Here we go again...
This is uh oh #3 a.k.a not a good sign at all. So let's do a quick little update on my life and all that is going on right now. I am part of the American Musical Theater program at my school and this year we are putting together a version (I guess one could say) of FAME: The Musical. We have been working on this ever since the beginning of the school year, so August, and our show is this upcoming week on the nights of April 6th and the 7th. Every production done by our musical theater program tends to be very chaotic and in simpler terms just a mess; up to rehearsal weeks which take place the two weeks before the show. We have after school rehearsals from 3-5:30pm every day the week before show week, we then have a technical rehearsal on the Sunday before show week from 10am-1pm. which is basically just a whole run through of the show (costumes, makeup, hair, lights, curtains, etc.), and finally the 2-3 days before the show we have "full run through" rehearsals from 3pm-6pm. This is all a very intense process and it has truly made my work ethic in all things a lot better, it also helps me to work under pressure a lot more efficiently.
Which brings me to my next point, in my last blogpost I talked about my documentary's title and the fact that I was going to name it "Disagreement: Election 2016." Since then I have filmed both my interviewees and went to their house. Camille, my friend from school, and her mom are my interviewees and they really did do a wonderful job of giving me great answers and helping me bounce back and forth between the questions and their responses. I have the footage but I am just not happy enough with it. Here's the thing... I have seem to have not thought about this well enough in the beginning but putting all the pieces together after what I filmed... I'm just bored. I hate watching my own stuff and not being excited because if I'm not excited then how will my audience be?
From here I'm putting my thinking cap on. I am going to talk to my peers, my parents, and whoever else I can get advice from during the weekend to figure out what I can do.
I was so so so excited and now I'm just a little bummed out.
Till next time
Mariette xx
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Documentary title?
Hey guys!
Ahhhhh! So I have come to realize that I had this irking thought in my mind that was blocking me from making moves on many things with this project. The title...
Some may say that one does not pick a title until the very end, which is true, but I always title my projects before I begin just to have something to build off of and if my idea takes a whole different turn then obviously I change it.
But... here is my title for now: Disagreement: Election 2016.
I decided on this because I want to make sure that my audience has a clear idea from the get go of what the documentary is about. I want them to know that it is about the election but I want to make sure they understand that it is about the issues the election brought upon the society. I also want to make sure that the fact that it is about issues within families is concealed.
This title seems perfect at the moment because of the fact that this is supposed to be just a 5 minute excerpt of a TV documentary and TV documentaries could last a while or maybe not; but in the case that it does last a while I need to have a title that can carry on for many issues/disagreements. As a producer I might run out of families to talk about or the topic may get tiring; but with this title I can explore all that I want to with no limits!
Thanks for tuning in!
Mariette xx
Ahhhhh! So I have come to realize that I had this irking thought in my mind that was blocking me from making moves on many things with this project. The title...
Some may say that one does not pick a title until the very end, which is true, but I always title my projects before I begin just to have something to build off of and if my idea takes a whole different turn then obviously I change it.
But... here is my title for now: Disagreement: Election 2016.
I decided on this because I want to make sure that my audience has a clear idea from the get go of what the documentary is about. I want them to know that it is about the election but I want to make sure they understand that it is about the issues the election brought upon the society. I also want to make sure that the fact that it is about issues within families is concealed.
This title seems perfect at the moment because of the fact that this is supposed to be just a 5 minute excerpt of a TV documentary and TV documentaries could last a while or maybe not; but in the case that it does last a while I need to have a title that can carry on for many issues/disagreements. As a producer I might run out of families to talk about or the topic may get tiring; but with this title I can explore all that I want to with no limits!
Thanks for tuning in!
Mariette xx
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Finding my way!
Hey guys!
Just like Gabriella Montez in High School Musical I have gotten to the point where if I don't figure out what I'm doing and how I am producing it I will be messed up; therefore, I gotta find my own way!
So here's my plan step by step:
1. Decide on whether or not I want to have 2 different families in the documentary
2. Once I select this I have to decide how exactly I am going to interview them without causing much of a ruckus in the household.
3. I need to sit in their household and let them discuss as naturally as possible so I can score some real footage and not have it just be interviews.
4. I have to shoot some extra footage of both members of the household living their daily lives and just going about it.
5. Put all the pieces together.
6. And voila!
Making this list will be a basic guideline to make sure I get everything done and don't make dumb planning mistakes. Apart from that step by step list I also want to share with you guys my storyboard which I created a little while back. I don't want to post it on here until I know it is going to be exactly what I go by.
This is a lot harder than it seemed and still seems!
Keep holding on amigos!
Mariette xx
Just like Gabriella Montez in High School Musical I have gotten to the point where if I don't figure out what I'm doing and how I am producing it I will be messed up; therefore, I gotta find my own way!
So here's my plan step by step:
1. Decide on whether or not I want to have 2 different families in the documentary
2. Once I select this I have to decide how exactly I am going to interview them without causing much of a ruckus in the household.
3. I need to sit in their household and let them discuss as naturally as possible so I can score some real footage and not have it just be interviews.
4. I have to shoot some extra footage of both members of the household living their daily lives and just going about it.
5. Put all the pieces together.
6. And voila!
Making this list will be a basic guideline to make sure I get everything done and don't make dumb planning mistakes. Apart from that step by step list I also want to share with you guys my storyboard which I created a little while back. I don't want to post it on here until I know it is going to be exactly what I go by.
This is a lot harder than it seemed and still seems!
Keep holding on amigos!
Mariette xx
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Uh oh... #2
Hey guys!
Here we go again with some uh oh's... So since I spent this whole week at my state competition for drama I didn't spend a lot of time working on this but I did get to communicate with the people who I want to use for my documentary and I have some juice!
I have decided that my documentary for sure will be a political one. This is very broad so I will go into detail right... now.
By a political documentary I mean one that deals with current political issues, especially the ones the United States is dealing with right now. I don't want to create much controversy on it I just want people to see both sides of the situation. At the beginning of this year in my media studies class our teacher shoved us out of our comfort zone by throwing at us a project in which we had to select a controversial topic and through a website we had to present both sides with no bias at all. I chose the topic of abortion which was why I struggled so much to complete this project. I ended up doing very well on the project but the whole week and a half before turning it in I was full of anxiety and overthinking; which is sort of what is happening to me right now.
http://pro-choicepro-life.weebly.com/pro-life.html - this is the link to the website I created if you're interested.
Well, back to what my documentary will be about, I want to focus the documentary on the issues the current political controversies occurring in this country are bringing into families. By this I mean showing both the liberal and the conservative side of 2 or more members of a family (for now it's only 2 members) and how this created, creates, and will continue to create discussions and disagreements in between family members.
This is my idea which for now I think it has a good shape although I'm still thinking about how exactly I want this to look and when I can shoot it and when I can get real camera footage... We'll see how this goes.
For now, we'll talk later!
Mariette xx
Here we go again with some uh oh's... So since I spent this whole week at my state competition for drama I didn't spend a lot of time working on this but I did get to communicate with the people who I want to use for my documentary and I have some juice!
I have decided that my documentary for sure will be a political one. This is very broad so I will go into detail right... now.
By a political documentary I mean one that deals with current political issues, especially the ones the United States is dealing with right now. I don't want to create much controversy on it I just want people to see both sides of the situation. At the beginning of this year in my media studies class our teacher shoved us out of our comfort zone by throwing at us a project in which we had to select a controversial topic and through a website we had to present both sides with no bias at all. I chose the topic of abortion which was why I struggled so much to complete this project. I ended up doing very well on the project but the whole week and a half before turning it in I was full of anxiety and overthinking; which is sort of what is happening to me right now.
http://pro-choicepro-life.weebly.com/pro-life.html - this is the link to the website I created if you're interested.
Well, back to what my documentary will be about, I want to focus the documentary on the issues the current political controversies occurring in this country are bringing into families. By this I mean showing both the liberal and the conservative side of 2 or more members of a family (for now it's only 2 members) and how this created, creates, and will continue to create discussions and disagreements in between family members.
This is my idea which for now I think it has a good shape although I'm still thinking about how exactly I want this to look and when I can shoot it and when I can get real camera footage... We'll see how this goes.
For now, we'll talk later!
Mariette xx
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Florida State Thespians
Hey guys!
This week is about to be a very overwhelming week... Again. I will be competing this week at a state competition for drama. To get to this competition I had to go to the district competition first. At districts I performed a Duet Acting scene and got straight superiors. Superiors are the best ratings one can get at these drama competitions. My partner and I scored an 87 out of 90, almost a perfect score. Although we scored this high, we did not get to perform/compete at states. Even though we did not get to compete attending the competition is a wonderful experience.
I didn't have much time to spend on working on my documentary but I did have time to work on research. Although this might not be sources that I can site, watching many performances at the competition gave me a lot of ideas and triggered ways to produce my documentary better. I was also surrounded by many classmates who also had to work on their final AICE Media A Level projects so it was interesting to share my ideas with them and to continue getting feedback about it.
States was a very wonderful experience and although it threw me a bit off track with my work from school it was all very worth it.
Talk to you guys later!
Mariette xx
This week is about to be a very overwhelming week... Again. I will be competing this week at a state competition for drama. To get to this competition I had to go to the district competition first. At districts I performed a Duet Acting scene and got straight superiors. Superiors are the best ratings one can get at these drama competitions. My partner and I scored an 87 out of 90, almost a perfect score. Although we scored this high, we did not get to perform/compete at states. Even though we did not get to compete attending the competition is a wonderful experience.
I didn't have much time to spend on working on my documentary but I did have time to work on research. Although this might not be sources that I can site, watching many performances at the competition gave me a lot of ideas and triggered ways to produce my documentary better. I was also surrounded by many classmates who also had to work on their final AICE Media A Level projects so it was interesting to share my ideas with them and to continue getting feedback about it.
States was a very wonderful experience and although it threw me a bit off track with my work from school it was all very worth it.
Talk to you guys later!
Mariette xx
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Uh oh...
Hey there!!
I am going to make a series of these "Uh Oh..." posts; by uh oh I mean ISSUES!
Well, my father always says that it is not an issue until you call it one, so I'm going to call them uh oh's instead. One of my first uh oh's is how exactly do I begin to organize this documentary; will it be an excerpt of a TV documentary or full length documentary? This has led me to researching conventions for both of them and how making my documentary one of both will affect my promotion for the movie; you know, typical producer issues!
I am currently watching The People vs. O.J Simpson on Netflix and this is a televised production and it follows all television conventions; these including the cliff hangers for commercial breaks, the fact that it is told through smaller periods of time, etc. This same story was told differently as a movie called O.J: Made in America; this one following movie conventions, also winning the Best Documentary Oscar at the 2017 Oscars.
This is the poster for the O.J: Made in America movie in contrast to The People vs. O.J Simpson's TV poster/advertisement. These are very different but in a way very similar. Different in the way that obviously they are making very different points; the movie is an elongated explanation version of his life leading to when the trial was happening and everything up to how he got to where he is right now. While the show is just about the trial and all the issues faced during and a little after it. We can clearly tell that in the movie his whole story leads to show how he was once an American icon and in the TV poster we can see, along with the warmth of the colors, how this was a dark period.
I need to make my decision ASAP! Let's see what light turns on and which one turns off this week! Keep calm and wait for my decision!
Mariette xx
I am going to make a series of these "Uh Oh..." posts; by uh oh I mean ISSUES!
Well, my father always says that it is not an issue until you call it one, so I'm going to call them uh oh's instead. One of my first uh oh's is how exactly do I begin to organize this documentary; will it be an excerpt of a TV documentary or full length documentary? This has led me to researching conventions for both of them and how making my documentary one of both will affect my promotion for the movie; you know, typical producer issues!
I am currently watching The People vs. O.J Simpson on Netflix and this is a televised production and it follows all television conventions; these including the cliff hangers for commercial breaks, the fact that it is told through smaller periods of time, etc. This same story was told differently as a movie called O.J: Made in America; this one following movie conventions, also winning the Best Documentary Oscar at the 2017 Oscars.
This is the poster for the O.J: Made in America movie in contrast to The People vs. O.J Simpson's TV poster/advertisement. These are very different but in a way very similar. Different in the way that obviously they are making very different points; the movie is an elongated explanation version of his life leading to when the trial was happening and everything up to how he got to where he is right now. While the show is just about the trial and all the issues faced during and a little after it. We can clearly tell that in the movie his whole story leads to show how he was once an American icon and in the TV poster we can see, along with the warmth of the colors, how this was a dark period.
I need to make my decision ASAP! Let's see what light turns on and which one turns off this week! Keep calm and wait for my decision!
Mariette xx
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Input
Hey again!
We are officially on board the "let's get to work" train! This week our media studies class met at our school's media center which was renovated during the summer of 2016. The media center has new computers, projectors, chairs, tables, outlets everywhere among other things.
We each utilized our laptops to project our blogs and some of our inspirations, whether they were videos, images, GIFs, etc. As we talked about our projects, inspirations, and blogs our classmates would listen and then any ideas they had to help our project out they'd put on the table. This was very helpful due to the fact that not everyone thinks the same way and sometimes one, as a creator, may block some ideas off because they would be very hard or impossible to produce but the idea of this was for my classmates to help me figure out ways to produce things I thought I wasn't going to be able to.
As I was talking about my idea, it being a documentary about people in families who have opposite political views, I received input on what point of view I should shoot it from, the amount of people I should interview, including footage of real events, etc. This was very helpful for it gave my idea a lot more shape than it had before.
The most significant input I received was to include a person of authority in my documentary. I began to think more and more about this and decided that this person had to be someone as "unbiased" about the topic as possible. I came to the conclusion that a school counselor or a psychologist/psychiatrist or therapist could help me out. Maybe this person isn't exactly unbiased but they would just include their side on how these different views affect the family or the relationships between whatever two people I am interviewing? Maybe... Still not very sure what kind of input this person of authority would bring but I am aware that it is very necessary.
This is about to get way more bumpy than I had advised...
Hold on tight!
Mariette xx
We are officially on board the "let's get to work" train! This week our media studies class met at our school's media center which was renovated during the summer of 2016. The media center has new computers, projectors, chairs, tables, outlets everywhere among other things.
We each utilized our laptops to project our blogs and some of our inspirations, whether they were videos, images, GIFs, etc. As we talked about our projects, inspirations, and blogs our classmates would listen and then any ideas they had to help our project out they'd put on the table. This was very helpful due to the fact that not everyone thinks the same way and sometimes one, as a creator, may block some ideas off because they would be very hard or impossible to produce but the idea of this was for my classmates to help me figure out ways to produce things I thought I wasn't going to be able to.
As I was talking about my idea, it being a documentary about people in families who have opposite political views, I received input on what point of view I should shoot it from, the amount of people I should interview, including footage of real events, etc. This was very helpful for it gave my idea a lot more shape than it had before.
The most significant input I received was to include a person of authority in my documentary. I began to think more and more about this and decided that this person had to be someone as "unbiased" about the topic as possible. I came to the conclusion that a school counselor or a psychologist/psychiatrist or therapist could help me out. Maybe this person isn't exactly unbiased but they would just include their side on how these different views affect the family or the relationships between whatever two people I am interviewing? Maybe... Still not very sure what kind of input this person of authority would bring but I am aware that it is very necessary.
This is about to get way more bumpy than I had advised...
Hold on tight!
Mariette xx
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Let the research begin
Hey guys!
This week has been a wild week as I am very close to making my college decision and am very overwhelmed. I have decided to start my research based on the major task and then moving on to researching for the minor tasks.
I tend to learn quicker by watching, therefore, I have been watching plenty of short documentaries to help me understand the typical conventions of them. I have also been visiting different websites on conventions and ways to apply them and ways to not. Although I'd rather watch and learn by observing, reading about conventions and the ways different directors and producers use them is very helpful, especially for inspiration.
https://film.edusites.co.uk/index.php?/article/documentary-codes-conventions/
This is one of the websites that I've been using to base the information I'm collecting about conventions for my documentary. I have a couple of other ones but I don't love them yet so I don't know if I'll blog about them.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004881605/family-conversations-on-trump.html?playlistId=1194811622221®ion=video-grid&version=video-grid-headline&contentCollection=Times+Documentaries&contentPlacement=0&module=recent-videos&action=click&pgType=Multimedia&eventName=video-grid-click
This is one of my major inspiration videos. I want to do a documentary on something politically related due to the fact that it is and has been such a hot topic in the United States, and all over the world, right now. I think I'm going with the idea of a documentary related to the "internal", i guess you could say, issues families face with different members of the family voting in different ways. It will be a tough run but I think I'm ready!
Fasten your seatbelt!
Mariette xx
This week has been a wild week as I am very close to making my college decision and am very overwhelmed. I have decided to start my research based on the major task and then moving on to researching for the minor tasks.
I tend to learn quicker by watching, therefore, I have been watching plenty of short documentaries to help me understand the typical conventions of them. I have also been visiting different websites on conventions and ways to apply them and ways to not. Although I'd rather watch and learn by observing, reading about conventions and the ways different directors and producers use them is very helpful, especially for inspiration.
https://film.edusites.co.uk/index.php?/article/documentary-codes-conventions/
This is one of the websites that I've been using to base the information I'm collecting about conventions for my documentary. I have a couple of other ones but I don't love them yet so I don't know if I'll blog about them.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004881605/family-conversations-on-trump.html?playlistId=1194811622221®ion=video-grid&version=video-grid-headline&contentCollection=Times+Documentaries&contentPlacement=0&module=recent-videos&action=click&pgType=Multimedia&eventName=video-grid-click
This is one of my major inspiration videos. I want to do a documentary on something politically related due to the fact that it is and has been such a hot topic in the United States, and all over the world, right now. I think I'm going with the idea of a documentary related to the "internal", i guess you could say, issues families face with different members of the family voting in different ways. It will be a tough run but I think I'm ready!
Fasten your seatbelt!
Mariette xx
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