Critical Reflection

 

How does "Faith" represent social groups and issues?

Faith gives the floor to religious leaders and church members, giving them a platform to discuss their respective faith, community, and how it affects them. The main purpose of the documentary is to show how Faith connects throughout different religions, and how despite differences Faith is a common factor. As for the representation of each group, Catholics and Jews, I believe that the interviews we conducted, and how we structured the piece to connect the religions, helped break stereotypes on each group, and showed how they are more similar than what initially meets the eye. While I think we did a good job, If I were to do this documentary again I think I would also ask for personal stories and moments to give parts of the documentary a more personal feel. Overall, I feel like the piece is little surface level and showing real personal struggles with Faith or any other stories showing why Faith is important in someone's life, would make the documentary more authentic and a better representation. 

How did research inform "Faith" and its use or challenges of conventions?

Research was a big part of what shaped Faith as a project and why we made some decisions that we did. I was unfamiliar with philosopher Soren Kierkegaard's work but after research with my teammates we decided to incorporate som eof his ideas into the film. Most notably, his "leap of faith" idea, which says that an individual abandons rational thought in order to follow something with no proof. I loved this idea because it is exactly what faith is about, and relates to both religions. 

Additionally, when discussing what the style of our documentary was going to be we did thought back to our research and analysis on other documentaries in class. The docuseries "Abstract" gave me the idea to stage a lot of the B-roll, as we would be in control and wouldn't have to rely on chance. 

Staged shot of our teammate Nico walking into the Shabbat Service

Common in many documentaries we watched was the crosscutting convention, which we used throughout the entire piece. Since we had two religions we had to cross cut between interviews to directly compare them and show similarities/differences. Additionally, crosscutting makes the documentary more engaging and visually appealing as the audience isn't looking at one person talking for too long. 

The documentary American Promise, gave me an idea of what I didn't want to do. Although it was one of my favorite documentaries I've ever watched, I knew the verite style wouldn't necessarily work for what I wanted this piece to be. I wanted the documentary to be more professional looking, so instead of casual interviews and b-roll, I went with a more classic approach. For interview framing, I had the subject on a third looking directly off camera, an industry standard. For B-roll instead of raw/shaking footage, everything was filmed on a tripod. 

Interview shot example

How does "Faith" engage with audiences? 

Faith engages with audiences through multiple techniques. First of all, Faith uses auditory and visual techniques like music, graphics, and B-roll to engage with viewers and give them a full documentary experience. Audio and sound is always crucial to a production. We used music to help convey tone and complement the visuals and interview dialogue. Additionally we used narration as a tool to push the story forward and to give context to some ideas for the viewers. As the narrator of the piece I worked closely with the writer to ensure that our points would come across to the audience and help bridge together different parts of the documentary. 

Animated graphics were another key component of how Faith engaged with audiences. As the topic of religion and faith is a heavy and complicated topic, we used simple animation to help portray some of the more philosophical moments. This helps audiences understand the ideas by showing a simple explanation through pictures. 

B-roll footage also helps audiences engage with the piece as it makes it more visually appealing and reinforces what the interviews are saying by showing what they are talking about. For example, when Heidi is discussing community in the Catholic Church, B-roll on top of the interviews shows people connected and attending mass together. By using visual storytelling the audience can connect to the interviewees on a closer level, as they can physically see examples of what is being discussed.

However, somewhere where we went wrong was in the heavy focus on biblical stories. The documentary relies on Biblical texts to prove some points about faith and the struggle for faith, however, feedback from our classmates showed that we didn't give enough context on these biblical stories. Growing up Catholic, the story of Abraham and Issac was known to me, and even though I thought we did a good job explaining it, I already knew it before so my perception was skewed. To prevent this I should have done additionally narration further explaining the story, to make it easier to understand for individuals who had never heard it before. And, I should have shown drafts to somebody unfamiliar with the story and asked them if it made sense.

In conclusion, I am so grateful for this opportunity and I learned so much from this experience. I think for our first documentary we successfully accomplished what we aimed for.

I hope my teammates and I made something that resonates with the viewers. If you are interested watch here

The Panera employees learn my name (post production)

After hours of filming we are done! But now comes my least favorite part… editing. Everyone in my television club can tell you that I am not an editor. Premiere pro took me all three times to pass. Anyway! I am blessed to have amazing group members that are strong editors. 

Our entire post production process took place in three days, Saturday the 15th-Monday the 17th.

Saturday November 15th:

After wrapping our final interview Zach and I headed over to our local panera to begin editing. Here we realized how tedious the process would be, as we had over 4 hours of footage….

We started structuring the documentary according to our original outline, and going through each interview to find soundbites that would work. Zach and I split up to get as much work done as possible. 

Additionally, we began to search for music for our soundscape. We used Epidemic sound and Bulletproof bear to search. 

After almost 4 hours of editing we had about 3 minutes done, and we decided to head home for the night.

Sunday November 16th:

On Sunday morning my team met up again to continue editing. I had practice for a news competition so I joined a few hours later. When I got to panera I was impressed by the progress that they had made. We continued to line edit for a few hours and Samuel was working on the graphics. 

graphics Samuel made

Monday November 17th:

Due date!! We had our final panera meeting and somehow after three days of eating it I still wasn’t tired of the panera mac and cheese (a girl needs her fuel!) 

While my group members put in finishing touches like pictures and additional b-roll, I went to film the VO. Filmning the VO took a while as my group member Nico (our VO writer) changed things after he heard them. However, once the VO was complete it sounded great! I think the VO added a lot to the final doc. After some more last minute changes and tweaks the doc was done!

Overall, this project was such an amazing experience and I learned so much about myself and what I am capable of! I am so blessed to have worked with an amazing group of talented individuals who made this whole thing possible. 

Production Diaries

 Production Day 1 

On our first day of production we went to Temple Beth Emet to record a Shabbat Service for B-roll. It was my first time in a Jewish Temple and my first time attending a Shabbat Service and it was a very beautiful experience. Throughout the service we split up and aimed to get as much B-roll as possible, focusing on getting a diverse variety of footage. We filmed with Zach's personal camera a Sony A74 and Samuel's personal camera a Lumix s5. Here are some examples of shots we got:

Production day 2:

The next morning we went back to Temple Beth to conduct interviews. Zach acted as the interviewer as he knew both individuals and knew the most on Judaism. The interviews went very well and we got some thoughtful insight from both the Rabbi and the teacher. We used the same two camera's we used for B-roll to keep the quality consistent. additionally, we used Hollyland Lark's M2 lavalier mics (which I won at a film competition) for our audio. 

Our interview shots:

Production day 2.5

Fast forward to the day we initially had our priest interview scheduled I get a call that he isn't available. This is when I started freaking out a little bit because we still hadn't filmed any part of the catholic part of the documentary. That afternoon Samuel and I went to another Catholic Church in our city and asked if we could interview a Priest or another member of the congregation. However, after waiting in the office for 45 minutes all we were told was to email or call the priests, which we had already done. 

Production day 3

At this point we had started to give up hope and we were considering switching our documentary to be solely on Judaism. In a last effort attempt we called the Priests again. The first Priest was booked all week but the second Priest happened to be doing an event at our school that afternoon, and was willing to be interviewed. Are miracles real? Because in that moment it felt like it!

That afternoon Nico and Samuel conducted the interview with Father Omar. He gave us a lot of great insight into biblical stories, more specifically the story of Abraham and Issac. 

Additionally, eariler that day during our study hall period we all hopped on a zoom call and conducted an interview with Amanda Furiasse, an assistant professor at Nova Southeastern University. Her interview gave us a key piece of our documentary, she really helped give context to everything, and explain the psychology behind it all. 

Production day 4

A few days later Zach and Nico went to St. Katherine Catholic Church to interview the other Priest, Father Saul, and get more B-roll.

Interview shot: 

B-roll examples:

Production day 5 and 6

The weekend before our project was due our group decided to divide and conquer. Saturday Afternoon, Zach and I interviewed my mom at my house. She acted as the voice of a member of the catholic church. She discussed the community aspect of the church and how members connect through faith. 

my beautiful mom!

On Sunday morning Nico and Samuel went back to St. Katherine to get some final B-roll of a mass service. They got shots to represent the community aspect we were focusing on. 

Aside from a few hiccups, production mostly went smoothly and I'm happy with everything we shot.

Planning

 Growing up in a Catholic family, faith has always been a big part of my life. My mother, a very devout catholic, would always discuss how faith is the most important thing to have. She would say that faith connects people together and brings them closer. 

When I heard that we were making a documentary my mind immediately went to a concept I came up with last year. After a heartbreaking rejection from a film competition, I went to get ice cream with one of my best friends Zach. While we were eating we started a deep conversation about religion and even though we practice two different faiths we found that we related to each other. This led to us brainstorming an idea for a documentary on how faith as an idea and how it spreads beyond religion. 

After picking my documentary group I immediately pitched the idea and luckily my teammates (Nicolas, Zach, and Samuel) were on board. We started by thinking of what religions to focus on and initially picked catholicism, as Nicolas, Samuel, and I are catholic, judaism, as Zach is jewish, and hinduism. However, after thinking about the time we had (2 weeks) and how deeply we wanted to go into each religion we decided to stick to 2 religions. We ended up choosing to focus on catholicism and judaism as we were the most educated of those 2 and had connections in our church's/temples to get interviews. 

After finalizing our topic we called that night to work on an outline and structure. Over a two hour facetime call we completed an outline and wrote questions for potential interviews. We decided that we wanted to interview a priest, a rabbi, members of each congregation, and a theologist. 

Here is our complete outline document.

The next day after the call we planned out we sent out messages to St Gregory Catholic Church and Temple Beth Emet, requesting time for an interview. We got a response from Temple Beth Emet quickly, giving us a date we could come in to conduct interviews. St Gregory took a few days and after a call we got a date to interview a priest. 

After researching theology professors in our area and emailing a few, we decided to go with Amanda Furiasse, a professor at Nova Southeastern University, as her schedule matched up with ours the best.

Our actual research delved into philosophy, as we wanted our film to have a philosophical aspect. Additionally, after researching various biblical stories we decided to put a focus on the story of Abraham, as it is a discussion of faith found in both Judaism and Catholicism. 

Overall, the planning went pretty smoothly, stay tuned for details on the production process!

Yay A Level! Yay Documentaries!

 Hi Blog! Long time no see!!

Senior year has been quite the experience... however A-Level has certainly been a highlight. When I heard that we were entering the documentary unit I was immediately filled with excitement. As a future reporter, documentaries mean a way to tell people's stories, which is my favorite thing to do. 

But before we go deeper into my documentary production, lets take a look back at the research part of the unit, and the activities we did to prepare us to produce our own docs. 

We began by watching 2 episodes from the Netflix docuseries "ABSTRACT"

he purpose of the series Abstract is to highlight designers in all different types of mediums, delving deep into their influences, processes, and challenges. Interviews are the main technique that run throughout the episode, the interviews are mixed in with B-roll, so many times viewers are just hearing voiceovers and not seeing the subject. The B-roll is often staged and shot very cinematically, adding a stylized effect to every episode. Regarding auditory techniques, throughout the show music is often used to develop and emphasize tone. The series focuses on telling the story of one designer per episode. There are two seasons of it, and there is no consistent arc between episodes, each episode is a standalone. The series does not need to be viewed in order as each episode is a profile on a different designer and does not relate to any other episodes. The effects of the organization pattern on the audience are that audiences may choose specific episodes they are specifically interested in, making them feel in control of the content they ingest.

The next documentary we watched was called "American Promise"

American Promise followed 2 African American boys throughout their years as students at the Dalton School, a prestigious New York City private school. When doing an analysis assignment for this documentary I learned a new term, verité, a style of filmmaking aiming to capture real and authentic moments.

Watching this documentary showed me what true verité filmmaking looks like. One example of this is the raw moment where Idris talks about his race and how it affects his relationships with girls at his school. The interview is filmed in Idris' bed, he is laying down casually and rambling. The shot is very tight on his face and highlights his expressions as he talks. At moments he looks away and thinks about what to say, he stutters through his words    and the shot zooms in closer into his face. The shot also shifts a few times as it is handheld and the cameraman is moving the camera, showing the “truthful” feel of the interview. Another scene which shows this is Seun’s father speaking at their son's funeral. The scene shows him speaking, clearly emotional, talking to each one of his children about what they mean to him. The camera pans to each child while he talks to showcase their reaction in the moment.

Next up we watched the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.

This piece had an interesting shift of perspectives. Watching it really showed me the power of how using various visual and auditory techniques can change the view on something. Here is an excerpt from my analysis:

The shift in portrayal of Guetta is shown through multiple techniques. The film starts with cherry picked interviews, b-roll, and music, showing Guetta as an excited and motivated man, with a passion for filming and a love for the world of street art. Interviews talk about him positively, most noting his videoing and the way he was willing to do anything for the artists. As he gets deeper into the world of street art and starts a relationship with Banksy, Banksy even refers to him as a friend. However, as Guetta starts changing the film does too, interviews start shifting into mostly just Banksy and Guetta. B-roll focuses more on just Guetta and shows a clear change, he turns into someone obsessed with success. 

Finally we got the choice to watch any 2 OpDocs from the New York Times, and then we had to analyze them.

I began by watching "Roaches Lullaby"

Watch here

My analysis:

This documentary follows 3 New Yorkers who have roach infestations in their homes, and how they use different techniques to deal with it.

The B-roll gave a firsthand look at the subjects’ roach situations. In the B-roll they go around their homes to common areas where they find roaches and show how they kill them (or fail) to the camera. The shots are handheld and pretty close up for the majority, immersing audiences into the moment, while also helping them understand the gravity of the situation. 

The doc features indirect interviews, and sounds more like people ranting about their problems than an actual interview, this technique is used to convince audiences that the subject is just speaking freely. The interview shots, like the B-roll are handheld. Cohesively, the entire documentary follows the same style of tight, handheld shots. I felt slightly disgusted when watching this documentary, as I would react when seeing a cockroach in real life. This is because the close up b-roll made me feel like I was the one dealing with the issue, it really immersed me into the story. However, there were definetely were humorous moments. The three subjects all had funny personalities which came across through the interviews.

I enjoyed the moment where the woman subject compared her situation to being in a war. I also really liked the song, even though it was unexpected, I feel like it was a good end to this piece. 

Then I watched "Christmas Every Day"

Watch here

My analysis: 

This documentary shows the lives of 2 pre-teen sisters from Alabama who are “influencers,” specializing in makeup and clothing videos.

The documentary uses a lot of B-roll to tell the story. Multiple times throughout the doc there are montages of videos teen influencers have posted, showing examples of the girls’ videos, as well as examples from other preteen content creators. Other B-roll shots are very wide, still shots that last on the screen for a while. One example is an extreme wide shot of the two girls jumping on a trampoline, which lasted for multiple seconds. I think the length of the shots is used to make audiences think and digest what they’re seeing.

As for interviews, the documentary used indirect interviews, of both the girls and their parents, the interviews are done very casually as they’re getting ready for the day or laying in bed. This technique is used to make the conversation seem less like an interview to audiences, and more like the subject is just speaking freely. The clothing and makeup in the documentary also works to show the bigger picture. When the girls are filming videos they usually have on full faces of makeup and a pre-picked outfit. These outfits are usually elaborate and not normal for everyday wear. When the girls are not filming and are just being themselves we see them in more normal clothes. On the trampoline shot we see the girls in normal fall clothes, with natural or no makeup on, this makes them look younger and more like children. 

I really enjoyed this documentary, I think the cinematography was beautiful, and the subject matter was unique and interesting. I was intrigued from the very first shot, a pre-teen girl making an unboxing video, seemingly ecstatic to be opening the package, then switching emotions as soon as the video ended. This made me think about “influencer” culture, and how so much of what we see online is fake. Additionally, the documentary made me sad, even though the girls don’t completely understand it at their age, they aren’t having a normal childhood, and the pressure of constantly being watched could have lasting effects on them. 

Final Film Opening and CCR's

 I can't believe this journey has ended, but on a lighter note, I'm super proud of our final results. Check them out by clicking the links!! 

Film Opening: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vBcl6IOQJc0vvvYnv7ZydfXPi_4H0VfC/view?usp=sharing

CCR 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GVAWx35ZCUn1CJsloR4iio8V1zfUni09/view?usp=sharing

CCR 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y-WG0l-4zl5SuaXntS1KmpGh0U9UGlq5/view?usp=sharing

Signing off for this year,

Aneesa Bajaj :)

Final Reflection

 Wow, eight weeks really flew by! When starting this project, I was very unsure of myself as a filmmaker. I doubted myself and my skills because I had never truly ventured into making a film. However, thanks to my incredible teacher and teammates (who have become my close friends), my confidence in myself has grown tremendously. I now know how to approach developing a film, as well as production and post-production. I've learned the importance of planning, organization, trust, and how it's okay to ask for help.

Without being organized and planning ahead, this film opening wouldn't have been possible. The schedule we made during week 1 helped keep us on track to success. Preproduction and planning ahead made filming days go smoothly, as we would have a list of items to bring, shots to get, and locations to film. Another important thing I learned was the importance of trust. With a big project like this, responsibilities had to be divided between the team, and we had to learn to work with each other and trust each other to effectively complete our tasks. Additionally, an important lesson I learned was to not be afraid to ask for help. As someone who doesn't have much experience in film, and who was working with teammates who did, I was sometimes unsure of myself and my abilities. Asking for support helped me throughout the project and aided me in expanding my skills. I learned some useful color grading tips from one of my teammates, and some editing shortcuts from another. 

Regarding technical skills, making a film opening has taught me the deeper meanings behind film. Before this class and portfolio project, I had never considered the "why?" Why this lighting? Why this font? Why this angle? I asked myself all those questions and many more when producing my film opening. This project has helped me slow down and put thought into every aspect of film. I considered the deeper meanings and what I wanted to portray with every shot. For example, if I wanted to show the audience the protagonist's feelings in a scene, I chose to do a close-up to emphasize her facial expressions and reactions. 

Overall, this class and project have taught me so much. I am so incredibly proud of myself and my team, and I can't wait for AICE Media A level!!!

Me and one of my teammates being silly during filming

 I'll see you one more time for the final film opening and CCR, Bye!