Final Project Post

This is it, here is my final project! I hope you enjoy everything that "Together" is!

Website: https://isabellaguerrerosa.wixsite.com/togetherthedoc

Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ2Wvmptpfc

CCR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA_cEVDUphM&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

Poster:

I also included my three exclusive release posters just in case!

Poster:                                                

ccr script

Hi! So I just wanted to make a little post before I compile my final post just to wrap some loose ends up!

So I did finish my editing! On a plane back from New York City, it was quite an experience, but I should have planned out my time better to not be so on the edge. Second thing is that I also did finish my website! I am very happy with its outcome (I think that it's one of my stronger parts to my project). Third, I did go over the time limit on my doc. by on minute forty, I did not address this in my CCR, but I wanted to address it on a blog post. I went over because once I started to cut my documentary down I found that there was going to be a point where it would hinder my project instead of help it, so I kept it a but longer. Fifth I also did not mention in my CCR that I decided to do the beginning of my doc after the title sequences, I did this because I thought I had to cut down the time and the project was only a excerpt, so I decided to start my excerpt after the title sequence. And sixth I just wanted to share a picture of my CCR script/guidelines because I found it quite comical (picture below).

yes, that is paper towel.

website inspo

For my website I wanted to keep it simple yet vibrant. I modeled it after documentary websites such as Meru, Blackfish, and American Promise. They all had a strong homepage, very simple without any embellishment and links to watch the trailer or the documentary itself. That is exactly how I made my homepage, with the title of the doc, the same description I used in its poster and a button to watch the documentary.

 I modeled the rest of my website after the Blackfish website, in that besides having the homepage there were tabs that led you to a more in depth viewing of the documentary (there was a synopsis, a gallery, the news tab etc.). I did this because I wanted to give more background to my website without having the clutter in the homepage, so I added a sidebar that held two more tabs (the gallery and the "about the doc" tabs).

For the visuals I used the skeleton of my main poster for the home page and the three pictures that made up my poster for the side tabs, I did this because I felt like it connected the website as a whole, making it cohesive with the documentary and with the poster.

final posters!

I went through a bit of a process with my posters.

From creating a specific design to realizing that I could not recreate that design to redoing the subheadings over and over again (to get the spacing just right). I went through a lot with these posters and I am pretty happy with the outcomes. In this post I not only wanted to exhibit my final posters, but write about how they evolved through this entire process.

This was the original design for my poster (which I have posted beforehand). My idea was to resemble the Moonlight poster in the division of the poster in three and lining up the couple's hands accordingly to form one. This is not work out

I ended up with a skeleton that resembled this (the image on the right). I could not figure out a way to divide up the space and line the hands up to form one, so instead I kept the separations but included every picture. This makes the hand-holding evident with each couple and can be used to interpret the same message I was original going for (even though they are all different couples, they are the same in being a 21rst century couple, they are all essentially "together"). My second task was figuring out the subheading to my title, a phrase that could summarize the documentary as a whole in what it entailed. I started with "exploring the nature of the 21rst century relationship", but it was too long and would break the conventions of a subheading that I was trying to keep. 

 Soooooo I present to you my final documentary poster (on the left)!! The subheading that I used was a simple "in the 21rst century". I feel like it sums up what I am trying to display through my documentary and goes along perfectly with my title. This is my main poster, but I also plan on releasing individual posters to resemble that of Moonlight's as well (so the audience gets the separate individual picture of each piece of the poster).

These are the individual posters, which will also be released! I did this so that the audience could see each individual image that makes up the main poster, these will be released in lesser volume, making them a bit more exclusive to give them a more of a "collectors" value.

compromise!

I'm really running short here so I am extremely frustrated.

the result of my poster

I think that I could have handled my time better, knowing that I was traveling during the last week of the project, but instead I overshot and thought that everything would take less time (spoiler alert: it did not). So now I am frantically editing posters and my documentary in a hotel room and evaluating my life choices.

My grand moonlight poster idea did not end up working. Lining up the images proved to be much harder than I thought and started to seem like a waste of time, so I came up with the next best solution and I'm running with it. It looks a bit disjointed, but I think that it serves to show the overall message still (they're all couples, just different in their ways, creating the 21rst century couple). I just have to put the text up and the poster is basically done (and create the individual posters as well). The poster is slowly progressing, so that a bit of a relief.

Then comes the website that I haven't even touched. This is worrisome. I want to keep it really simple, maybe write up a short description of the individual couples with the inclusion of their pictures, I don't want to overcrowd viewers with information, I just want it to be direct and to the point.

My doc is no where near done and that is all I'm saying in relation to that subject.

It is time to separate the mice from the Women, and I am a woman.

poster in the making

I decided to stop editing (for now) and start working on my poster(s) seeing as to how I enjoy that aspect more than sifting through footage. I had previously mapped out the details to my poster, the colors coinciding with the couples and the coming together of the three pictures of them holding hands. So I know what I am doing, it's just the execution that is taking some time. I started on Canva, using three triangles to converge the images, but the lining up pf the three to become one has proven to be difficult, because the bigger the triangle is made the more zoomed in the image gets, so I have to find a way around that. I am also planning on releasing the three separate posters to show the individual images of the hands (just like the moonlight posters), to further promote the doc. I shall keep constant updates on the progress!!

(poster images below)

sky high editing

I have been very silent, sorry! Here are some updates :)

 I started editing from the sky (a plane duh!), mind you I heavily dislike editing because I doubt my decisions, so instead of making the skeleton to my piece, I sifted through all my footage, picking out bits and pieces that are going to be essential to my doc (I have over an hour of footage so this has proven to be quite the task). I also decided that I wanted to give my documentary a more candid feel, so the intro is basically a sequence of bloopers that I found described the couples quite perfectly. But besides the intro I'm pretty much lost in how I want to structure my doc (hence the giving up on the skeleton), I need some inspo asap. I also need to get started on the poster and the website, I have to edit the pictures and miraculously learn how to manage an editing software real quick!!

So I have a lot on my plate, but enjoy these pictures of sunsets on the plane!

editing on the plane

the sun setting 

first day on the editing scene!!

Today I attempted to start the grueling process of editing (keyword attempted). It went horribly.

I sat the whole period staring at the screen of my computer waiting for the probably hours of footage to transfer from my phone via airdrop. I proceeded to re-do this process quite a few times, for the tiny blue circle would never accomplish to complete itself (due to the amount of footage I had). And when it miraculously transferred all of the footage I had my lovely laptop took the rest of the period downloading the footage onto my desktop (it started huffing and puffing air), first day of editing was a solid 0/10 for not much was accomplished.

You could say that I do not look forward to sifting through hours of footage and compiling it into a slice of a documentary (editing and I have a rocky relationship), but it has to be done so wish me some good luck and nice vibes.

a productive weekend

lighting for my interracial couple

GOOD NEWS! I have 2/3 of my formal interviews all done! I am relieved.

On Friday I was able to film with my interracial couple and the whole process want great, I was so pleased with the outcome, they flowed really well and had amazing answers for my questions. The lighting solution was also fixed and gave an incredible effect to the visual of the interview. I also took their pictures which came out extremely well!!

redder lighting for my lesbian couple

Saturday I filmed with half of my lesbian couple (for one of them has been grounded and was in Tallahassee for the weekend), the interview also went pretty well, but I still have to find a way to incorporate the other half that was not present (so thats the next task). I was also unable to take their pictures, which is another thing I have to do by the end of this week since I leave for spring break.

Tomorrow (Monday) I will be filming with my new normal couple and will have basically finished with my filming! I soon have to start the editing process which will essentially be my biggest feat!!

SCRAP IT!

Middle vector!!

On Tuesday I had my first formal interviews and I had to scrap it. Scrap the couple as a whole. Scrap everything due to vectors. There is one divisive vector going straight through the couple, creating  a divide between them and going against everything they state in their interview. So in order to keep genuine responses and not tamper with the results of my documentary I had to use another couple and I will be filming with them on Saturday. I also did not use the colored lighting in my failing couple’s interview because I thought it would be too tedious, but then I found a solution in putting paper mache on a lap and transmitting the color in that way. So there are solutions!

And when I thought all was well in the world, it wasn’t. One of the girls in my lesbian couple got “grounded for an undetermined amount of time”, so for their formal interview I am going to have to find a way around this (I think I am going to get her on Skype so I can have both of them answering the questions). 

Its okay though, today I am filming my “interracial” couple and tomorrow my “normal” couple for their formal interviews, hopefully all goes well!

So right now there are issues, but I can fix them, just a lot of bumps in the road. 

formal interviews

This week I'm going to (hopefully) film the formal sit-down interviews, which will serve to  progress the narration of my piece. For this to be successful I need to schedule these interviews with my couples and buy the lightbulbs to represent each couple (stylistically), as well as create the questions.

The first interview I have is scheduled for tomorrow. I'm filming the "normal" couple (the boy and girl, from the same race), these interviews will be conducted with them together, so that the answers include input from both of the members of the couple. The second interview I have scheduled for Friday (most likely) with the lesbian couple, I just need to schedule the interview with my interracial couple.

Now we move on to the questions! These are vital and have to be well crafted. In this post I will include the questions and why I asked them as well as a skeleton to how the interviews will go.

Questions/Skeleton:

*ask for names*
*how long they have been together*
*how old they are*
(this background information will produce a backbone for each interview, introducing and juxtaposing what each couple says)

1. How would you act differently if you did not have social medias in you lives, how would it affect your relationship?
2. Has your idea of a relationship evolved over the years?
3. Has your idea of love evolved as well?
4. Have you ever thought that you are having more of a relationship with an object (your phone) rather than a person?
5. What media has influenced your version of a model relationship (films, tv shows, etc.)
6. How do you feel that society accepts the two of you as a couple? How do your friends and family feel?
7. What is the 21rst century couple for you?

These questions will be asked to embrace the media and collective identity side of the doc., so how media takes to each couple and their ideas of the 21rst century couple.

movie poster inspo!!

For this post I am going to be featuring inspiration for my movie 

poster to get an idea of how the final product will turn out!

I will be using the formatting of the titles of my poster. I like how the title is bold and at the top of the poster, as we'll as how it features the Netflix dissemination. I also like the date at the bottom and the Netflix logo.

The Moonlight poster serves as a huge inspiration for my own poster, with the colors and the lining up of the three faces . I am basing most of my art direction of of this poster, using it to combine and juxtapose the three different couples that I will be featuring in my doc. 

This is the rough sketch for how my poster will be . There will be a three-way division of the poster to show the three different couple's hands coming together to form one, symbolizing that even though there is a clear juxtaposition of the three couples they are all essentially part of what a 21rst century couple is. 

These are the three separate posters that will also be released, featuring each couple individually in their hand-holding.

Even more updates!

UPDAAATES!

There has just been a lot of change happening, I need to update :)

Soooo, we got a week extension to the project, which really helps with all the filming. I got a new couple for my "interracial" couple (a Brazilian girl and a Chilean boy), which still showcases the cultural differences that I am trying to expose in a relationship. I am also going to be going on my "normal" couple's date next week (its to The Perez Art Museum in Miami and I think that I am more excited than the couple). I think that I will be taking their picture for their part of the movie poster at the museum as well. I am also planning on to have the formal interviews all of next week (I need lightbulbs) so that I can start editing a bit (I should start creating the skeleton of my piece at least).

I am shifting the schedule for my project a bit. This week (week 3) I will be focusing on filming and creating interview questions, as well as finalizing my movie poster idea. Next week (week 4) I will be focusing on the formal interviews and shooting their pictures and I want to wrap up all filming (if possible). For week 5 I will be editing!! Focusing on post production and music curation for the documentary (I have some ideas for that). For week 6 I will be finishing the editing and creating the website for my film. Then for the final week 7 I will be doing my CCR. This calms me and gives me time to finish everything I need to finish, I am now calm :)

So now I have to focus on filming and finalizing  my movie poster!! (I keep promising a blog post on it soon, it will come soon, I promise)

A lil update

Hi!
This is another little update that I wanted to talk about. I started filming this week/weekend!! Which is really great, my iPhone camera has been working soo nicely and this has made me very happy. I have some footage of the "normal" couple and the gay couple, both direct cinema and some direct interviews as well, but I have not gotten the chance to film the "interracial" couple, which is starting to worry me. I do not have much contact with them and I do not know just how much time I have to film them, but I do not want to make any rash decisions and exclude them due to my stress about time, so I think that I will be decided by this week if I chose to include them or not (and then look for another couple to film). I have to also start coming up with the questions for the indirect interviews, but I'm finding that I am asking a lot of the same questions in my direct interviews that I planned to ask in my indirect one, so I have to use questions to move the narration of my piece. I also have to breathe, because I feel like I am running out of time, I have to focus and get my stuff together. I also have to start planning out my website and how it is going to look like, what information it will have, and all that juicy fun stuff. I ALSO have to get pictures of the couples for my website, posters etc., so photoshoot time will be soon.

I have lots to do (I'm stressing) (OH AND I SHOULD START EDITING) (its okay, I'll be fine)

till next time!!

Documentary poster conventions

Conventions, conventions, my favorite things to break, but in this case I will be abiding by.

Let's start with some just overall general movie poster conventions and then we can specifically delve into documentary poster conventions.

Some typical conventions of movie posters include the following:

• an eye-catching focal picture 
• suggestion of the genre of the movie
• evident tag line 
• display of a large readable title 
• the release date at the bottom of the poster, along with the director, actors, producers, and movie website

I will be abiding by most of them, except of course the actor credits, since I have no actors.

Now, here are some specific documentary poster conventions:

• quotes (from either reviews or the doc itself)
• awards (placed usually at the top of the poster) 
• topic indicator (whether it be through the caption or background)

Here is where I will be breaking conventions. I do not like the idea of a quote on my poster, I feel like it is a bit cheesy and unnecessary, it clutters up the poster space and takes away from the poster's design. I will not be putting any awards, seeing as to how my piece is brand new. I will be adding the topic indicator in a specific caption/tagline to entice the viewer. I also want to include its method of dissemination through netflix to inform my audience of my doc's distribution. 

I will be going into the specifics of my own doc poster design in the next post!

sources:

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshare16/conventions-of-a-documentary-poster

https://www.slideshare.net/seanrdhughes/conventions-of-documentary-film-posters

https://www.pinterest.com/williebaronet/documentary-posters/

http://www.rocofilms.com/film.php?code=lion

Status update

Hi!
I wanted to give a little status update on my current place within in this project. We are on the third week of this project (with two more left) and I NEED to start FILMING!! I want to start this week, maybe as soon as today. I also have to get the interview questions ready and craft them carefully, since they are acting as a mode to advance the narrative of my piece. I want to be finished with filming and editing around next week and for the last week focus on my website and CCR. I have so much to do and time is running, but I NEED TO FILM ASAP!! I am also thinking of filming during school to show the nature of their relationship with others and in an interactive environment. I am a little scared that I went too ambitious with this, but if I really push myself I can achieve the result that I want.

Post on movie poster inspo. and conventions coming soon!!

Color as a stylistic choice

Color. I want to use it very badly in my documentary. This is how I will use it without manipulating the outcome of my documentary. No bias. Just a stylistic decision.

Story is that once upon a time I was watching "500 Days of Summer" for the 5th time (but now as an aware media studies student haha) and I was infatuated by the color manipulation of the piece and the symbolism behind each color used to represent each character. It made the piece look beautiful and I want to achieve that beauty for my piece or at least incorporate that aspect of color through my documentary. Now, I know that these colors were heavily symbolic (blue for Summer, brown for Tom and the inclusion of the colors in the background of each scene) and highly manipulative of the piece itself, but I will not be using the colors as a manipulation to my piece. I want to use different lightbulbs of several hues of a same cool side of the color wheel to differentiate the indirect formal interviews from the rest of the footage (the framing will also be the same for each formal interview), I also want each color to represent a certain couple just for the differentiating of each couple's interview (and for the movie poster, blog post for this coming up next). 

This will be all done as a stylistic choice to make my film more aesthetically pleasing and to treat myself!!

sources:

https://filmschoolrejects.com/we-dont-belong-together-the-500-days-of-summer-color-palette-theory-a50b2d3728a6#.e3vo4scqy

Dissemination--Why Netflix?

This is where the breaking of conventions begins and I am feeling rebellious (hahaha)...

I am requires to disseminate my documentary through television, but I am choosing to disseminate it through a streaming service--Netflix. Why am I choosing this? Well this is my answer.

Netflix is able to reach a broader audience through its accessibility and vast choices for the consumer. This gives me an opportunity to create major exposure for my documentary through a ready-to-watch platform. Disseminating my documentary through Netflix also appeals to my target audience of generation z's and millennials, for a huge part of Netflix's audience includes a range of 17-35 year olds. I am also formatting my documentary to break the conventions of that of a typical televised documentary, in that I am eliminating the factor of having a voice over, for that creates a dragged formality that does not appeal to my  target audience. Netflix documentaries tend to break these conventions as well, for they progress their narrative through their interviews and content, such as a "Iris", a Netflix produced film on fashion.

In other words long live netflix!


Resources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/8-documentaries-on-netflix-that-go-behind-the-scenes-of-the-entertainment-industry_us_57323638e4b016f3789756f3
http://fortune.com/2016/03/27/netflix-predicts-taste/

Concept solidified

 Last Monday (04/06) I was enlightened.

I had a meeting with my teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa, where we discussed the concept of my project and it's execution. This concluded in my enlightenment and upmost clarification of the direction I wanted my documentary to go in. The lightbulb went off, fireworks exploded in the distance, all those wonderfully mushy cliche things that happen when the protagonist in a movie reaches the resolution portion of the film, happened.

For my documentary I will be focusing on the nature of the 21rst century relationship and how their nature is molded and accepted through social media's perception and cumulative representation of them. Every couple no matter gay, interracial, or "normal" is in some way trying to present this image  of the "perfect couple" that is presented through social media and it's cumulative build-up of the 21rst century couple having to present it's validity through postings on social media outlets. The reality of this is that no couple is as "perfect" as they are presented through social medias, being in a relationship is something REAL and HUMAN, so why is there a necessity to present the "perfect couple"?

These are the questions and concepts I hope to answer and clarify in my following and questioning of three different 21rst century couples.

SOOOOooOOO, this is exciting and I really cannot wait to start filming!!

Conventions (updated)

Remember when I said that my choices we not completely solid? Well... there have been some changes to the conventions I will be breaking and following. 

I was recently reminded that the snippet of my documentary that I am presenting is supposed to be disseminated through television (so it's a televised documentary), and these documentaries have slightly different conventions. BUT, I am going to make the case for my documentary to be disseminated through a streaming service such as Netflix (blog post later going more in depth). I am doing this because my documentary is centered on a younger audience since it features couples of the 21rst century (basically gen z couples), this is also why I am going to be ditching the voice over (a convention of the televised doc.), because it creates a feeling of formality and I want my audience to be able to relate to these subjects. I am also actually GOING to use a staged setting for my sit-down interviews (these will be indirect), this will be to present a clear distinction between the direct interviews that will be used during the raw footage (I want this progression between direct and indirect to be smooth, resembling that of "American Promise's"). I plan on using the same framing for each sit-down interview, as well as a certain manipulation of light, to distinguish the interviews (later more in depth post on this). 

I will be going more in depth in various of these conventions that I will be breaking.

These are now S O L I D. 

Conventions, which ones do I break?

Hello!! (I always feel like one exclamation point is rather passive aggressive, so you get two)

 I wanted to do a post where I highlight the typical documentary conventions and techniques. Showing which ones I plan to follow and which ones I plan to break, just to have clarity throughout my project.

Typical conventions of a documentary include archive footage, interviews (whether they be direct or indirect), narration (whether to include the documenter within the documentary as a present voice or to not, for this one needs charisma and to be established), graphics, editing (close-up cuts to express the emotion a subject experiences through the defines facial reactions, also makes the scene more personal and relatable to the viewers), sound (non-diegetic and diegetic sound, that can include background music to progress the narrative or noise within the shot to express the importance of what is within), and mise-en-scene (which for the most part is based on the natural observation of the subjects that takes place). 

I cannot use archive footage in my piece due to the provisions of my project, but archive footage is an instrumental part to a documentary, providing background and validity to the piece. To make up for this I plan on relying on direct cinema, as well as interviews (and the interview questions) to establish validity through answers and observation. 

I plan on making use of direct and indirect interviews to provide a sense of variety. I want to establish a present documentarian, but also make sure that the audience has a personal relationship with the subjects (this is achieved through the use of indirect interviews). 

For editing i plan on keeping it very simple, I want the content to speak for itself. I plan on using the three couples in juxtaposition of each other, in order to compare and contrast the differences and similarities throughout each relationship. I will make an emphasis on close-up cuts to establish that pathos appeal that I am relying on.

Sound is something that I am still debating on. I am of course going to rely on diegetic sound in the interviews and direct cinema as well as in the shots of these couples, but I am still debating on using a narrator for bits of the piece as non-diegetic sound. I also plan on using diegetic sound in the background music. 

For the mise-en-scene I am going to rely on doc conventions, in using the setting that goes along with the content, instead of creating a set.

These are all still rough ideas, but for the most part are looking concrete!!

'till next time!! (two exclamation points 4 ever)

sources:

"Documentary Film Techniques." Documentary Film Techniques. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2017.

Concept

Together. What does this mean in terms of a romantic relationship? What is love in the eyes of a couple? How does a relationship differ through each personal relationship? These are all questions I hope to explore and delve into in my documentary.

In order to answer these thematic questions I plan to follow three different couples (in the high school setting, all in romantic relationships) by using juxtaposition and parallel editing to compare and contrast the answers/reactions to the questions I am posing. This will allow me to get their perspective on what these questions mean to them as well as to observe their relationship in a genuine setting.

I plan on following a gay couple, an interracial couple, and a normal/standard couple. I want to see how the nature of each relationship plays out and in doing so I hope to expose the idea that being “together” differs through relationship and people. I would achieve this by using instances of direct cinema to get these authentic answers and reactions.

So that's the rough concept, of course it needs some fine tuning and outlining, but I like the gist of the concept and feel that it will be successful.

(Re)Introductions

This is the final countdown, the battle with the last boss on the expert level, the climax of the story

--my last media studies project and this time we’re on the AS level mode (ooh yeaaah).

Now for a (re)introduction; my name is Isabella Guerrero, I am a senior at Cypress Bay High School and I will be creating a documentary clip, a website, and a promotional poster (for my final project of course). I absolutely cannot wait to start this project (and bring the stress on) and see how much I have grown from last year. It is going to be quite the journey to follow!!

I have already found what my documentary is going to center on--relationships (specifically highschool ones), hence the name “Together”. I want to explore the nature of three different types of romantic relationships and uncover what hardships they may face and what love is to them. I will be delving deeper into this vision in my next blog post, soooo stay tuned :)

Bye for now!

-Isabella Guerrero

Preface

I’m back for a final media project!!! BUT, before we delve into another cycle of stress, trail runs, and insane amounts of research...Here is the link to my blog from last year so that progression can be seen and there can be an evaluation of my craft as a WHOLE.

(Re)Introductions will be made shortly.