Documentary: Research, Planning, and Production Process!

I was very excited about this project from the very beginning. When it was hinted about (before it was even assigned) I was already thinking about all I could do for the project and how I could figure out how to do a documentary about something having to do with art or creation of some sorts, because most of my hobbies and interests tend to relate to those topics. During class, we watched a lot of different documentaries, and the one I found most inspiring was about costume design. I believe the name was Abstract, a docu-series on Netflix. I absolutely loved just the overall look and feel of that documentary; I think one thing that stood out to me was the animated sequences and the mix of cinematic and realistic b-roll. 

Abstract series cover

When I chose my groups, I think we all did a lot of individual research and then came back together as a group to discuss what we found. It was super fun discussing during class different techniques we had come across and wanted to utilized in our own piece. I remember one of my members being excited about a specific type of shot they wanted to do for specific b-roll. 

Now that the research was concluded, it was time to do the planning. Actually, I began the planning by myself, because originally I planned to work alone. The people I would end up working with were both absent that day, and the group member I was closest to was sick. For that first class period, I brain stormed different ideas and I think I knew right from the beginning that I was going to hone in on various forms of art. I was considering how broad I wanted the topics to be and whether or not there would be a greater purpose besides just showcasing niche art. When my group members came back, I showed them the planning document I had created and they loved my idea. They both suggested coming up with an overarching theme, though, and as we began throwing around possible interview subjects, we realized that all of them came from different backgrounds of art and had contrasting ideas about pursuing a career in art. It became clear to us then what we should focus on. 

Possible questions on the planning document

The rest of the planning went smoothly, as b-roll and interview questions were easy to come up with. The only issue that we came across was the lack of availability of our interview subjects to shoot. Dates kept getting pushed back, and our ability to meet up was also stunted by the hurricane that swept through the state. Later on, one of our subjects even had to change when we shot last minute because they had forgotten about the interview and scheduled something else at the planned time. This caused for our other interview to get pushed back as well. It was very stressful.

The actual production process was the most fun part to me. I feel bad for my group member who was the main editor of the project because premiere is genuinely so atrocious to try and figure out. Thank God for Youtube tutorials. Anyway, I got to conduct one of the interviews myself, and although it was not when or where I planned it to be, I had a lot of fun taking control of a production process and trying my best to work around random issues that popped up and find solutions by myself. For example, my subject was not able to show his animation process as he did not bring the right supplies necessary so I had to mess around with various shots and see what looked the most realistic. The other interviews all went smoothly, though, and working together to come up with different b-roll shots was super fun.

Ex. of impromptu b-roll shot

I am very happy I got to work on this project with people I connect well and have formed a bond with, because this process would have been quite difficult otherwise. I am excited for the next opportunity to do something similar!