Documentary

Introduction

The documentary unit is one of the most longest and arduous products at Freestyle. Students are asked to find a subject to research, a particular subject that interests them from the community. Then, we were asked to take a stance on this subject, and find people to interview. In the different classes, there were different things assigned on the documentary project. In English,  we wrote a paper, and we used the interviews as primary sources, supplying it  with secondary sources from outside research. We learned about hooks and different types of papers, and I wrote a more profile based paper. In Digital Media, we had to take pictures related to our subject, and make a photo gallery and magazine article, while developing this part of the Website. In Animation, we were to create a two minute animation based on the interviews and using the interviewees voices. The Documentary project took around one or two months to complete.

Reflection

This project was very intense. I myself was not overly ecstatic in having to go out and interview people, since I am fairly reserved when it comes to that. So I took on an issue that was closer to home. I interviewed my brother on his social media use, because as he grew, I noticed his usage of it has changed drastically. Also, social media usage by teens continues to be a heated discussion between the older crowd and the younger crowd. I wanted to address all sides to this issue, though I tried to demonstrate that social media is not entirely negative.

Animation: Outside

For my animation class, we had to develop an animated documentary based on the interviews we did. I made a profile documentary that was more centered around my brother. I specifically wanted to make it a story about him, and this character, building the world around the metaphor of a moth being attracted towards light. A lot of ideas went through my head, and I was concerned that the interview would not give me enough criteria to build upon, but when it came to working with the audio, it was surprisingly easy.

For a pitch, I created designs for the main character, representing Aramis, as a moth. I kept it relatively simple so that it was easier to animate, and I am very grateful for that decision now, speaking from the future. Also, I came up with a color scheme, which I included in my pitch, and came up with a storyline based around the specific snippets I chose to put together, drafting a narrative explaining Aramis’ relationship with social media. Then came the animatic.

Animatic

Required for the pitch was an animatic. The animatic was difficult, since I worked on it from home, but it gave me a rough idea of what the animation would look like once completed. I had manny different kind of shots, which I feel could keep the audience entertained, if they looked at different angles instead of having a straight on shot.

Animation

The final animation took a while, and I learned many different things from the process. Originally, I started with frame by frame to give it a more fuzzy feel, but as time went on I had to resort to using some lingering frames to help conserve time as the deadline loomed closer. I maintained a simple style, with simple backgrounds, and I used the rule of thirds in framing the scenes.

 

This is the final product:

A little behind the scenes:

This is a screenshot of the animation in the program Adobe Animate, which is what I use to draw the actual animation.
This is a screenshot of the project in Adobe After Effects, after I put it all together, including the sound.

Photogallery

In Digital Media, we were required to take photographs related to our subject, including photos of our interviewees. They had to be professional pictures taken by us, utilizing the skills of photography we learned earlier this year. Then, we were asked to edit them to make them look more professional, which would require the Photoshop experience we had been practicing upon the entire year. After all of that, we had to compile them all in a photo gallery, and put them on this website.



Interviewees

Aramis Duenas

This is the main interviewee, Aramis Duenas. He is also my younger brother.

Aramis Duenas is a teen interested in film and music. He likes to go onto social media to learn about the world around him, and keep up to date with friends and events happening currently, as well as for entertainment.

Margarita Duenas

This is our mother, Margarita Duenas.

Margarita Duenas is the mother of three kids, including Aramis, and she works at Stanford University as a manager of finances in the Math Department. She enjoys writing. She adores her children deeply, and protects them with her life. She is concerned over Aramis’ usage of social media, arguing that it is unhealthy. As a whole, she believes social media has a balance of positive and negative effects.

 

Dr. Paul McHenry

This is Dr. Paul McHenry.

Dr. Paul McHenry teaches World History and AP Psychology at Mountain View High School. He has a dog, Rufus, and enjoys reading. He himself uses social media, though not very frequently. He argues that while social media has had a positive impact, it has overall been more negative, elaborating on the addictions to social media.

His website: http://pmchenry.weebly.com/about-me.html