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!