Education Abroad Final Cut

 

 

 

 

Link to documentary ("Is It In Your Reach?"):
                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-93NIENCQc

Reflection Essay

      The moment you introduced the project in class, I started mapping out ideas on how to go about it; I was very excited to work on the documentary. When it came time to start working on it, by going out and gathering information and relevant footage, my excitement was still evident. It started to fade away when we started editing because it felt like we spent an eternity cooped up in the media depot. That is definitely the number one struggle my group and I encountered during the process of creating an education abroad documentary. Although the editing process was prolonged, the end product proved that all the hard work and the sacrifices each one of us had to make, was worthwhile. What we have as a final cut of our documentary, makes me so proud to have had the opportunity to work on such a documentary and with the individuals I worked on it with; Rana, Anna, and Monique. Of course every success encounters challenges and setbacks. For this documentary, one setback we had was the fact that we only had 5 minutes to fit everything in. This was a setback because we had so much we wanted to share with people and with the 5-min limit, we couldn't exactly do that. This is also one of the parts we spent a lot of time in because it wasn't easy to choose the footage that would make it on the documentary. If I had to change an aspect of the documentary, this would be it.
      I talk about how everything came together to produce an amazing end product but the foundation of that amazing end product is more important. Each one of us had roles and responsibilities in the span of the 6 weeks we had to work on this documentary. On my part, I was responsible of interviewing Dr. Ogden, the director of EA, Harley and Diane, the students who have studied abroad and had problems with financials, and also peers who have developed an interest in EA and are planning on traveling abroad soon. I was also responsible of typing and posting the storyboard. Lastly, but most certainly not least, it was my responsibility to edit most the footage we gathered and organize it in a way that would make a pleasing documentary.
      All in all, working on this documentary was memorable, not only because we ended up with an amazing documentary, but also because each one of us made sure that we created a positive environment to work on. For example, in-order to avoid conflict, I made sure that I put myself in my teammates' shoes to try and understand their perspective on how a part of the documentary should be done. Also, in all the seriousness involved in creating a documentary, we made sure that we took some time off to just have a little fun before falling back into the work ahead of us. With this, we were all able to provide 100% effort towards completing this project.
     Regarding the class as a whole, in all honesty, the readings and films we watched didn't cause me to think about my world differently but working on this project slightly made a difference in the way I view the campus community; I now appreciate the UK community more. Although my views weren't changed, some of my skills were enhanced; my public speaking skills. Through the lessons taught about different styles of communication, which I preferred more than writing essays, I now know what is expected when presenting a speech. In my opinion, the lectures and the discussions were balanced enough so I wouldn't have preferred more of the other. However, in the future, I think it might be helpful to introduce discussions that would encourage more student participation, which leads me to the topic of the one thing I'd change about this course; It wasn't clear to me what was considered participation and how it was going to be graded. So, I didn't agree with the grading method of that particular section. Otherwise, I enjoyed being in this class, meeting new people, and having you as my professor.

Study Abroad Storyboard

Scene 1: Open the film with a shot of the Education Abroad building, which has flags surrounding the building
                 ~ This is a pan shot of the whole building, which captures the flags surrounding the building. It's also a low angle shot because it's from the point of view of a student who is either interested in studying abroad and that's why he or she is there, or happened to be passing by and the building caught his or her attention. This is the first shot because it makes it clear to the audience what the documentary is going to be about; travel.

Scene 2: A straight cut into the shot of the inside of Education Abroad office, which will follow up to the location of Dr. Anthony Ogden's, the direction of Education Abroad, office. In this shot, Dr. Ogden will also be included in a way that captures him in his environment working
               ~ This shot will be a tracking shot from the point of view of a student interested in studying abroad. It is included as a way to further enlighten audience on exactly where you need to go in-order to get the best service and advice on studying abroad. Also, gives audience a sense of familiarity with the EA office and the staff working there. This shot will be sped up a little so as not to take up too much time off documentary

Scene 3: A straight cut into interview with Dr. Ogden in his office
                ~ This will be a medium shot that will include an interview with Dr. Ogden. To keep the audience's attention from drifting away, pictures will be included that will correspond with what he is saying. Due to this, there will be a variety of shots included when switching from pictures to Dr. Ogden. So, we will switch from medium shot to close shot to long shot but at the same time making sure we keep the attention on him. This scene of the interview serves as the informational aspect of the documentary

Scene 4: Transition into an interview with a student who has studied abroad and will talk about their experience studying abroad
                ~ Start with an establishing shot which lets audience know where the interview is occurring, then cut into a medium shot to capture the student's interview. Going straight into another interview with a student, with the interview of Dr. Ogden preceding, portrays the similarities between the student's views and experience studying abroad compared to those of the director of EA, which will appeal to the audience. To keep audience's attention, we will add pictures and maybe videos that the student will have provided, of his or her experience studying abroad

Scene 5: At this point, we will tackle the topic of the tremendous challenge of studying abroad; cost. This will be done by showing quick responses from students around campus answering the question of why they haven't studied abroad; "I can't afford it!"
                ~ This scene is going to be loaded with a lot of quick medium shots and close-ups of the students' responses. This scene is particularly here in-order to introduce one of the major points we're trying to make with this documentary; cost is not an issue! This scene will introduce the next scene, which is scholarships

Scene 6: Yet another interview, but this time, one with Yiyi Tang and an instructor, Albert Kalim, who have had experience studying abroad in the literal sense and also in the sense that they have been or still are in-charge of EA scholarships. This interview will be done in the financial aid office in the EA building
               ~ For this scene, it's unnecessary to do an establishing shot because the location has been established previously. Instead, cut straight into the  interviews with a medium shot. This scene will refute the answer given by majority of students in the preceding scene (that they can't afford EA), by assuring them that they can in-fact afford EA through EA scholarships

Scene 7: To wrap up the documentary, another interview will be included, with a student who wants to go study abroad and thought he or she couldn't afford it but through scholarships, he or she is now able to
               ~ This will be a close-up shot because we want to capture the excitement evident on the student's face. This scene/interview will expand/emphasize the fact that scholarships help tremendously in your study abroad experience

Scene 8: The last scene will involve shots at the airport (Bluegrass Airport)
                ~ This scene will include a low angle shot of the airport sign, which will let the audience know the location of the scene, a long shot of families hugging goodbye, a tracking shot of people boarding the plane, and a standard shot of the plane taking off. These shots will serve as a goodbye/farewell to the student traveling abroad and also a welcome to students, not only planning to study abroad, but also to those reluctant on EA

Music Video

 

This music video of the song "Defender" by Daddy Owen uses a variety of shots and angles to capture every moment  in a unique way. My favorite shot, which is also the longest shot, starts from 3:20 - 3:33. It is 13 seconds long!

Born Into Coal

Although the documentary short "Born Into Coal," was framed around the topic coal mining, the fact that it has no rising and falling action, and also that it's free form, shows that it's a human interest documentary. Watching this documentary was very intriguing because of not only how effective the scenes were due to the technique used, but also because of the content and the relevance of it. In the video, the concept of being born into coal is referenced and as an example, coal miners were documented, along with their families, in-order to expose the audience to the idea of being born into coal.

When the topic of the explosion that happened in April  5, 2010, arose, I found this particular shot to be very effective. The reason why this close-shot is effective is because it captures the pain families of coal miners endured or still endure due to the explosion, which was and still is a clear reminder of the danger loved ones put themselves in everyday and that it's not guaranteed that they're going to make it home. The background being black creates a contrast effect so that the audience focuses only on her facial expression. The tear dropping down her cheek, along with the story she's recalling, creates a sympathetic audience because it conveys the amount of hurt she carries due to the circumstances, which can be overwhelming. In this close-up, it's easy to tell that she's not locked up in a dark room bawling her eyes out because she's very collected, which means that the tear escaped subconsciously. This goes to expand the idea of the heart wrenching situation they're put in; being born into coal.

In this other close-up shot, it's shot sideways unlike the one above. This is my favorite shot of the documentary short because it uses so little to convey the tremendous unspoken words.

This shot shows Arianna and how she was and is affected by the danger of her daddy's career. In this sideways close-up shot, a soft focus is used in a way that shows you the background, but the main focus is kept on Arianna. This shot allows the audience to see the unshed tears, which shows the character's heartbreak and her feelings towards being born into coal. She says, "It's the risk I have to take I guess." Even with the audience not watching the documentary and just seeing this shot, it's evident, through her expression, that she feels like there's nothing she can do about her current situation but she still hasn't lost hope. The fact that she's not looking straight into the camera creates an even more sympathetic audience because it (the shot), portrays it's natural aspect; that this isn't a faked expression, but rather it comes from the deepest part of her heart, and that for a split second, she lets the emotions take control.

Visual Rhetoric - The Last Supper

In the No Seconds and The Last Meal Project presentations, the depiction of a prisoner's last meal before execution is done using visual rhetoric. Henry Hargreaves in No Seconds, uses images of the actual meal, including the contents of the last meal, placed on a plate/tray. On the other hand, although The Last Meal Project uses pictures of the last meal (though not as detailed as the other presentation), it also includes the pictures of the prisoners executed, which appeals more to the audience. This is because it allows the audience to put a face to the story, which in some cases results to the picture of the prisoner being permanently embedded to your mind.

The authors of these two projects had to consider how to appeal to the audience with visual rhetoric. Hargreaves uses visual rhetoric by presenting the meals in different ways, for example, in the Ronnie Threadgill and Ted Bundy presentation, the meal was large compared to the others. Also, there were a variety of food and drinks, the table cloth and the trays were bright and colorful, the napkins were well folded, with silverware laid carefully on top, and on Ronnie Gardner, the last meal even included a movie. By depicting the last meal in such a manner, it leaves the impression that although it was their last meal, they enjoyed it to the fullest. However, it doesn't cause as much sympathy on the prisoners as the Angel Diaz, who was denied a meal, meaning the depiction contained of an empty plate. This kind of depiction draws the audience's attention to the fact that he was denied a desired meal on his last days, which leaves the audience in thought. This shows that the No Seconds presentation is more compelling than The Last Meal Project one.

Although The Last Meal Project is more compelling, the No Seconds evokes more compassion, in the sense that, when you look into the prisoners' eyes after hearing their stories, especially the ones about how some prisoners requested a last meal based on past memories, it makes the audience get the impression that he or she regrets his or her wrongdoing.

In these projects, the author's goal/aim affects how he or she presents his or her images in the sense that their images are centered around their main argument. He or she will focus on the pros and cons of the argument and depict it. For example, Henry Hargreaves depicts a situation where the prisoner gets everything they desire but on the other hand, he also touches on a situation where the prisoner is denied their desire.

Besides the No Seconds and The Last Meal Project, another representation of the last meal would be to do one on the aftermath of the last meal and the prisoners' reaction to it, so the audience can see if the last meal really does make things a little bit better or easier on the prisoners.

Speech Reflection

Although I was very nervous about the Shark Tank speech, I'm very proud that I didn't let the nerves get the better of me. Overall, I think my speech was pretty good because I had strengths coming in to the presentation period. One of the strengths I had was that, I was able to present a speech that flowed well due to being able to get my thoughts together and use transitions. I was able to do this because, instead of focusing on memorizing the speech itself, I committed to mind the key points. Another one of my strengths was that, I was able to keep the audience's attention throughout my presentation, which is quite an accomplishment. Lastly, but definitely not least, I'm proud that I was able to refrain from using filler words throughout my speech, which sometimes feels natural to do in-order to get your thoughts together and/or because it's a habit.

Of course with strengths, also comes weaknesses. One of the weaknesses I had was with voice projection. When presenting, I thought I was loud enough but after watching the video, I realized that the audience could barely hear me. Another weakness was that, I spoke too fast when presenting my speech, which was due to the fact that I had misunderstood the requirements of this proposal. I prepared my speech with the knowledge that it was limited to 3 minutes tops so, I had to squish in all my info and had to even cut out some info in order to stay within range. This is something I definitely think I could improve on; looking at a rubric before presenting my final work. Yet another weakness I had was looking around (up, down, side) a lot so as to get my thoughts together. Although I stayed clear of filler words, I leaned towards my eyes wandering instead of maintain eye contact with the audience. A final weakness that I noticed while watching the video is that, although I moved around a little, I kept it within a small radius in the sense that I didn't leave the circle/bubble that surrounded me.