I created a documentary made up of stories from local Brookfield and Randolph townspeople, which were recorded on both microphone and camera by me. These interview clips were then edited together on Adobe Premiere in RTCC’s Digital Filmmaking department, to create a movie - to be displayed at the Murray Auditorium on May 26th.
Through creating this product, I learned how vital it is to create a working plan and keep the people you need for your product (my interview subjects) in the loop. Within the first week of scheduling interviews, I lost my interview with Connie Crystal, a local innkeeper in Brookfield who had become disgruntled with my disrespect of her time, by following up to a scheduling opportunity a week late. Initially, I was upset at her testiness, but I’ve come to recognize that I was far too relaxed in setting up interview dates with the participants, and it led to the loss of a potentially critical story. I have now become much more aware of the patience I demand from the people I need to make this story possible.
I have also learned to take advantage of the resources offered to me. My audio set up was initially intended to be a $100 purchase of two lavalier microphones (small clip-on mics), however, due to time restraints and a number of uncertainties regarding who would pay, and shipping, my final decision for audio equipment was to use my father’s microphone. I had doubted this mic, as it felt unprofessional to mix a mic usually intended for music creation, with film production. These doubts were proved wrong by the microphone’s more-than-practical sound, and overall good quality. Not only did swallowing my attempt at proxy-professionalism save me 100 bucks, this also gave me the opportunity to ask my father for help with audio recording (which he was more than happy to partake in).
My high points were definitely the interviews themselves. I feel I employed my charisma and affinity for listening to encourage some wonderful stories out of my interviewees, even the camera shy ones. I also found success in my connection of themes between these interviews. Had I more time, I would have liked to pursue more interviews, revolving around the spirituality of houses in Brookfield, which is a theme many of the recorded stories dip into.
My lowest point has been time management. While I still hold some salty feelings at being denied my original senior project idea at the end of my Junior year, which would have given me a head start, I cannot deny I deserve 100% of the accountability for how late I started work on my Senior Project. Three quarters of the school year were spent worrying about what the plot was going to be; I’m truly remorseful I did not realize the film’s plot would reveal itself as I collected footage. Had I started even halfway through the year, I would still have had at the very least an extra month of editing, and many more interviews - instead, I now have approximately a week.
I think I’ve adapted to some hardships effectively, such as technical issues; when the camera died in the middle of an interview, I pulled out my phone and hit record immediately, because although it may look less professional, at least it will be on camera; once I encouraged an interview participant to show us a device from his story that played a musical tune, which I think was a wise decision, because incorporating visual and audible imagery into my storytelling will enhance it.
My mentor during this project was Mr. Lance Madzey of the RTCC Digital Filmmaking department. At the beginning of the year, Mr. Madzey seemed very cautious around my project. It’s his first year working here, so he was unsure of the rules surrounding lending me any film tech. We didn’t speak much for the next couple months, but at the end of the day I am glad I asked him to be my mentor, because once he got settled and comfortable as a teacher at RTCC, he was immensely helpful in giving me access to resources that were absolutely essential to my product’s success; Mr. Madzey gave me access to my own editing station, equipped with Adobe Premiere Pro - the fastest editing software on the market, used by most mainstream film studios. Mr. Madzey has also been an on-demand resource for advice in the editing process.
I also employed the help of my father as an audio-engineering assistant during interviews, meaning he would set up the microphone and record the interview’s audio, which was essential, considering the camera’s lackluster audio quality, and my ineptness at asking questions while handling two devices at the same time. Both of these sources of support were very helpful. I was already struggling with putting the film together conceptually, so having the support from people on the technical side made the process easier.
I learned about some specific context for the productions of famous amateur films, like Blair Witch Project. These deep dives into amateur filmmaking and the innovative shortcuts that were taken were really interesting and opened my eyes to the appeal of seeking new ways to make movies. I also learned about the financial requirements for different variations of education in filmmaking, and the process of connecting the acclaim between filmmakers and their educational backgrounds also inspired me to push on my product. Through writing my paper, I learned more methods of organizing my paragraph structures, and finding a throughline in my research pieces. By working with my Senior Project Coordinator, Ms. Lissa Fox, I found methods like visual paragraph mapping to be very clarifying in the making of my paper.
Had I the opportunity to start over on this project, I would have done many things differently: I would have, first and foremost, started work on it much, much earlier, which would allow for me to create a stronger story; I would have talked to my mentor about my product earlier; I would have done more mock interview practice with my mentor, so that my first interviews wouldn’t have as many visual issues, and so that I would be better prepared to handle issues as they popped up (e.g. camera battery failure). Nonetheless, I accept the mistakes made with this project as opportunities to learn from, and those things I’ve learned will be applied to my projects in the future.