Documentary Conventions

 Hey guys! Today I spent time researching. While editing this week, I was thinking of how to put things together. I realized I lacked in research. I researched the genre conventions for my piece. My favorite website I found was research site. It was heavy in information. I found that many of the conventions listed and discussed I was already including. For example, talking heads and voice over narration. It also gave me a great idea to use archival footage and photographs, which according to the article, Archival materials include old photographs, newsreel footage, and even shots from fiction films. It gave me the idea to use footage from when I visited my family in Romania. Romania was actually the first time I used my drone, hopefully I can find the footage, it has been a few years since then. I also want to use old photographs from my fathers work in Romania. I will get on adding those to my documentary, I am beyond excited with how it is turning out. Up next is finishing my magazine article! I will discuss this tomorrow in the next blog! 😁

New equipment!

 Hey guys! Happy Friday! Today was a long day and I am coming to you with updates at a late hour! But believe it or not today I felt like I was on an adventure! As my editing process continues (I feel it may continue into the next week) I have noticed many missing shots. Not missing, but some shots I have thought would make the extract come together. I finally got my stabilizer in the mail today and started playing around and learning how to use it. After, I wanted to refilm some shots because I was walking with the camera and they came out very shaky. Then I wanted to film other shots that I thought would be some great b-roll. For example, walking out of an airport and I also re-filmed the airplane landing with the stabilizer. In my time editing, I realized how much research I am lacking. my future posts will be more research! Here is a picture of my new stabilizer! 

😍 see you in the next blog!

The week of editing and more news

 Hey guys! Happy Thursday! Yesterday we were given an extension on the project! Although I believe that I have organized my time to be done by April 12, this extra week will give me some room to breath. The due date is now April 18th. To give you guys an update on the editing, I've honestly been having a lot of fun! I am using Final Cut Pro, it is what I am most familiar in. I feel that the shots come together quite well and now I need to start working on the voice over, which I have decided to incorporate. While editing, I noticed I needed to refilm some shots in Miami that came out pretty shaky. I bought a stabilizer to make it smooth and I will try and refilm tomorrow when the stabilizer arrives! In other news, last class we learned more about the critical reflection and what questions we have to be sure to incorporate to our essay. Those are my updates as of now, I will see you guys tomorrow! 😁

Ciao filming, for now

 Hello everyone!! I am happy to say that I have gotten all the footage I need! Today I went to film around the neighborhood where the interviewee (my father) first came to America. Looking back on old memories. I really wanted to illustrate the change from where he started and where he is now. It was very important to get this footage, walking around and reminiscing. Now I have to started editing. Which I actually wanted to get a head start on asap. I have started with the drone footage and the airplane landing. I have to find some good audio to add, however I am not worrying about that now. I will keep you guys updated on my editing and I'm going to see if I need to film more or if what I have is good. I am very  happy with all the work done this week! See you guys in the next blog!

Spring Working, no break

 Hey guys! Today is Saturday, the start of the weekend before spring break is over. Still taking advantage of this break, today I have been in the car for over 6 hours, so I couldn't film today... However, I took this time to work on my laptop and start creating a poster for the documentary. I also have started working on the instagram page. I have decided to keep the name of the documentary series simple, as we discussed as a group in the first group discussion. I gave the instagram the name "The True American Dream". As I was working in Adobe Illustrator, I have brainstormed ideas for the colors and to me it only makes sense that I use the colors of the American Flag, I was also thinking of using a shot I took at the airport. I have just been playing around with Adobe and instagram. I also was creating a schedule on what to film tomorrow so that once we get there all we have to do is film. I wanna walk around and add a voiceover in the back, I thought this would be the best because I remember discussing with my classmates and someone wanted to film in the street, but it would be very difficult to deal with the audio, so I thought to film and add a voiceover. I've been feeling very productive, and I can't wait for tomorrow! See you guys in the next blog!

Action

 Happy Friday everyone! This week I've taken advantage of my spring break. This is the time I have really accelerated in my progress with my project. According to my calendar this week is filming week which is exactly what I have been doing. I was stuck between doing a direct or indirect interview and as I started filming... indirect is what I have chosen to do. As discussed in my group meetings as well as in past blogs, my classmates suggested I incorporate different locations with the interview. This is what I have done. We will be walking around where the interviewee first lived in America and where he lives now. I also need b-roll footage and I have gotten some of that as well. I filmed by the airport because I wanted a shot of an airplane landing. I haven't gotten the exact shot I wanted, hopefully I can go again and get it right, after filming I realized I could've gotten it from a better angle. Anyway, those are my updates for today. I have started filming in the office and where he lives now (because it was easier to film this first), now we need to film by where he first came to America. See you guys tomorrow in the next blog!

Sunday

 Hello everyone! Today is Sunday, a new week is beginning. This week my goal is to finish filming. Unfortunately I wasn't able to film much because I was not able to go to the office and film the interview. So today I didn't do much other than brainstorm ideas for other filming locations. My classmates suggested in the last group discussion that I film walking with the interviewee outside, make it feel more "interactive" and my first thought was that I wanted it to be an indirect interview so I wouldn't be in it, however, I felt that it was also a good idea and it would give me a range of shots to work with. I kept going back and forth with this idea and I'm still not set on what to do. I want to incorporate different shots, but I will make my final decision tomorrow when I go to film. This was my update tonight, not much has happened since yesterday, just a ton of brainstorming since I wasn't able to film. I will give you guys more updates soon, so stay tuned for those. See you in the next blog!😍