CRITERION A

Who: Our audience will be our TMS peers (in grades 9-12) and community.

What: Make a multi-media, time- based product to educate your TMS peers and community about deforestation in the Amazon forest. 

When: Late November 2022 to late February 2023. 

Why: We must find a way as a community and as a society, to create a more sustainable future for generations to come. The Amazon forest is in critical condition and thus, we must encourage our peers to help however they can. 

How: Working in my group collaboratively, using the design cycle, digital editing software - Adobe Suite and the video editing software, IMovie, various animations softwares, photography. 

My problem is the lack of awareness of deforestation in the Amazon forest amongst my TMS peers and community. The purpose of my solution will be to educate my audience of the seriousness of deforestation. 

From our group research, I learned: 

Different types of shots/camera angles aid in setting the tone of a scene (eg: A medium long shot frames characters from the waist up to show how lonely a character is at the center of an empty frame).

Lighting has this same effect (eg: side lighting shows a character in conflict by “splitting” their face in two). 

Audio is very important because it helps heighten a video dramatically through sound effects, music, and ambient sound.

Narration/voice over aid in carrying the message across to the viewer and capture their attention. 

Media are edited differently (through transitions, text, and different paces) to set an appropriate theme. 

Animated graphics help the audience visualize the information being presented in an easier way. 

In a documentary, there are a number of important roles/elements, which include the Director, Producer, Editor, Writer, Researcher, Camera Department, Hair and Make-Up/Wardrobe Departments, and such.  

From my analysis of existing products, I found that using comparisons of before and after human intervention in nature help amplify the message to the audience (shown in medium product); colourful animations are more engaging to the viewer (shown in weak product); and using many shots of nature helps in setting the theme of the documentary for the viewer (shown in strong product). 

Our solution will be to create a short-length (4-5 minute) documentary about deforestation in the Amazon forest. We will use a variety of camera angles and will speak with passion in voice over to amplify our message, as this was very effective in the strong product analysis.