Documentary was meant to be a unit that taught methods of creating, leaning more towards technical and informative strategies. Film, during the production phase, focused on framing a shot well and composing it in such a way that reflects the subject matter of the interview. During the post production phase, the class was focused on creating a cohesive story, partly similar to a narrative in that a three act structure is formed to give the documentary a purpose. Less focus was given to the pre production phase as a documentary is the art of finding the story rather than planning one. Throughout the production phase, the story may change and give way for a more interesting story. English focused on the research of the topic and learning to write an article. This was definitely challenging, as in past years English class was more essay oriented, so writing an article was new terrain. It did however give more creative freedom, allowing the writer to dictate the story and use interview’s conducted along with other sources. Digital Media did not delve into the documentary realm much. The curriculum continued the path of strengthening the practice using programs like InDesign and Pro Tools. It was merely a supplement to the other courses to allow for the usage of the programs sufficiently and effectively.

While the unit was enriching through the introduction of a new art form, the quarantine as a result of coronavirus hindered my ability to pursue my initial topic, experimental music, in film and the interviews I was able to conduct were few and not of all the institutions/individuals I would have liked. The product is not one I am very proud of, rather ok with. My hope with this project was to improve on skills from previous units, but I wasn’t able to do so with the limited access in regards to interviews and the overall setback from the crisis. Despite the lacking product, documentary proved to be a great learning experience and there are takeaways to go along with it.

Mockumentary

The Mockumentary was made as an exercise to practice documentary skills necessary for creating the actual documentary film. Composition, lighting, eyelines, b-roll, etc. was practiced and critiqued to make a fake documentary. Although this is not a perfect and super engaging example, the skills are met to a degree and showcased well. This was merely meant to boost the project and what was to come of it in the future.

Documentary

The documentary unit was unforgiving and quite disappointing due to having to quarantine on account of coronavirus. The original idea was to research and document experimental music at radio station such as KZSU at Stanford University or KJSU at Foothill College. The change in plans to focus the topic on coronavirus and its effect on my family was one I was most unwilling to accept and hesitant to take on. Instead I focused on the skills rather than the story– which proves itself extremely lackluster on its own. Because I am not proud of the product or even the topic, I included pictures of what was meant to be the original documentary along with those that were apart of the outcome.

Interviewee Bios

Hazem Rashed is an accountant who was an interviewee in the coronavirus interview. He gave very meaningful opinions on the quarantine situation and how it has affected his life.

Dina Selim is a software engineer who was a part of the coronavirus film documentary. She was both the first interviewee and the followup interviewee. She helped shape the documentary with her opinions on the matter.

Abra Jeffers is the experimental music director at KZSU at Stanford University and Steven Boljonis is a local photographer who is an avid experimental music listener. The 2 were interviewed as a part of the original documentary regarding experimental music. Their contributions did not go unnoticed from the quick change of topics, instead their interviews were used for the English research paper. Having been able to pursue experimental as a topic, I am most grateful and ecstatic about the turnout.

English Research Paper

Experimental Documentary Research Paper (click image)

The English paper was focused on the original topic of experimental music. I wrote about the general qualities of the genre in relation to the evolution of music. I found through research and interviews that experimental music holds great value to the music world, though often deemed strange and unlistenable.