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!!