Documentary Critical Reflection

 The communist crisis in Cuba has been going on for years on end, and people are failing to pay attention to how severe the situation has become. Cuba has held a communist regime since 1965, and as time progresses, the lives of citizens degrade more and more. Cubans have been facing the worst food and medicine shortage since the 1990's. Food insecurity, followed by a lack of medication, lead to difficulties in accessing proper healthcare. The ideological priorities the government rulers crave, make them pay an insufficient amount of attention to the healthcare infrastructure and well-being of the citizens of Cuba.

Furthermore, education in Cuba is another challenge citizens face. Although Cuba has been known for its high literacy rated and heavy investment in education, the obtained education doesn't get citizens very far, as they are unable to apply their knowledge to their country. Everything is so strict and controlled, that the lives of citizens don't have much of a future. The things taught by Cubas education systems are also a concern. This is meant in the sense that their curriculum may not be the most diverse, instead based around the government's political beliefs. Now as an outsider looking in, one may ask, "if the conditions are so horrid, why don't they just leave?". Well, they aren't allowed, and haven't been since 20 years after the revolution. Therefore, most citizens have to fight, get lucky, or break the law if they want to have a successful future. 

 My grandmother is one amongst the few that got lucky by being offered to leave the country through an educational program. Since before I can remember, my grandmother has told me her life story and all the struggles she's been through. As a citizen of a high-income country residing in a costly town, I could not even imagine how my grandmother and her family coped with everything they've endured. Our family still in Cuba and we try to help them survive every year by sending them food, medication, toys, clothes, and more essentials that they do not own. Through my 16 years of living, I've realized the issue is barely spoken or acknowledged. That was the point of the film, to inform the audience of what is going on in Cuba and how important it is to seize the opportunity of migration while it's available. Migrancy can change one's whole life for the better, especially since communist countries are still so common.

  Our purpose is to set this out to our targeted audience. Our target audience consists of an older range from the age 28 and older. As for their characteristics, they're humble, intrigued by relevance, they like reading, especially non-fiction stories and of course enjoy documentaries. I would say our targeted audience has an interest in this topic, however, I believe that defeats the documentaries purpose, since we want to expand the knowledge of this issue beyond those who are interested. Many of our product's techniques embody the character of our targeted audience. For instance, to represent the humbleness and calmness our audience has, we used calming music within the film. As for visually, we used warm hues and tones like yellow, calm red, and more, to have a soft impact on the eyes and mind. Moreover, pertaining the relevance and reading stories aspect, this whole doc was representative of an ongoing situation in our world today, migrancy. To make the situation more interesting as opposed to soley informative, we shared the story of a life of an immigrant. This is why the documentary would be appealing to our audience. 

 The main reason that we decided to go with an older target audience, is due to the pacing and documentary type. Younger ages like teenagers usually watch things that are full of color, humorous, or romantic. They usually turn away from films of seriousness or that contain world concerns. It feels more like a chore rather than an interest. However, older people typically lean toward these kinds of films as they believe knowledge and learning from other people is key.  Another thing younger ages tend to be more interested in, is quickly paced media forms, while older audiences like slower paces better. Slower paced media is usually easier to understand and contain more depth than those that are quickly paced. 

 Additionally, a technique we used to engage our viewers and prevent them from becoming bored is the use of a variety of b-roll. Since the main focus was our subject and her story, it was a bit difficult to generate ideas of b-roll.  Our group decided it would be smart to contain b-roll of the setting of my grandmother's home still keeping a serene tone. We included intricate statues and paintings displayed around the home, food, and the more elements/objects within her home. We believe motion is crucial to maintain engagement of our audience, so we also added some clips of my grandmother carrying out every day at home activities. For example, the segment where she washed the dishes or when she was handing my mother coffee. 

 To further compel viewers, we added another subject/interviewee, the mother of the primary subject/interviewee to the documentary. It is interesting to hear what one's daughter may have to say about this specific situation or how they might've felt about it. Although Diana wasn't present for the amount of time I wished she was, she still was an intelligent attention gripping addition. 

All the techniques mentioned were done to intrigue and maintain the attention of our target audience. 

  Since our documentary was more personal, it did not require a lot of research. The only thing we looked into was how to use the correct techniques to convey what we want to convey in the correct way (edit research was included). This consisted of the title creation, making the subtitles accurate, correctly placing the b-roll rather than just throwing it in, perfecting the lighting/color hues, and finding the well-suited music to layer with the audio and context. Due to the fact that the documentary was of such simplicity, and drew more focus onto our interviewee, we did not challenge any of the conventions that were taught to us. We practiced a consistent, steady editing method that is equivalent to the processes we were taught to achieve specific documentary types. 

 Overall, I had an amazing time creating this documentary with my teammates, and I'm so glad others finally got to hear the story of my hard-working grandmother.

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Editing + Post Production

After the production process, my group and I began to edit everything filmed. The first step into the editing process was reviewing all the footage. There were heaps of footage and it was important to identify which ones were important to use. After determining which clips were useful, we selected them and disregarded the rest. This was a difficult decision, as we loved a lot of the disregarded footage. For instance, there was supposed to be a whole segment of my mom's perspective during Susanas trips. However, when we were looking at the fluidity if this segment was inserted, it wouldn't have been as smooth. This is a choice I kind of regret, as I believe my mother's experience was just as important as my grandmothers.  

Shortly after, we began with the long work first. This was the creation of the captions. This was the most tedious portion of editing, as we had to transcribe first and then translate. The transcribe process consisted of taking the audio said and converting it into written material. This was done to every clip thoroughly to make sure there were no errors. For the translation, a similar approach was taken but we had to pay much more attention to how the words translated. In Spanish, many things said when translated to English become distorted or the meaning changes. Since my grandma is Cuban, her Spanish is different from the traditional translator Spanish. This doesn't mean it's improper, it just means some things said in a different strand of Spanish can mean something different than what is translated, since the translator uses traditional Spanish.

After the transcribing and translating, we moved on to more basic editing. This includes lighting and audio. For lighting the light kit did a lot of the work. The mixture of the camera's quality. and the light kit made the shots look so clear and visually pleasing. There were just a few tweaks we had to manipulate to balance the warm tones and exposure. My grandmother's house is very bright and has more white lights than yellow. However, this was not the kind of lighting we believed was best suited for the doc. Since her voice is soft and she explains the situation calmly, we believed a more yellow tone would match better. Also, the elements of her house and mise-en-scene of what she was wearing would look better layered with warmer lighting, Clearly, we did this to almost every clip to make the visuals consistent. Collectively, the visual work went pretty steadily. 

As for the audio, the microphones we were able to borrow were great help. The added so much clarity to the voice of the speakers. The auditory editing consisted of lots of editing tools on adobe premiere, mostly a heavy use of constant power since the audio was already pretty clear. This feature added smoother auditory transitions preventing harsh jumps from clip to clip. 

More about the audio, I was in charge of finding the formfitting music to layer the audio with. I searched for a WHILEEE before finding the perfect non-copyright music to use. It was difficult to find music that was balanced with a relaxed tone with a little bit of sadness. Most of them were either just relaxing or side. One or the other. But luckily, since I wanted the doc to be successful, sound, and look amazing, I would not stop looking until I found the one. Which I did :) At first Mya and I thought the addition of relaxing/sad music was all that was necessary, but we soon realized we should add some motivational music as well. This is due to the fact that there are many instances throughout the film where Susana says things that're very moving and inspirational, especially towards the end. She states that anyone with the chance of migrating from an impoverished country should and how much its impacted her being one of those people. Relaxed music wouldn't really match the drive and determination Susana represents. SOO, I decided to get back on YouTube and looked more for motivational music that didn't sound like it was part of a marvel film. This would've thrown off the film's dynamic auditorily. But I found the right music for this part of the film :)

At this point, our doc was looking pretty professional but there were still some things missing. My teammate Mya Wolf made a proposal which I believe was extremely clever and helpful for the audience. This was the addition of the map visually showing the distance of Susanas journey from Cuba to Hungary to Miami fl, US. I believe this animation allowed the audience to see how much of a life shift her expedition made, due to the distance. The map was only one of the many forms of b-rolls we included. As mentioned previously, we recorded features around Susanas house that could embody some symbolism or link with the context. In the editing process, we had to review the video and its audio multiple times, to find the correct places to import the b-roll without hindering the videos visually. We also had to find the perfect time to import the b-roll, according to the things being said. For example, it is obvious we would use b-roll of her home to introduce the setting. 

The map

I believe in films not only is the title what intrigues me, but it also tells me what the film will be about. This meant we had to have a meaningful/suitable title. I tried to think of the perfect title. Some of them included:

• The life of an immigrant (WAYYY too broad)

• How I Changed My Life (just sounded iffy to me)

• The Turning Point (I liked this one, but it still wasn't right)

As someone in my group who had a bit of a connection to this topic, Miguel decided he would take this into his own hands. I'm so thankful he did because I absolutely loved the title. 

There are many compounds that go into a title. The font, the font color, capitalization, and most importantly, what is being said. The font of this title is extremely bold, which is visually luring for the audience. When paired with the white writing over black, the title pops out. This is also a method to grab the attention of viewers. Moreover, the fact that the title is all capitalized, shows that there's meaning and importance within the film. Words are usually capitalized when there is something important or powerful to say. Lastly, "encontrando un futuro", means finding a future in Spanish. This is the perfect simplification of the documentaries purpose. To take the viewers through my grandmother's process of finding her future. 

When all 4 components combined, they convey a strong title for an even stronger documentary!

Production Process

A couple days before production, our teammate Mya had to rent out equipment from the local news station, BECON TV. The equipment consisted of

• 2 Sony Cameras
• 1 Tripod
• A lav mic
• A shotgun mic
• A Camera Handheld Stabilizer
• A light kit

Shoutout to them for being so generous to lend us all of these things. On production day, since it was my grandma's house, I helped her gather all of her photo albums and books. We went through many together and chose the best ones since the main attention wasn't the B-roll, it is her. I also set up the house to my grandmothers liking, also to include elements she wanted to represent.

I then sent my address to my teammates, and they drove over. Once they arrived, I helped them get all the equipment out of the car, as it was a hefty amount. We then got to my grandmother's home and got to set up the equipment. In the beginning, we used everything except the light kit. We used 2 Sony cameras to get our interviewee's speaking from a variety of shots, angles, and perspectives. Overall, the set-up process was awfully quick, and everything went pretty smoothly. The next thing we did was prepare our interviewees which was also pretty easy since all we had to do was attach a mic to their clothes. We also had to tell them were to sit to be interviewed. 

Everyone in the group had different roles. Mya Wolf was mainly responsible for the borrowed equipment and the usage of one of the cameras. She positioned and recorded the film through one of the Sony cameras. The person that recorded through the other camera was Yoav. He also heeded a lot of his attention towards the audio. Also related to audio, Miguel Cabrerra had a vital task for the production or the documentary. My grandmother spoke mostly in Spanish because it is the language, she felt more expressive in. Since this is the case, we had to translate what my grandmother said into English. This meant Miguel had to take notes on what she was saying because many things said in Spanish when translated into English could be incorrect. As for my position, I was the interviewer. I wasn't heard in the documentary, as we chose to use the indirect interview method. In the practice of indirect interviews, you cannot hear the interviewer asking the questions, instead, you hear the interviewee usually restating the question, followed by a complex response. We did this to get more thorough details about her expeditions. The reason I was the interviewer, is because I was the person closest to her. This increases her comfort level drastically and allows her to be more fluid with her answers, as she's told me the story various times.

Once we were a bit more than halfway done, more additions were added to our roles. Miguel and I had to prepare the b-roll footage and begin to film them, as Mya and Yoav took care of the newly incorporated light kit. This was the segment that Susana mostly showed and described events within the b-roll. Miguel and I also found correlations between elements with the house with what Susana was saying. For instance, because she said she always loved Budapest for its architecture, we decided to use shots of the statues and architectural paintings displayed throughout her home. Another example is when Susana spoke about food scarcity, we used b-roll of food around ger home. This was done to make the b-roll more connected and personal, rather than just visually pleasing.

Overall, the production went very well with no errors only fluidity. We were very happy with our about 2-3 hours of the whole process and could not wait to further work on the production. 

Research and Planning Personal doc

There were various components that went into our documentaries production. One of the most important being the research aspect. Before beginning my researched, I remebered the main purpose of documentaries is to embody a "Slice of Life". This made me realize I had to choose a topic for my documentary, based on something socially significant and prevalent in the world today. 

 My first instinct was to think about reoccurring issues or events that go on around me. On a personal level, I thought about my family and things they've gone through and on a wider scale, I thought about the pressures of being a school student.

Student Approach- Over 4,000 students attend the high school I'm enrolled in, Cypress Bay High school. In my school, there is a wide array of difficult academic class options, including Aice and Ap. Almost all students are either forced to take these rigorous courses because of their parents or encouraged to take them, due to the competitiveness within the school. Moreover, Cypress Bay also offers a diverse range of clubs, such as the Drama club, Multicultural club, Pinkind, SGA, and many more. These are overlapped with all the extracurricular activities students typically are part of. As an active student, I sometimes struggle balancing my schedule and having time for everything without being overwhelmed. As I socialize with peers more, I realize I'm not the only one having a difficult time carrying out my day-to-day routine. It made me draw the conclusion that I'm only one amongst the many students finding it hard to strive in such a time consuming and work demanding environment. I really did like this idea and found formfitting interviewees; however, it didn't encompass the true issue I wanted to tackle and distribute to my audience.

SOOOO, I decided to dive even deeper into personal issues others can relate to, by focusing on my family. I chose to concentrate on my grandmother. This is because she is an extremely powerful woman with an even more powerful story. My grandmother, Susana Hernandez, is a super immigrant. This may sound bad, so let me put it into context. Susana was born in the impoverished area in Havanna Cuba. Her childhood was intense and tremendously difficult. The country had terrible food insecurity, leaving her and her family starved at times. When they weren't starving, the food sources were very limited which is difficult when part of such a big family. Not only was food limited, but also the chances of opportunity. Sadly, in Cuba, citizens don't have much of a future. When you live there, you're stuck, regardless of the conditions. My grandmother was one of the few that made it out of Cuba. She went from Cuba to Budapest Hungary, to the United States of America. THIS is what makes her a super immigrant. I believe her story was important to share, as there are a lot of immigrant stories that aren't shared enough. The whole journey she went through was unbelievably difficult. To show how much migrancy affects one's future, people must be educated, as well as exposed to the situation. I believe a documentary about this issue is the perfect way to grab people's attention visually and auditorily hearing the story. 

 My Strong, beautiful grandmother 

After solidifying this was what I wanted to use, I made sure my teammates liked the idea too. Once they agreed to it, I asked my grandmother if she was comfortable with the idea. Shortly after, the pre-production process began. The first thing I did was brainstorm the kind of questions I wanted to incorporate within the document, to let my grandma answer comfortably and confidently. Then Miguel and I began work coming up with all the shots and brainstorming different types of B-roll. After this, we realized that it would be smart to incorporate another interviewee. After thinking about the possible options (me, my grandfather, and my mother), we decided to use my mother, as she is the one that experienced a portion of this journey with her. Since we made this decision, we made sure to get her approval. This choice added lots of depth into the documentary. After all of the framework was finished, we brainstormed and obtained all the mise-en-scene elements, b-roll, and equipment.

New Year New Me

 

Hi everyone, I'm back and better than ever! Last year, I enjoyed Aice Media A.S. level so much, I decided to take A level. I'm thrilled to document my new and improved projects this year here :) 

This year, we're exploring various new topics surrounding the media sphere. One of the major units being documentaries. At the beginning of the unit, we learned about all the different components that build a documentary. The first thing we learned about documentaries is that they represent a "Slice of Life". This short quote had a big impact on my thoughts of documentaries. We later learned about the different components of a documentary.

Genres: 

• biographical
• historical
• rockumentary
• nature
• expose 
• and more. 

Conventions: 

• Typically shorter than full-length films
• Popular on streaming services
• Narrative format
• Archived footage
• Reliant on character/owner motivations
• Interviews progress story usually
• Hand held camera can convey realism
• etc.

Technical Conventions:

• Cross cutting/parallel editing
• Specific lighting creates tone/realism/establish the pov
• Non-digetic sound (music and voiceovers)
• Sound effects create realism
• Selective editing to achieve purpose/to tell the story

More Conventions:

• Montage 
• Graphics + Infographics
• Music creates tone and develops the point of view
• Re-enactments
• Sometimes animated sequences (could be problematic)

We also learned about direct v.s. indirect Interviews. In direct interviews, the interviewer directly asks the questions so that interviewees directly respond, while in indirect interviews, the questions are asked off camera and in a way that the responder must develop their own response since there's no intended response. The interview method choice usually varies depending on the age of interviewees. We were able to see this occur since....

Our class not only got to LEARN about elements that go into documentaries, but we also got to WATCH, ANALYZE, and even CREATE our own. The purpose of watching different documentaries was to gain inspiration and ideas for the documentaries we soon had to construct ourselves. It also displayed all the techniques and components that were taught to us on how to make a successful documentary. 

The first documentary we viewed was "American Promise"

American Promise was a documentary about the experiences of two middle class African Americans lives over the span of two years. The purpose was to see the progression of these children as they entered a prestigious private school on the upper East side of Manhattan. This school was known to have a mostly white population. In this film, Dalton high school recruited students of color from different parts of New York. Interviewees Idris and Seun were the lucky two best friends that were chosen. Throughout the documentary we see the children age, change, and mature. This isn't only visually seen by physical and auditory aspects of this film, but also from the shift in techniques used within the documentary. The most prominent shift was the use of interview types. When the children were younger, the director used the technique of direct interviews. This is because the children were not old enough to formulate a full response and to restate a complex question. This is why only the adults were seen given indirect interviews during this time. However, as they grew older, indirect interviews were the most frequently used interview type. Seeing this element progression took place helped gain ideas for my interviewee and how to approach my documentary.

Out of all the documentaries watched, "American Promise", "Exit Through the Gift Shop", New York Times Op-docs, and "Abstract", the one that caught my eye most was the Op-docs. Op-docs posted on New York Times, are a series of short documentaries, created/produced by independent film makers around the globe. They are all unique and contain wide creativity and relevancy. 

The Op-doc that stood out to my most was "A Robust Heart", by Martín Benchimol. 

This 10 minute documentary delves into the lives of male slaughterhouse workers, shattering societal prejudices and revealing their shared humanity. Each and every subject had a story, disregarding the fact they are all "the same" since they're men that have such a gruesome career.

After watching this op doc, I decided to analyze and make purpose of the techniques: The documentary cleverly uses visuals, like blood-stained coats, to challenge stereotypes, emphasizing the workers' emotions. The absence of background music, except for short moments, allows the workers' voices to take center stage, making their stories even more poignant. Subtitles make the film accessible, breaking language barriers and ensuring a wider audience can connect with the workers' experiences. The film's use of music, synced with emotional revelations, creates a powerful resonance, underscoring the workers' vulnerability and strength. "Robust Heart" isn't just a documentary; it's a mirror reflecting the varied human experiences often hidden behind our assumptions, urging us to reconsider our judgments and embrace empathy and understanding. 

This op doc gave me a vast amount of ideas for the documentary i was to produce. Firstly, the type of story I'd like to produce is one with interviewees that have a true story representing a prevalent issue. The stories within the documentary all got me very emotional as they all had such depth and meaning. Not only visually intrigued due to the focus of their facial expressions while speaking, but also I was intrigued through what the speakers were saying. Moreover, I really liked the translations since the