The Last Class Group meeting

     Today we had the last microsoft teams group meetings with our classmates about the project. I was able to hear about other documentary projects that other people are doing and to help each other with advice about any decision making obstacles we face. In my group meeting there were 3 other girls that are in my class, this was nice because the target audience for the documentary includes females in this age range so their feedback is important for making choices for this piece. After everyone explained their concept and how far along in the process they were, we posed questions for feedback. 

    We discussed various platforms to create the magazine article and we all agreed that Canva is a great resource option available to us. After looking over the website again I discovered that there is many font choices as well as layouts to make our magazine stand out and attract people to watch the documentary. I was able to recommend to my classmate of a good food docuseries we watched in class called "Ugly Delicious,"as a reference/example for her and her partner's production on Matcha. I was also able to suggest that if they are struggling with documenting the process some good ideas to blog about that I thought of was: (font choice,  research on similar pieces, music, the social media element, [poster and thumbnail, etc). A girl in my breakout room meeting suggested a Q & A theme for the magazine because she feels it is informative, engaging, yet simple. 

During this meeting I realized that the time is coming to an end and we are getting closer and closing to finishing the final product. I know that my classmates mentioned they began thinking about the magazine article but they are not starting it just yet. I felt that while Janey and Jennifer are splitting up the editing process, This week I could look over magazines to find some inspiration.

Happy Sunday

 As Janey and Jennifer begin the post filming editing process of this project I will be creating the magazine article for our production "The Next Step." Over spring break I searched up different templates for the article that will aid in the organization and help me create a strong magazine article that highlights our documentary. One platform I am familiar with is Canva. I created a scrapbook on Canva and I learned how to work the program and add text and this previous experience will help me create the article better. Here is the link to some of the elite magazine article templates I found on Canva. Some of them cost money, but I plan on using the free ones that are available on there. My goal for next week is to begin and maybe even finish this part of the process and begin creating our social media platforms to promote our documentary. 

 https://www.canva.com/templates/EADaj74JPkA-elite-article-page/

Sneak Peak

 My group has been actively communicating in our iMessage group chat of ant updates, questions, and any obstacles we may be facing. This teamwork and collaboration really makes this process flow and keeps everyone on track. I asked Jennifer and Janey to get some pictures that we can incorporate in our magazine article and social media when needed and for some extra footage in our blogs as well. They send me these medium shots of them on campus and I think they turned out great and I am planning on editing them a bit and using them for this production. 

Kailynn Fleches

Lea Cohen

Sneak Peak Clips

These are pieces of footage from Jennifer's camera that she sent that include a brief introduction to our  interviewee's that are dancers of the UM Sunsation dance team.

Down below I attached some screenshots of our group chat and the updates I received from Jennifer in my group about film day. I wanted to include this behind the scenes of the production process to show how we communicate as a group within the circumstances that we are unable to meet. Thanks to technology and media we are able to share content and ideas through our phones and this has been a very important part of the process and success of our project. 

FILM DAY!

 As scheduled my group filmed on Wednesday, March 24th but began filming shortly after sunset around 6 pm. Janey and Jennifer informed me that they arrived earlier to film some b roll for our production. They mentioned that there was people nearby that affected the audio quality. Janey filmed the side angle perspective using her Canon and Jennifer used her Nikon to film the main angle. Here were the interviewees and some pictures they took of them. As I receive more information in the groupchat I will blog about the post filming production process! Stay tuned:)

Lea Cohen 
(Junior on the Sunsations)

Kailynn Fleches
(Freshman on the Sunsations)

Film Location

The interview footage was filmed by a lake on campus called Lake Osceola near the Shalala center at UM. They chose this location because it is a fan favorite spot on campus, and has a beautiful yet simplistic background view. This is a great way to capture the school and provide a nice element to our interview shots. Although we filmed at a nice location, we also were aware of the noises outside and used voice memos as an extra microphone as I mentioned before. 

Film Equipment

Happy Thursday! My group and I decided to use the two cameras we had available which belong to Jamie and Jennifer. One of the cameras as I briefly stated earlier is a Canon G7x, which belongs to Janey, and the other one is a Nikon D3500, which belongs to Jennifer. We decided that although one camera would be good for this documentary, it would make it even better if we are able to incorporate different shots from different perspectives and angles using the two cameras simultaneously.  

As far as audio goes my group informed me that they wanted to use voice memos to record the audio as the cameras were rolling just in case there was any interference with the audio considering they were most likely going to be filming outside. 

We Have a Title....

    After discussing in group meetings and within the group chat, choosing a title was something we wanted to take our time with. We realized that the docuseries should have a strong title that represents the vibe of our production and overall docuseries concept. We wanted to dedicate some time to ponder and discuss what title would be best fit. During research I came across this article:

 https://www.desktop-documentaries.com/how-to-choose-documentary-title.html#:~:text=When%20choosing%20your%20title%2C%20choose,one%20else%20is%20using%20it.

    It was titled "How To Choose A Title For Your Documentary" and it helped me understand what the process of creating the best title is really like and the importance of it. In the article it stated "I highly recommend choosing a short title (1-3 words).  A shorter title makes it easier to promote and easier for people to remember. In addition, a shorter title shows up easier in a thumbnail image..." 

My groupmate Janey came up with the title names "In Sync" or "The Next Step" which Jennifer and I really liked. Both of the title names were simple but related to our documentary and were great options for us, however The Next Step was our favorite. We thought this table was the best one because it relates to the next step in dance choreography but also how being on a college dance team is the next step of a dancer's journey.

Our Filming Days are Approaching!

    After discussing with my group we have decided that for corona regulation guidelines in is best to not have our whole group of 3 go to film if everyone doesn't necessarily need to be there. The less people that are there the safer it will be. Janey and Jennifer said that it would be just fine if they went. Before the actual filming day we will discuss collectively the plan and be prepared with questions and a shot list and outline. As far as equipment goes Jennifer has a Nikon D350 and Janey has a Cannon G7X. Both of these cameras will be readily available and used for our footage. We have been in contact with the Sunsation girls and they have stated that they are available to film next week on March 23rd through March 25th which is the days that align with Janey and Jennifer's schedule. After receiving an update from Jennifer I learned that they scheduled to film on March 24th at 5:15pm. Fortunately our group is on track for filming next week and we are all eager to take the next big step for this project. Stay tuned for more updates!

Some interview questions!

 In our group chat, Janey thought it would be a good idea to share a new document that included a platform for us to all edit some interview question ideas and to get some options available for when filming days around. This was a great way for us to collaborate and figure out and plan the questions we will ask when the time comes. We are planning to begin the filming process soon, so this is an important step in planning to ensure that we are prepared for the production creation. We are really looking forward to seeing our piece come together and to create something that will illuminate what being a part of the Sunsation team is really like! I came up with some interview question ideas but still have not asked Janey and Jeniffer if they like it. Here are some of mine:

How old were you when you first started dance and what made you love it?

How has being a part of the Sunsations shaped you into the person you are, and what has it taught you?

Why did you choose to be on this dance team over any others?

What has been the hardest part of this process, and what have you done to overcome it?

If you had one piece of advice to aspiring dancers what would it be?

Down below is the question layout concept that my group member Jennifer included on the document:

Coach: 

-How did you get the role of being a coach at UM? 

-What is your background in dance?

-Why University of Miami?

-What is something you wished was different in the collegic dance world?

Lea (Junior on dance team):

-Why University of Miami?

-Why did you choose to be a part of the dance team instead of being a dance major?

-What was your experience at UDA last year?

-What does a typical practice week look like?

-Besides competition, what is your favorite event to perform at and why?

-What are the perks you received from being a student-athlete at University of Miami?

-What is a flaw you see in the collegic dance world?

-What is something you wish you knew before dancing in college?

-How did your childhood studio prepare you for college?

Kailynn (freshman on dance team): 

-Why University of Miami?

-Why did you choose to be a part of the dance team instead of being a dance major?

-What does a busy day in your life look like?

-Besides competition, what is your favorite event to perform at and why?

-How is college dance different from competitive studio dance?

-What perks have you utilized because you are a student-athlete at University of Miami?

Group meeting part 2

     In class we were put in online breakout rooms with our classmates again and it was a new group of people. I really try to take advantage of this time we have because having some feedback from my peers. We began our meeting conversation by giving each person the opportunity to discuss our project idea and how far we are in the process. It was nice to hear about classmates doing short film and music video projects which is different than what my group and I are doing. After each person had their opportunity to discuss some information about their project we all gave some feedback and advice. We collaborated by coming up with new concepts, blog post ideas, and help with any concerns or struggles they needed help to overcome that they addressed in conversation. It was nice to hear about everyone's planning process and goals for the coming weeks. 

    When I explained my group's project concept about competitive dance in college they really liked the idea. Some feedback I received is to look and compare shots from other docu-series that are related to sports, this was a great idea for finding inspiration for shot ideas. I was also given some feedback that stated that we should focus on more than what the dancers do and how good they are, but more in depth information about the dancer's mindset and passion for what they do and how they feel about competitive dance at UM. They recommended that we let our interviewees see the questions beforehand to have an idea of what they want to say. This will ultimately increase the quality of our production because the questions will be more in depth. 

    Some things I suggested for my other classmates was the free resources that I blogged about this week. I felt that it was important for me to share the different tools I found that will help with the process and outcome of the final piece. I explained the various sources that they can use to find music for their short films and the free editing software they may potentially want to use. I told the people doing the music video to try to reach out to small bands on social media to see if they would respond back and give them tips on the music video creation process and social media. Overall the group meeting was extremely beneficial and everyone left with some good commentary on how to make this process a success!

Free Resources

     This weekend I was looking for platforms and resources to help aid in our production. I decided that I want to expand the types of programs I try out to see what is best fit for this production. In the past, when finding copyright free music for my projects I always used Youtube Audio library because it was all I really knew. I decided to research different softwares that provide the same service in order to find what would work best for the final documentary that my group and I compose. I first came across this website that listed 11 different places to find copyright free music, and it included some websites such as Incompotech, Invato Market, Audioblocks, Netlabels, and more. This broadened the platforms I have available to find music for the production in the future, and helped my group learn more about the free resources we have available to us. 11 Places to Find Background Music

    Another website I found when researching was Uppbeat. This was a very user-friendly and organized place to find music for videos that are copyright free. There are various categories available to select the type of music you are looking for, some of the sections are: Beats, Background Vibe, Mood, Cinematic, Theme, and Music Style. 

    Another resource I found which was provided to me by my teacher on canvas was a editing software called Oberlo. I came across this video explaining it and introducing it as well. On the website it had 24 free editing softwares for desktop listed and they were all resources that would make the editing process affordable and efficient. Some examples included; Blender, Lightworks, Shotcut, DanVinci Resolve, Openshot, and many more. Here was the video I saw on the website my teacher provided for us before looking over the listed editing softwares below.

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/best-free-video-editing-software

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZMTBdTrEbQ

Docu-series Research

 I believe that the process of researching what our group would plan to produce for a docuseries in its entirety would help us create the best documentary for the UM Sunsations. My group members agreed in a meeting we had and after discussing in our group chat.  We all came to the conclusion if we choose a good layout for the overall series and make our decisions equally as important, then the success of the production we actually will create will have a more professional and clean appeal. When choosing the different schools for the college dance team we will be focusing on we had an order and reason to each of our choices. We all agreed on including the top 3 dance schools in Florida, the University of Miami (our doc choice) as well as the University of Florida and Florida State University. 

     We thought harder about the other 3 schools we chose because we wanted it to have meaning and purpose to it.  My group member Jennifer educated me a bit more of what she knows about competitive dance in college and those that she believed would be a beneficial choice. We wanted to choose one that was popular enough that would catch the eyes of our target audience as well as good enough to help us compose a strong piece. When discussing the Power 5 conferences in our meeting we all looked over an article that I found to give us the media's perspective on the best college dance teams. After discussions and research on the Dance spirit article we learned that there are so many amazing teams to choose. Considering the fact that my group members all to a certain extent fit the target audience of this piece, we decided to come to an agreement on what schools we would be interested in watching ourselves. This really enhanced our point of view on what we thought would be the best other teams.

It was important to find a reputable and well known source from within the dance world to help us pick our docu-series episodes. We concluded that the teams we wanted to included more than the others were  Arizona State, the University of Minnesota, and Penn State University. This process really made me understand the importance of research. I learned that this dance source was one that included valid and accurate information about the dance world and upon more digging on their website I learned more about dance in college and competitive dance. This research helped me gain more of an interest and passion that I didn't really have going into this project. I am excited to learn more and stay focused on the goals I have with this production 

Here is the link↓↓↓

Best College Dance Teams in the Nation

The Docu-series Episodes

 My group and I came to a mutual agreement on the structure and episodes for our project. In order to do this we incorporated some research to influence our decision making.  The first thing we did is check various streaming services to see different docuseries related to our topic. On the services Netflix and Disney+ we payed attention to the amount of episodes and the titles they used within the series. One of the examples we looked at was On Pointe, it related to the topic of dance and was found on Disney + with a total of 6 episodes. Another show called We Speak Dance found on Netflix had 5 episodes. We noticed that the docuseries did not have a lot of episodes but just enough. We continued to research some more college sport related shows and here is what we discovered: Cheer on Netflix has 6 episodes and Last Chance U had nearly 8 episodes in each season. Most of the examples we looked at were in the range of 5-8 episodes. In conclusion, this helped our group make our decision on our structure; we wanted to have a similar balance as some of the examples we described, but we also wanted it to be different in our own way. We chose to focus on a different college dance team in every episode within our dance themed docuseries. We thought this approach would be an engaging way to entertain and inform our audience about what dancers in college and what their experience is like. Down below I listed the college dance teams we researched and chose as the best fit for our production. 

S1E1 University of Miami Sunsations 

S1E2 University of Florida Dazzlers 

S1E3 Florida State Golden Girls

S1E4 Arizona State Sundevils Dance Team

S1E5 University of Minnesota Dance Team

S1E6 Penn State Lionettes 

Plan A is back!!!

 My group member notified us that we received a response of approval from the University of Miami Sunsation Coach. This was amazing news for us because we are able to continue with our original documentary idea. There was a slight delay in our planning process on this concept because we were still unsure if the dancers would be approved for interviews. Now that the wait is up I am excited to carry through with our documentary on the Sunsations dance team and begin a more focused production planning process! This shows that in the film and media world, sometimes getting approval and connections to make your ideas come to life is sometimes not that simple. It is important to notify whoever you may want to work with in advanced to make sure there is enough time to accomplish your goals. In this case my group and I made sure to have a backup plan in case things didn't fall into place as we hoped. Luckily for us we established an idea to work with a local college team, and the outcome was in our favor. I am eager to continue to research and plan and establish set dates for filming, I am hoping for more meetings and progress for next week!

Docu-series Example

 Deaf U - Television Series

     I watched this docu-series on Netflix that helped me understand what our process will be similar to. Although it was unrelated to dance, I think it was unique to see the perspective of college students and I got ideas from their interviewing approach. I really think this example was beneficial to watch because of the similar target audience, and how the main subjects were young students as well. 

    This show is a docu-series that included a cast of Deaf-American college students that attend Gallaudet University. This show revolves around the reality of these students' lifestyles and what obstacles they go through, as well as what goes on in their daily life as a young Deaf adult. This show highlights the Deaf community in a light that is typically not seen in the media world especially in film and television considering that they are underrepresented. The writer of this show Sarah Novic stated in a tweet, “d/Deaf people are so marginalized and starved for mainstream representation that we have to pin all our hopes and needs on this one (or any single) series...if Deaf people were routinely, authentically represented (especially including BIPOC and LGBT intersections) outside the fetish zone, could the problem be fixed.” 

    This demonstrates the genuine goal of Deaf U, in which is to create this representation of Deaf students in a raw and authentic manner as well as incorporating people of diverse races and sexual orientations which is not strongly represented in films. Even though there is so much beauty in the way that Deaf people are presented, there is still some controversy. The series received some backlash because the Deaf community does not want people to watch this and assume that the situations these college kids go through happens to all d/Deaf people. Although this occurred the writers and producers feel that  “Deaf U” demonstrates eloquently that there is in fact no right way to be deaf. Deaf actress Shoshannah Stern tweeted: “The triumph of ‘Deaf U’ is in its ability to show that deaf people make the same mistakes that hearing people make — and, more importantly, have been allowed to make.” 

     

Research

I have been using this time to find inspiration for our dance documentary. I found a list of some popular dance documentaries that can be found on various streaming services, all of the doc’s goal is to step into the dance world which is something our group is aiming to achieve in our production. Here is a list of the documentaries based on playbill:

Alive and Kicking

Swing is the name of the game in this energetic film, which explores the artform from its historic origins to its cultural impact in the 21st century.

Ballerina

Follow five Russian ballerinas from the Vaganova Academy and the Mariinsky Theatre in Bertrand Normand's documentary, narrated by Diane Baker.

Ballet 422

Choreographer Justin Peck highlights the journey from a new ballet’s initial concept to its world premiere. Set against the backdrop of New York City Ballet, the Jody Lee Lipes-directed documentary also features Tiler Peck and Cameron Grant.

Black Ballerina

Frances McElroy's 2016 film tells the stories of Black ballerinas over various generations who have navigated racism, exclusion, and disadvantages in an industry largely comprised of white artists.

First Position

The Youth America Grand Prix, one of the world's most prestigious ballet competitions, is the focal point in this documentary from Bess Kargman that follows six young dancers as they compete for jobs and scholarships.

Getting to the Nutcracker

Go behind-the-scenes—from auditions to the final performance—as the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet prepares to put on one of the world’s most popular holiday traditions. Directed by Serene Meshel-Dillman.

Mad Hot Ballroom

Go inside the world of youth ballroom competitions in this documentary following the 5th grade students at several public schools in NYC as they learn to tango, foxtrot, and more. Marilyn Agrelo directs with Amy Sewell serving as writer.

Rebels on Pointe

A ballet documentary with a twist: learn more about Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the drag dance company that has garnered a cult following since its founding over 40 years ago on the heels of the Stonewall riot.

RIZE

David LaChapelle’s documentary debut follows the subculture scene of clowning and krumping. Filmed at several competitions in Los Angeles’ South Central district, and featuring interviews with the originators of the form, RIZE examines how a disadvantaged neighborhood can protect its own through dance.

Shake the Dust

Rapper Nasir "Nas" Jones and journalist Adam Sjöberg join forces to break down break dancing in various underserved communities around the world.

STEP 

A group of steppers at a Baltimore high school use the form as a way to create new opportunities for their future and heal from social injustice in America today. More than a dance documentary, Amanda Lipitz’s film is one of young women on the brink of change and a group of teenagers supporting each other.

Group meeting for Plan B

We were put into a Microsoft teams breakout room to discuss plans for our documentary, we took advantage of this time and we spent an hour sharing our ideas. Today my group and I officially decided that by this week if we receive no response back from the Sunsations, we will need to begin the production process for our plan B. My group members are extremely passionate about the topic of dance and they feel that our project will be the most successful if we carry out the project with a production on the topic of dance. I feel that this is something that will be interesting, engaging, and will be a great topic for a documentary. My group members Janey and Jennifer made a production based on the topic of dance earlier in the year, and they want to make an even better piece for our final project. Their previous documentary was about how a dance studio was affected by corona and how the dancers adapted to the new learning method. When discussing the approaches for a possible plan B, we all understood that the concept should be interesting but different than the other dance piece they made. We all decided on the idea that we can create a piece that focuses on dancers in college. Another idea we touched on that was different was showing the audience what dance competition is really like. This topic could be very engaging because we are able to display how the process actually works. This can be interesting for other people who are not in the dance world that have only seen the depiction of what competition is like through the show Dance Moms. Another element of our project that our group talked about is the different people that we will potentially be interviewing.

Target Audience

It is important to figure out what target audience the production is aiming at in order to know what film decisions to make that would appeal most to the desired audience. It is also important to know this from the beginning of the production process because it will help guide and insure that the piece is filling its maximum potential. For dance documentaries it combines two things that commonly appeal to a younger audience. One of which is that documentaries are growing in popularity and streamed on various platforms that appeal to younger generations. Also dance is popular amongst individuals from the ages of 12-19. According to a study done in 2018 it stated that due to popularity increase in documentaries and docuseries. 68% more people would watch one compared to three years ago. While researching a lot in regards to the target audience my group and I decided that our production will target the age group of pre-teens to young twenties. This target audience will also include anyone interested in dance.