Portfolio Project: Documentary Research

     I have been challenging myself to watch more documentaries, episodic ones in particular, to understand better, what techniques I should be using and how I can tell my stories over the duration of an episode. I have particularly fallen in love with Netflix's Drive to Survive, which follows a single season in F1. I have found this documentary to be very interesting, and has introduced me to a new sport that I find that I enjoy. Each episode more or less follows a different driver/team, with a few repeats through the season, as they overcome a challenge or experience a setback. 

    Throughout my time watching various documentaries, I picked up on various techniques that I will be taking account. This includes the addition of primarily instrumental music that matches the tone of what viewers are visually seeing. While I personally would rather include music with lyrics, I believe that this may take away the focus from the topic at hand; thus, I will be using instrumental music instead. Additionally, something I really want to accomplish in my documentary is being able to hear the interviewee without seeing them first. I intend to write a script and add a voiceover as well to my documentary; however, it will be minimal as I want the stories to be told overwhelming by the subjects.

    I have yet to decide what portion of the first episode I will be creating; however, I am leaning toward the beginning 5 minutes to start with the introducing of my subject, and going from there. I feel that starting from the beginning would be beneficial when coming up with appropriate questions to ask for each specific part of the documentary. I will be filming these interviews as indirect interviews as to not take the focus off the subject, and instead have the subject rephrase the question when answering, this was common with the Drive To Survive docuseries.

Portfolio Project: Social Media Research

Media text: Some Kind Of Heaven

Social media tool: Instagram

Description of types of posts: This page has various types of post ranging from cartoon depictions of people, mostly elderly, that fit the focus of the documentary to interactive bingo games related to the topic, and where the documentary can be found.

Description of how branding is developed (or not): I believe that this page does an amazing job of immersing viewers in the world of this retirement home, which doubles as the primary setting for the documentary. This is effective at capturing the essence of the documentary and introducing the setting and characters through their social media presence as well as the sharing of teasers and trailers.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: I definitely intend to capture bits of my subjects to introduce some of the subjects that will be sharing their stories throughout the duration of my series, and I also intend to post about where my documentary will be able as I believe that this would be of upmost importance to getting my project out there.

Media text: Last Flight Home

Social media tool: Instagram and Twitter (X)

Description of types of posts: The posts on these social media platforms are primarily of locations and times that this documentary will be playing. Besides the description of the film, these pages do little to cue viewers in on what the documentary may be about.

Description of how branding is developed (or not): I don't believe that these pages do much to the effect of developing a brand around their documentary as little is really shown of the film on the pages which instead focus on distribution.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: Due to the nature of "independent" films I will use the techniques employed through these pages to get the word out about my own documentary as they did in an effort to reach as many eyes as possible.

Media text: The Eternal Memory/La Memoria Infinita

Social media tool: Instagram

Description of types of posts: The posts on this social media page show a wide range of content. Along with teasers and trailers, viewers can also connect more with the actors themselves through interviews and behind the scenes that are shared on the account as well.

Description of how branding is developed (or not): This Instagram page does an amazing job at introducing the main characters and their love story that is the basis of the storyline within the documentary. I believe that this page allows viewers and fans to connect on a deeper level with the film and the actors themselves.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: Using my own social media, I hope to openly share my subjects with my viewers, and allow viewers to connect with them deeply as I feel that this would allow them to then connect with my project on a deeper level as well and truly take something from what I am sharing.

Portfolio Project: Brief Story Outlines

     My intention with this documentary series is to showcase a new story with each episode that allows each new subject to share their story of grief and recovery. Each episode will be understood through the lens of a different type of loss. I will be beginning the series with my own personal story, told through the perspective of my mom. This will be the episode I will be taking the excerpt from. 

Episode 1: spouse

    This episode will follow the story of my mom, having lost a her spouse in 2008. I intend to focus on the aftermath and the recovery that has followed this tragedy and instill hope in others who may be experiencing the same situation to know that they too can overcome their circumstances.

Episode 2: child

    This episode will focus on the story of a parent who has suffered the loss of a child. This will focus on how the dynamic of their family has, and how they hope to heal and move forward in life while keeping the memory alive.

Episode 3: parent 

    This episode will focus on a child, or children, that have lost a parent or parents. I hope to center around how this loss has impacted their family and their lives moving forward without a parental figure to guide them, and how they plan to move forward.

Episode 4: sibling

    In this episode the subject will be a sibling, or siblings, that have suffered the loss of a another sibling and how this and how this has changed their household dynamic. This would emphasize the shift in family operation and what one would do to recover after the loss of a family member.

Episode 5: best friend

    The subject of this episode will be someone who has lost a very important friend and what about them has changed a result of losing this person. I hope to get a feel for the strategies that they would use to ensure that the memory of their friend is kept alive without allowing themselves to be overcome by grief.

Portfolio Project: Research Pt.2

     I have officially finished the book A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and have begun the film Kingdom of Us on Netflix. This book has turned out to be one of the most devastating stories I have ever read; however, I truly loved how beautifully the story was written. While truly heartbreaking, there was so much truth, humanity, love, companionship, understanding, growth, and rebirth throughout this book that made it worth the read. I believe that this book is not for everyone and definitely delves deeper into serious topics that are often very triggering, but I also believe the overarching theme of acceptance and kindness is well worth the content. 

    The characters that I connected most with were Willem and Harold as throughout the duration of the book they showed unconditional love for Jude. This is something that is so hard to find in today's society and even when they knew that Jude's habits were bad, they continued to try everyday to except him as he was and extend him the upmost love and compassion until the very end. I strongly believe that the lessons taught within this book are much needed in today's society. This book is also able to continue on the quest to removing the stigma around mental health crisis, specifically in men, which I believe is one of the most important aspects of this novel. This book allows us to see Jude as just a person rather than a mentally ill person.

    I have also begun the viewing of Kingdom of Us, which I found I truly enjoy watching. While it does also focus on a harsh topic, it really opens the eyes of the viewer to the different experiences that each person can go through even having suffered the same tragedy. We get to see each child on their own journey to growing and dealing with their grief even when they each may contradict with one other's stage is recovery. I believe that this also helps reduce stigma as each child is allowed their own feelings and shares a unique experience that continues to promote understanding in those who may not be familiar what what they are going through. 

    These stories have helped me to determine what aspects of the stories I want to share and how I can do so within my own documentary. I intend to continue to take in more stories, and build on my research as I begin to undertake the creation of my own project.

Portfolio Project: Genre and Target Audience

     For this project, I will be creating the premise for a 5 episode episodic documentary focused on stories of grief and recovery. Due to the serious nature of the topic and the genre being a documentary, I believe that my target audience will be a little older than some of my pervious projects. I will be focusing on more of a millennial audience (about 28 - 34 years old) as this is likely to be the group that is most receptive to what I am creating.  Furthermore, I believe that millennials tend to be more compassionate and open to understanding, which I believe would allow them to enjoy this documentary more than other, more closed-minded, generations of viewers.

    I also believe that this project will be more targeted toward a lower-to-middle socioeconomic population. However, the audience will be streaming service users only as this would not be a project that is capable of being released into theaters. My intention is to make it a sort of limited series. I think that these socioeconomic groups would connect best with the topic at hand and may have even experienced some of the stories within their own lives.

    I think that my target audience would have the traits of compassion, empathy, emotional intelligence, etc. that would allow them to connect deeply with my documentary and truly understand and take in the stories that are being shared throughout the duration of my project.

Portfolio Project: Research

     I want my documentary to be a series that people can view, and understand that they are not alone and someone out there is going through the same hardships that they are. I hope that this will give my viewers the peace of mind that there is more to life, and that they are able to understand that they can overcome their grief and continue to grow and live without guilt. The subject of grief has been on my mind a significant amount recently as I have taken to reading the book A Little Life.

    This book follows the lives of a group of 4 boys who meet in college and become friends. It focuses particularly on Jude who we come to understand has suffered through a lot of grief and hardship. This book is definitely difficult to digest; however, it is beautifully written, and I believe shares a very important story and presents a very important message. While this book may not be suitable for everyone, I believe that there is value in telling the story of Jude St. Francis. 

    I have found this book to be incredibly inspiring which is why I hope to create a story, while less graphic, that is impactful. I believe that the less stigma around grief, the better off we will be as a human race. I hope that this series is able to have some impact on the lives of others, and provide comfort for those who have experienced something similar. In hopes of making this the best it can be, I will be viewing documentaries with similar topics to understand how I can accomplish my goal, one being Kingdom of Us on Netflix.

Portfolio Project A: Schedule

    I have decided that in order to present topic that I want to share, I will be doing an episodic documentary. The idea I have for my documentary is to share stories of grief and the overcoming and growth that follows. I will begin this documentary with encouraging others to share their grief by beginning with my own. I hope to get my mom to sit for an interview and share our family's story. She has always instilled in us that our story was something that may help others and that it what I hope to do with this series. 

    I have planned out what I want to accomplish each week and I hope that I can stick to it:

Week 1

    Planning: 

        - Review conventions of a documentary 

        - View episodic documentaries

        - Research genre

        -Blog

Week 2

    Planning:

        -View more documentaries

        - Outline storylines for all episodes

        - Brainstorm interview questions/topics

        -Blog

Week 3

    Planning:

        - Write voiceover script

        - Confirm questions

        - Schedule interview

        - Research documentary magazine articles

        - Create shot list

        -Create social media

        - Blog

Week 4

    Production:

        - Gather B-roll

        - Complete interview

        - Post on social media

        - Blog

Week 5

    Production:

        - Gather B-roll

        - Record voiceover

        - Post on social media

        - Begin print component

        - Blog 

Week 6

    Post-production:

        - Begin editing 

        - Continue print component

        - Post on social media

        - Blog

Week 7

       Post-production:

            - Continue editing 

            - Post on social media

            - Complete print component 

            - Blog

Week 8

    Post-production:

        - Finish editing 

        - Post on social media

        - Start critical reflection

        - Blog

Week 9

       Post-production:

            - Finish critical reflection

            - Post finished product

            - Blog

        

The Finale: Portfolio Project

     In class, we were given the opportunity to explore the world of film distribution. We were given a story that we were to build into a trailer, teaser, and movie poster as well as outline how we would get this film out to the world. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and felt that it opened my eyes to how every element of  the creation of a project works together to create a brand. What I learned from this project has really made me think of the possibilities for my portfolio project going forward. 

    When thinking of what I want my project to be, I have found that I am stuck between two possible options: Film promotion and Documentary. When creating our documentaries earlier in the school, I found that I truly enjoyed creating it and being able to look beyond the fiction that I am used to watching and work on creating something that was out of my comfort zone. While our project could definitely be approved upon it was the project thus far that I am most proud of and feel good about. I think that given the opportunity to make another documentary, I would improve on what wasn't the best and make a really good product. However, the idea of having create a episodic documentary isn't as appealing as producing just an excerpt from a full length documentary.

    I am also contemplating the possibility of making a movie promotion project. I think that this would allow me more freedom in the story that I want to tell by giving me the option to make something fictional that I would have full creative control over the story. I think this would allow me to showcase more creativity than I have in the past which I think would be an interesting shift. However, having to make two full length trailers would be a significant amount work to ensure that they do not include all of the same content while being understood as representing the same film.

    I will be dedicating time this week to begin researching productions of both possibilities in order to determine which I would like to do more. At the moment, I am leaning more toward the production of a documentary as I think that I would be able to create a better product while enjoying the process.