The process of creating this project was definitely different and I would day tougher than the AS Level project last year. Besides the fact that my strong suit is print design, the circumstances we were given this year made things tougher on everyone. My first choice for the project was the music promotion package, and I was beyond excited to create an entire campaign basically for my friends who have a band together. After some consideration regarding my ideas for the project, I changed it to the documentary because I thought I'd be better at it, keyword: thought.
It was a no brainer for me what to do my documentary on. I am constantly preaching about how to treat people with special needs which is normal. I knew that I had to make the documentary excerpt with the goal of exposing how teenagers with special needs essentially have the same routines as those of us without any needs, but of course, they also face their challenges, but we do too! An obstacle I faced from the beginning was trying to not be biased. My sister is one of the subjects (only subject for the excerpt) and I had to try and be as authentic as possible. During the filming process pre-COVID-19, I had planned what to film. I obviously knew what her daily routine is like and what things she MUST do every day, so I followed her around with my phone for 2 afternoons in order to get as much raw and natural b-roll as possible.
After quarantine began, so did the stress. I had a block for weeks, I didn’t know what to make of this doc anymore. My teacher recommended I simply compare her routine on a normal day, a routine she is used to, to her altered quarantine routine. Such a simple idea can deliver my message perfectly! So I did exactly that! In those weeks that I didn’t film anything I got a feel of her new routine and tried to think of things, I could compare. Just like I did before quarantine, I literally had my phone on me at all times and filmed anything I could! At times it was hard because either the lighting was off, or it started to rain, or my phone died, but luckily the routine is a daily thing!
Once I had lots of b-roll, it came time for the interview. This was definitely the hardest for me simply because trying to find a quiet time and place in my house to film during quarantine was tough. I planned ahead with my family so that I could have at least 40 minutes of complete silence. Once I finally get everything set up and we start to film, the sprinklers go off, making so much noise that I had to restart and redo some of the interview because you could hear it even though I was using a mic. After all the struggle I finally interviewed my mom. Just like I would have done with anyone else, I sent her the questions in advance so that she could at least have something prepared to say. The interview went smoothly.
The editing process was not as tedious as I envisioned. First, I edited the interview, which is the narration for my doc. Then, I moved on to adding b-roll. I decided to not add any music since my excerpt would be in the middle of an episode, so the music wouldn’t fit. The only tough part for me was figuring out the right light settings and undertones, but thankfully I figured it out along with some help from my friend. The poster and website were an easy task, once I was able to figure out how Wix works. I kept everything simple since clutter is not the best for branding.
Overall, I am content with how my project turned out, especially considering the extreme inconvenience we all faced.
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