing one earlier in the school year since I believe with more planning, the outcome may have been better. I would love to be able to do it again but this time on a larger scale to ensure that it is everything that I would want and more. 

Despite knowing what genre that I would like to participate in, I am unsure of exactly what my plan is going to be. While learning about the different types of projects that we could create for our portfolio projects, an idea came to mind for what I would like to do.  However, I am unsure of exactly what I would like to do with it or how I am going to implement it. Therefore, I am going to need some advice on how I am going to approach my idea. 

                                                                             Brainstorm

To summarize the brainstorming, my 5 minute episodic documentary excerpt would star two subjects who are teenage stepbrothers that live in a fictional town where unsolved crime cases happen to be extremely common. Each episode they would be solving a different case to have the characteristics remain with an episodic documentary. I am unsure of exactly what an episode would look like (which is an important aspect within this type of portfolio project.) The subjects interviews would be filmed by themselves and their purpose for filming would be to use for future use to the authorities when discussing their cases. I have many unanswered questions and details so I have a lot to think about but I so far like my idea (I think, I do not know I am indecisive.)

I was heavily inspired by some of my favorite documentary series, Dateline and Worst Ex Ever, as I really admire the way they're developed and the B-roll that is included. As of now, I am planning on working within the crime genre, therefore, I would like to do more research on what the genre entails in order to understands its conventions and characteristics. Although I am fond of the idea I created within my brainstorming, I am definitely going to continue to come up with other ideas that I could potentially surround my portfolio project around. 

I am super excited to keep documenting about my process as I know that there is so much to do and so many things to consider. This week, I plan on coming up with other ideas that I could potentially do. As of now, I really like my idea that I came up with so I want to delve deeper in its details and planning. Through the use of storyboards, I plan on making a few quick drafts that way I can get somewhat of an outline that way I can understand what I am producing. I cannot wait to see where this takes me. Until next time!

Creative Critical Reflection

 How does your product engage with audiences?

In our documentary, The First Cut: Pressure on Prescreens, our piece attempts to relate to everybody regardless of whether or not you have experienced auditioning for a BFA in Musical Theater. 

This documentary centers around High School senior, Martina Rodriguez, a talented performer who is interested in pursuing a BFA in her future and her journey with musical theater. Martina discusses why she wants to go into a future a future with musical theater, how she feels about the pre-screen audition process, the effects that theater has had on her life, and why she does all that she does for a future in this industry. While not everybody is planning on being a performer in their future endeavors, Martina attempts to make the audience feel a sense of inspiration in regards to what they wanted to do in their future. 

Martina does not sugarcoat anything, which is what makes her authenticity so refreshing for audiences to see, allowing for the formation an immediate connection between viewers and Martina's personality. Martina's emotional rollercoaster is something that audiences do not see often within products as typically what we are seeing within the media, whether is a highly fictional television show that tends to make people feel bad about themselves or a social media account of an influencer showing off money and lavish vacations, situations are highly fabricated with to look like everything is perfect but Martina shows that when it comes to something that you are passionate about, not everything is going to sail smoothly. By the audience seeing a realistic story, it makes them feel better about themselves and that they're not alone with whatever they may be going through or experiencing.

Although this documentary primarily discusses what the college audition process is like, the content that is spoken about can be relatable to anybody who has already experienced applying to college, people who are currently applying to college, and those who will soon be applying to college. The pre-screen audition process is differs a lot from a typical CommonApp application, however, our documentary features a variety of topics that can reside with people who are feeling the same way Martina is. By allowing their to be relatability within our product, it helps the audience to be invested emotionally, keeping their attention throughout the documentary.

For instance, Martina mentions numerous times throughout the documentary that the stress of her pre-screens makes her frustrated sometimes and can have a huge toll on her mental health. By her discussing how she will take that amount of stress in order to achieve her dreams, this can allow the audience to gain inspiration through what Martina has to say and gain a realization that you have to work hard in order to achieve what you want. By Martina sharing her story with the audience, it deepens viewers engagement within her story, leading watchers to be more invested in what she will do in the future. Martina opening up and showing her transparency about the realities of this grueling process openly shows her audience that not everything you do is going to be glamorous, even if you want it to be your future. Tons of viewers can relate to this is different forms whether it is applying for your dream job at a law firm or even campaigning to win an officer position in school, that is what makes Martina's story so eye-catching, while it is not exact to what everybody may be experiencing, people can find ways in her passion and drive that can have even a slight connection to something that one may be going through.

This documentary has an emotional appeal to viewers through the use of Martina's mom. For example, we included a conversation between Martina and her mom. This was an extreme powerful scene to show as it revealed a deeper meaning to just wanting to become a performer in the future. Her mom is seen getting emotional about what Martina is going through is within this process to achieve a BFA in musical theater. Her mom being visibly upset about how this is bothering her grabs viewers attention as this can be relatable to both parents and children, no matter the circumstance. Through the using emotional aspects within our documentary, it allows our piece to create a greater connection with the audience. Even though this documentary is about the musical theater college application process, by exhibiting vulnerable and real life occurrences, it allows the audience to remain captivated by the rawness that our documentary captures.

Not only do I believe that this documentary will keep viewers attentions with what Martina has to say and her experiences within theater and her relatability regarding a topic that most people attempt to conceal, but I think it will go further within engagement allowing the audience to catch a newfound confidence into pursuing a passion that they may be considering. 

The Final Cut

    Music Progression

Our piece goes through a rollercoaster of emotions. Towards the beginning, we used more light-hearted and innocent music to match up with what Martina was discussing regarding the beginning of her musical theater journey. 

This captured Martina's joy for her passion and overall how she feels about being able to pursue what she dreams of. 

As documentary continues, there is a tone shift with the music to represent that even though you have a love for something that you care about, it comes with hardship. The scenes that we included of Martina struggling to create the perfect video for her pre-screen captures the idea that with passions comes with side-effects that can be difficult to handle at times.

As we see these hardships happen to Martina, the music begins to become less enthusiastic to match up with the scenes of Martina becoming more and more frustrated with having to film her pre-screen videos for what feels like a million times. The music emphasizes that Martina is not easy and that even though she loves it, that does not mean it easy all the time.

Although we show Martina's difficult times throughout her musical theater journey, we ended with Martina's purpose for what she loves, why she does it, and why she believes that is is worth it. Through this demonstration, the solemn music fades to demonstrate the happiness that Martina feels from getting to perform. 

The music was not too loud of distracting, however, it played a key role into our documentary. The music was similar to B-Roll as it matched with the scene being displayed and helped establish the tone shift that occurred throughout the documentary. We did not want to make the sound too loud or over-bearing that way the primary focus within the documentary can be what Martina is talking about and what she has to say about the progression of her process regarding musical theater journey.

Interviews from Martina's Mom

Another inclusion that we also added was In-Direct interviews with Martina's mom. Having an outside perspective from somebody who was actively involved within Martina's journey and process was a great touch that I believe we added. We also included a conversation that Martina had with her mom where Martina's mom gets emotional overall her daughter's college process. Having these moments of them two together truly demonstrates a deeper meaning within our intentions and purpose of this documentary. By seeing how this process effects not only Martina but her mom shows the audience how much these means to them and how important this situation feels to them. 

We were unsure if we wanted to include anybody's parents, even from the initial brainstorming of this documentary. This primarily was due to us not having a complete idea of what our intentions would be within this documentary. I was slightly worried that it would take away from the main topic of the pre-screen process and achieving a BFA in musical theater. However, I am glad we did this because this allowed for separate perspective about views and opinions regarding Martina's experience. Martina's moms side within exploring this topic allowed the audience to understand not just from Martina on how difficult this process but that is also effecting her mom as well. Watching her mom's reactions to what she is going through gives the audience a realization that this process goes beyond Martina's perspective.

Final Thoughts

All of these aspects that went into making this piece all came together in order to create a deeper meaning in regards to what Martina is experiencing. Even the smallest details, whether it was background music or voiceovers, all came together to demonstrate our purpose our documentary about inspiring people of all ages to follow their passion no matter how intense or grueling it may be at times. I believe our documentary effectively does this within all aspects between what Martina has to say, what her mom has to say, demonstrations of what she was going through, it all came together beautifully and I am really thrilled that we created an impactful piece that we're proud of. 

I am so lucky and grateful to have worked with Martina and Isabel throughout every step of this process. Between brainstorming, researching, and filming, we produced a documentary that greatly captures such an unseen process that DEFINITELY needs to be discussed for within the media since it rarely heard of yet takes so much hard work and dedication (credits to everyone who has to go through the prescreen process) Overall, I really enjoyed working on this documentary and am super happy with the way that it came out. 

Until next time!

Production on The Pre-Screens

 I might be proud of this title... a little bit. (Lol)

We found the purpose!

The more I reflect on our documentary helped me realize our purpose and message that we wanted to have within this project. Having a documentary with such a specific target audience can possibly limit the amount of people who can relate to our piece, however, this documentary can feel extremely relatable not only for those applying for a BFA in musical theater but also for those who are applying to college or will be applying for college. I am a junior in high school but I realize now after creating this documentary that a dream that you may have is worth it if you are passionate about it, no matter the circumstance. This message has hit me especially hard within these past few days witnessing people around me handling acceptances and rejections from colleges while also realizing that I will be in there situation before I even have the time to process it. This documentary has healed me in a way of realizing that passion is everything and that when you have a goal, you have to work to make it reality. So if you were to ask me now what I thought the main purpose is now, I would have an easy answer and that would be to inspire. I hope Martina's story can inspire other people, I can say with all honesty that it inspired me :)

Now that we have a purpose, we can get to the fun part, making our vision turn into reality. As my previous blog post mentioned, we had a large number of potential subjects that we include in our documentary. However, we only ended up including Martina for a number of reasons:

1. Scheduling conflicts- This was a huge competitor within this documentary since it was difficult for us to find a time that worked with our subjects. 

2. Unsuccessful filming attempts- Due to these scheduling conflicts, we attempted to film one of our potential subjects VIA a zoom call. However when we reviewed the audio, it came back very unclear and inaudible and there was no other time that he was available for us to interview. I really wanted to include this particular subject since he had a much differing story from Martina and I believe he would have gave the audience a much different perspective to the musical theater industry and the overall process of auditioning for a BFA. Despite this, I believe it was a great decision to make to only include Martina as a subject within our project.

B-Roll

Having our subject be Martina was extremely convenient in the creation of this documentary since she had TONS of footage of past rehearsals, video recordings of her prescreen attempts, and other videos that we could integrate into our piece that showed Martina's journey and progression with her life in musical theater. When searching through footage, we thought it would be a great idea to use actual of footage of her pre-screens in order for the audience to get a better glimpse into what a pre-screen actually looks like to further gain context on what work has to be done in order to apply for a BFA. The footage ended up looking really good and matched up well with what Martina was discussing in her interview questions. 

What a Pre-Screen actually looks like...

The B-Roll's structure is done chronologically as the start of the film starts with Martina in the beginning of her musical theater journey at 11 years old (which has B-Roll to match up with what she is talking about). As the documentary progresses, Martina continues to discuss her musical theater journey and the B-Roll demonstrate that as the scenes turn from her being 11 years old to gradually becoming older. We believed that it would best to end the documentary with Martina's final pre-screen in order to exhibit idea that it is not about what school you end up at, it is about  passion and inspiration. Therefore, we decided to end with the end of Martina's Pre-Screen process rather than her getting accepted into schools that she applied for since that did not align with our overall purpose and intentions within creating this documentary.

Final Thoughts

Although we had a lot of changes and rearrangements that completely differed from the outline we created, the decision to include Martina as our primary subject ended up working out really well for our intended purpose and also footage wise since we had to much material to work with and include into our piece. The footage that Martina ended up having working perfectly into the piece as we were able to find past videos of Martina's personal experience and past performances that worked very well with what she had to say about her journey. I believe B-Roll was one of the strongest aspects that we had within our documentary. I cannot wait to discuss the final topics regarding this impactful documentary. 

Until next time!

Making It Happen

 Let me preface this by saying that this project did not stick to its original idea (similar to Exit Through The Gift Shop ;) Our original plan was to make our piece about a few different subjects and introducing our audience to the process of what a pre-screen audition and going into a career within the Musical Theater industry. Martina, Isabel, and I started to brainstorm who we could possibly use for our documentary. Therefore, we came up with a list (which is shown below) of people that we could potentially interview and include within our project. 

Visual Representation of potential subjects with names highlighted who we were especially thinking of using.

I am really grateful that Stoklosa had assigned us the outline as I found it extremely helpful within establishing our overall idea of this project. The outline had discussed a variety of questions such as possible subjects to include, specific shots that we would include, a loose idea of our organization for our film, and the main tasks that each group member would take on. Although our final product was not an exact replica of the outline we had created, it aided a lot with our overall idea for our project.

Before we could do anything though, my group had to brainstorm, research, and plan in order for our documentary to come together. We were not exactly sure of how we wanted to structure of piece or what interview questions we wanted to ask our subjects, therefore, we began to watch other pieces that would help us gain inspiration as well as a better idea of what we wanted our documentary to look like. One particular video was the Descendants cast behind the scenes featuring the actors in the movie. 

This video allowed us to gain inspiration for how we wanted our piece to progress as well as potential B-Roll ideas that we could integrate into our project. 

Although all of the documentaries allowed for lots of assistance and inspiration within this project, The Op-Doc Abstract: The Art of Design, helped significantly within creating B-Roll. This documentary gave me lots of ideas that I could include within our brainstorming regarding B-Roll shots to incorporate within our piece. It showed a variety of examples of what staged B-Roll looked it and admired that this documentary's footage matched perfectly with what was being discussed by Ruth. I knew that this was an aspect that I wanted to have within our piece since it significantly enhances production and simply makes it more understandable. 

B-Roll was discussed a lot among of brainstorming as we wanted to make sure it was incorporated properly within our project. Martina had a idea that I really liked and that was filming in on her local theater company's behind the scenes of auditions in order to allow our audience to get better insight into what theater looks like for performers while allowing us to capture B-Roll for the documentary. We mentioned some ideas that we could film what warm-ups look like, performers preparing by themselves before they have to audition, subjects discussing how theater has effected them, and a variety of other shots that would demonstrates what this environment looks like. 

One aspect that we were still unsure of was what would be our meaning and purpose behind making this documentary. We wanted this to be more of just an assignment that we turned in for a class but a message that we could give to others whether they are involved within the musical theater industry or not. We had a lot of unanswered questions to say the least. Therefore, we took action by brainstorming a variety of potential questions that we could ask our subjects (listed below)

By brainstorming a variety of questions that we could ask our subjects, we believed that whatever we ended up asking could help us come up with what the overall meaning and message would be within our project. We were unsure if our primary focus would be the college audition process, auditioning for local theater show, discussing people who want to go into the theater industry for their future career, the mental toll that auditioning has on performers, or even an intention we had not even thought of yet.

The planning that went into this project behind the scenes was getting me really excited for the production process and what our project was going to look like. By doing the preparation for this assignment beforehand, it truly showed me how important it is to do the proper procedures before jumping straight into a project. After the research was done, it officially time to start creating our visions into a reality, which will be discussed within the next blog post...

Until Next Time!