At Freestyle, the Documentary Unit allows Juniors to explore an unfamiliar idea, issue, group, or place through research and interviews in order to test the question, “How do you creatively and truthfully portray a significant person, group, place, idea, or issue in the community?” With an emphasis on narrative-style journalism, students are able to develop a sense of the significance and role of their subject or topic as it related to their community.
Projects within the unit include a research-based paper in English class, an Adobe Indesign magazine article in Digital Media, and a Documentary Film in Film.
When starting the unit, my first subject idea was the “ARMADAS” project at NASA Ames, a project surrounding the use of automated systems to aid in deep space infrastructure needs. The project sounded perfect, as I knew nothing about the topic, and I had access to its warehouse and workspaces through my father.
Unfortunately, NASA Ames was one of the first organizations to shut down in light of the rising pandemic. My film partner and I were forced to redirect our project towards a new focus, and after , we decided to focus on the pandemic itself. Specifically, how the Asia-originated virus was affecting Asian restaurants in our area (specifically, Cupertino Village in Cupertino). Being both big supporters of asian food businesses, we were glad to be able to represent local businesses and hopefully help make a difference in our community.
I’m very grateful to have been able to conduct these Documentary Projects, as I’ve learned a lot not only about how to portray subjects and individuals through multiple mediums (film, writing, photography), but also how to reach out to and connect with others from my community.