The documentary series “BECOMING:” features the story of a different athlete in each episode. The first episode of the series, “BECOMING: Josh Chester” shares the entirety of Josh’s baseball career from his wiffle ball days to playing college ball. However, the extract from the episode focuses on the later parts of his career, ultimately ending with an injury. Throughout the doc extract and the Instagram page, Josh represents the social group of injured athletes. Although one may hear about an injured athlete every now and then in the media, their media presence pretty much dies after the injury, unless they make some kind of a comeback.
Josh had a story that differed from the rest, and that’s what caught my interest. When presented with the choice of academics or athletics, Josh never settled for only one. This was proven in his rejection of the draft offered by the Minnesota Twins, shown in the docuseries extract. Instead he chose to play baseball in college where he excelled in both academics and athletics, never letting the opportunity of receiving a college education go. Because of this, he had a backup plan to lean on after the injury, a major in Accounting that got him to the job he’s at today. From the start, this was an issue I wanted to address. There are athletes left with little to show for after a career ending injury, unless they are a professional athlete that made their money. The choices Josh made allowed him to still succeed, despite the injury. Although he mostly represents an injured athlete in these two products, there is more to him than just a career cut short, and this part of him is seen in the magazine article.
When discussing how I came up with the idea in the article, Josh was brought up because of the joke he made that funnily enough inspired me to make the docuseries on him and other athletes. The magazine revealed that although his baseball career was over, he was still proud of what he got from baseball, which is also touched upon towards the end of the extract as he begins to list the best things he obtained from playing the sport, representing a proud athlete.
This sense of pride was a major component when it came to branding. Using a brand identity prism, I began to put together what made up the brand of the “BECOMING: Josh Chester” doc extract. The target audience, males ranging from 15-55 years old of mid to high socioeconomic status with an interest in sports, saw themselves with the potential to become or further succeed as an athlete. The final parts of the extract in which Josh describes the lifelong friends he made from playing baseball serves as a reflection of the values of the brand: sportsmanship and building bonds between teammates. Further, the culture of the brand is demonstrated most through the interview element in which Josh describes the rewards of being a dedicated baseball player, like winning championships. This creates the sense of hard work leading to meeting one’s goals on the field, also known as the culture of the brand.
There was also repetition of the same three or four colors that I noticed throughout the footage, which created a physique for the brand as I began to use these colors: blue, green, white and black, for all the products. Although there is more variation of colors in the extract, both the Instagram page remain consistent with these colors as well as font choice. The font isn’t exactly the same for the Instagram and magazine article, but they are both the same style, bold, sans-serif and simple. Lastly, the title serves as a major component of the brand as the word “becoming” describes the process of coming to be, the purpose of the docuseries; to hear the athlete’s perspective of how they came to be who they are today.
The social media platform, Instagram is the product that engages most with the audience because of multiple posts that urge for viewer feedback. To exemplify this, there’s a post published with a blurred image of an athlete captioned, “The first athlete featured in the “BECOMING:” docuseries! Can you guess who it might be?” Not only does this post garner excitement and anticipation, but it also creates interaction with the audience. The Instagram hashtags are put to use on every post to catch the attention of the primary audience. Hashtags such as “#sports, #sportsdocumentary, #baseballplayer, #baseballlife, #athlete” with hundreds of thousands of viewers on each hashtag are included for users to find content from the page. Often when Instagram users attempt to find content that interests them, they use hashtags to search, eventually encountering pages like mine. Another thing people often like to do is see how a film they like was made, and this is how the magazine article works with the audience, by presenting the viewer with an athlete they have heard of and may even admire and sharing more of their lives with them. The doc extract also engages the audience, but in a minor way which is sharing an experience they can relate to. Whether it be because they are an athlete, student athlete, a fan of sports, or even someone who has sustained a sports related injury, there is something that each audience member can resonate with.
This was something I wanted to ensure when creating the products, but in order to do so I had to get to know the audience and the genre itself. The sports documentary sub-genre has common characteristics such as use of interviews, archives, re-enactments, voiceover narration, handheld cameras, intercutting/parallel editing and selective editing. Most of these genre conventions make up my doc extract but there were some I chose to challenge, like the re-enactments. Part of my research process was watching sports documentaries, but I never liked how the re-enactments or dramatizations took away from a serious situation. This was something I wanted to avoid, especially when discussing an injury, so I purposely chose to leave out any re-enactment. However, this didn’t work to the advantage of the extract as it felt like it was missing something at times in which the talking head interviews got boring. I learned that the re-enactments were almost necessary to keep the eye entertained. Lighting was another issue I encountered, which I also didn’t realize until I began to edit the footage. The lights were a bit dim, and they weren’t placed in the correct spots to illuminate the interview, but I did learn a quick fix to this problem would be to do a couple tests before filming and lighting proves to be an issue, change the setting, or bring in more light.
Looking back, the process of creating these products taught me something major: how to tell someone’s story.
The A Level Portfolio Project
Here it is! An extract from "BECOMING: JOSH CHESTER", the first episode of the "BECOMING:" docu-series. I had an amazing time creating this piece, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
The extract: "BECOMING: JOSH CHESTER"
Along with the extract, I'm uploading a link to the Instagram page as well as the magazine article. I spent a lot of time working hard on these two minor components in order to best promote my docu-series extract.
The Instagram page gives a bit of everything from behind-the-scenes footage to famous baseball player quotes and sneak peeks at the doc. It was my main platform to reach my target audience and promote the extract to them, and I hope I did just that. Click here to check it out! @becoming_docuseries
Lastly, I wrote the magazine article to focus on the behind-the-scenes aspect of creating the doc extract and I also included a section on how I came up with the idea. My hope was for this component to generate excitement as well as getting an inside look, which many sports documentaries may not offer.
To view the magazine article.
Overall, I'm sad to think this may be my last project for this class but I'm happy it ended with a project like this in which I learned so much, including how much I enjoy the documentary genre. Tomorrow I will be publishing my Creative Critical Reflection on the process and everything that went into it. Thank you for tuning in.
Looking Back
Looking back, this has been a great experience, like I knew it would be. I truly enjoy bringing my ideas to life in the form of film and even print media. I remained excited throughout the entirety of this project because I constantly got to try new things. In the past, I've had the opportunity to interview children, but I've never had a serious interview with an adult. I've already shared how nerve-wracking this experience was, but nevertheless I learned so much and found excitement in being able to do this for my documentary. An obstacle I encountered during the interview process was definitely the lighting and a small error in the way the interviewee looked. Since I didn't have a ring light, I had to make do with a lamp and simply point it in the direction of the interviewee, but this caused a shadow behind the interviewee that I didn't realize was so visible in the footage. Although this isn't a major problem, I think a change in setting or better planning would have resolved this issue. Another problem I ran into that I didn't notice until I began viewing the footage form my laptop was that the direction Josh was looking at in the interviews was to the right rather than to the left. Since I placed him in the right third of the screen I believe it would've been better for him to look to the left of me. I did ask him beforehand to look in a certain direction because I didn't want him staring at the camera, but this was an error on my end. I've thought about this frequently, but I think the only way to resolve an issue like this would've been to view the footage before continuing the interviews. Even though we did one test, it wasn't long enough for me to realize the little problem. This may be something only I notice, but I did learn from it.
Another new major thing I got to try was creating the magazine article. I've mentioned before, I had no idea what I would do for this but after I meeting with my teacher, I began thinking of a bunch of different concepts I could use in the article. It was also a much shorter process than what I thought. I believe I spent the most time figuring out the layout of the article rather than writing it. It was an aspect of this project that I definitely didn't think I'd enjoy, but to my surprise, I did.
Lastly, there's the social media page, the final component of this project that I worked on. I ran into one of the biggest obstacles here. After mentioning the idea of using sports highlights to my Media Studies teacher, she informed me that I wouldn't be able to publish this content because it wasn't mine. Although my goal was to engage the target audience, and this would be a great way to do so, I simply couldn't. Instead I'd have to focus on promoting my content, the doc through different means. I began thinking of what other content I could publish, and this is where the backups came in. I started to put everything together and figure out a good order in which to post it. I learned from a marketing class that I when advertising and trying to build interest I should always use tactics that catch the attention of the viewer and maintains it. This my main objective that I hoped to achieve. I still have some posts left to make.
Other than this, everything went smoothly and although I learned plenty of things, I wanted to share a few of the major problems I encountered and how I went about solving them or how I would resolve these issues in future projects.
I do have a few minor components to complete, however everything will be done by tomorrow and posted! I can't wait! Stay tuned for the CCR as well in which I further reflect on and analyze the creation of this project and what went into it, including my research, the branding, and representation.
Creating the Account
Last blog post I shared the list of ideas I had and I'm back to tell you which topics I've chosen to focus on in the Insta posts:
Secondly, there's promotional post that simply garner excitement. Such as, "Can you guess which athlete's will be featured in this series, it could be one of your favorite! Stay tuned for more." Then day by day I'd reveal a new athlete.
Lastly, I would create posts that consist of those short 10-30 second sports highlight videos. These always end up on what is called the "Explore Page" on Instagram that will be customized towards your likings. It's an easy way to reach your target audience without doing much but posting something they'd be interested in watching. The videos would be a great way to hook them and then bring them onto the documentary's account.
All three methods are great ways to reach the target audience through this platform to not only promote the film, but to get them to watch it.
I know I've only explained them, but the visuals should come soon as I build upon the account I've created. I need a cover for the profile picture and then I can begin posting!
Discussing Social Media
To create the Instagram page, I had to consider the type of content I wanted to post that would fit the target audience. During a group meeting, a classmate shared that the way he went about this was to create a couple different types of posts that ultimately went with the purpose of the documentary. Although our documentaries had very different focuses, we could still relate in this aspect that we both had the same goal, to promote our doc in an engaging manner fully grasping the attention of the target audience.
In fact, my classmate fit exactly into my target as he is a male within the age range with an interest in sports. When I brought up my uncertainty on the social media platform I'd use, he immediately responded with "Instagram!" I mentioned I'd been stuck between Facebook and Instagram because my target audience also consists of older men, but it was true; Instagram was the better option, especially if I was trying to attract the younger audience as well.
Within the group meeting, some ideas were proposed that I typed up:
Although they are all good ideas, I must choose what I consider to best fit for the target audience. I will soon be creating the Instagram page and will share then what I've decided upon.
A Title for the Docuseries
Hi blog! Let me share that honestly, I was having trouble coming up with a title for the series. As I've mentioned in a recent blog post, I wanted to create a solid list of ideas and then present them to classmates as a poll for them to vote on their favorites. This would be a great way to get feedback form my peers, but I felt as if all the ideas I had come up with were not good enough. I started talking with my mom who always helps me out when I get stuck on problems like this. She started giving me some ideas and although some were cheesy she did mention one that stood out, but before I announce it I'd like to tell about what I what wanted for the title.
Since the start I wanted a name that could be used for all the episodes. I don't know if there is a term for this but to exemplify the concept I'll use the example of a nature docuseries which could be titled Exploring Nature and each episode is about a different animal. So, episode 1 could be Exploring Nature: The Hummingbird while episode 2 would be Exploring Nature: The Ladybug. I wanted to apply this same idea to the docuseries, coming up with a title for the entire series followed by the name of the athlete the episode focuses on.
Some ideas I had were:
- An Athlete's Dream
- Playing Ball
- A Ball Player's Pursuit
However none of these seemed like the right fit, but the idea my mom brought up was perfect. Here we go, the big announcement. The title of the episode for the extract I'm creating is:
Becoming: Josh Chester
Not only does this title "Becoming:" work for the one episode, but it would work for all of them as it tells the story of the athlete's career and how they created an identity for themselves through a sport. Not only would it share about their careers, but what led them to follow through on playing a sport and ultimately becoming who they are today. I'm so content with this idea, and now I'm ready to get started on the other parts of the projects I've held off on because I didn't have the title ready.
An Editing Update
I'm about halfway done editing now. Not exactly where I thought I'd be but everything is coming together nicely. To be honest, I had a bit of trouble deciding upon how I wanted to structure the extract so I began by looking at all my footage. I imported the best footage I had and all the interview questions. From here I began adding clips into the timeline, following my typical editing process. I began to piece the beginning together, starting with an entrance in Josh's childhood room, full of baseball memories.
Here's a look at the clip. I liked how this point of view entrance started the doc extract, almost setting the stage for the piece. It was different from what I originally imagined, but it worked very well. The primary concern I have about this is that the footage is a bit shaky, but it may be an easy fix if I stabilize it in the editing process.
I plan to continue editing this week finishing it as soon as possible. My next task is the creation of the social media page, but I've held off on this because I can't come up with a good title for the documentary. Of course I've had a couple ideas, but they've been centered around the baseball aspect rather than the series as a whole. For the series I was thinking of something like "An Athlete's Pursuit", something along those lines in which I highlight on athlete and chasing a dream. I may hold a survey or maybe a poll to gather votes on what my peers believe would be a better title out of the options I have so far.
Meeting with My Teacher
Yesterday I had an early video conference call with my Media Studies teacher to ask a couple questions I had about a specific component of this project, the magazine article. She had shared with us a few examples of students who created great articles and I was surprised at how different they were from each other. At first, I had only viewed one which served as a review or reflection of the process of creating their documentary, but what shocked me a bit was that it was published on the NY Times website. I knew I'd be creating a high quality article, but ending up on the NY Times was extremely impressive to me, and honestly it made me nervous.
During the meeting, my teacher recommended that I check out the other articles as well. One was a director interview while the other was a behind the scenes. I really had no idea what was expected of my magazine article, only that it should be used for promotional purposes, but after the meeting I realized I was basically given creative freedom to whatever aspect I wanted to about the doc extract as long as I was marketing it to others, mainly my target audience.
I've been thinking a lot about what my article would entail, but I'm stuck between two options, the first being a behind the scenes look at the creation of the extract or a director interview. Something I really like about the director interview is that it's more personal and the questions can be designed to market the piece, however I also like the behind the scenes articles because it's exciting to get this inside look at how films are made. I think what I must consider is what would appeal more to the target audience, and I'm leaning towards the behind the scenes. I'll research this before coming to a decision.
(Different templates available on Canva)
One last thing I wanted to share is that I will be using Canva, a graphic design platform to create the article as it was a bunch of presets to inspire you or that you can even directly type into. Often, seeing different options gets me thinking about what I could create so I'll most likely end up customizing my own spread. More on this soon! Time to get to work.
The Chosen Editing Software
A couple posts ago I had mentioned that I finally figured out what video editing program I would use but never gave much detail so I'm here to share which one I selected and why.
Then I remembered my friend had recommended one last year called Final Cut Pro. I got in contact with her and she shared that they even offer a free trial if you own a Mac laptop or desktop computer.
After doing some research, I was able to download the software and I started playing around with it. Although the free trial doesn't have all the features of the full version, it does have the tools that I would normally need to edit. I learned this after I began using the editing program on another project I've mine. I began editing a wedding video not too long ago just to get some practice with the basics of inserting clips, cutting them, moving them around and adding audio. I actually found that the layout of it is very similar to WeVideo and I think this is going to be my new video editing software.
As for the progress on the doc extract, I am currently editing and plan to finish within the next few days. This would leave me with enough time to create the other components of the project including the magazine article and the social media page which I've been thinking about recently. More updates soon!
Another Group Meeting
Today we had a quick group meeting in which we all shared how far behind we feel. Once again, I can completely relate to my classmates. It's crazy to think that we have about a week and a half left to complete this project and here I am still working on completing the video component. With little time left, I have decided to simultaneously work on the magazine article and social media page as I edit.
As of now, my editing schedule is pretty much everyday after school as I work to complete the video component, mainly because I need this completed to start my CCR.
Further, developing the social media shouldn't take too much time as I already have ideas for the posts in mind which I plan to share on more within the next post. However, I will mention that I have chosen Instagram as the social media platform I will utilize because I do believe this is where I can get the attention of most of my target audience.
As for the magazine component, I have a meeting planned with my media teacher tomorrow morning for some clarification on what is expected of us. I'm unsure of whether the article should be used as a promotional tool like the social media or if its to provide an inside look on the project. Once I get this figured out I can also start working on this as well. My plan is to complete the article by this weekend as well as the other components of this project to be able to have a couple days to write and revise my CCR.
Also, I forgot to mention that in class we had a presentation on the CCR and the main topics we should be focused on when looking back at our work. This got me thinking a lot about the choices I'm making now. It also reminded me to keep my target audience in mind, not only for the social media but for the information I choose to share and how I share it throughout the documentary extract.
That's pretty much it for now expect updates soon on editing, the Instagram page, and the meeting with my media studies teacher about the documentary article.
The Interview
Filming the interviews were probably my favorite part of this project as we laughed a lot throughout this process. I had ran into a couple problems at the beginning with figuring out lighting and exactly where I wanted Josh to be interviewed. I've discussed in a previous blog post that the background of the interview is important as it can set the scene. It can also provide some insight on the the interviewee.
I began to look around his house for different filming spots, some places including his home office or dining area, but I ultimately decided upon filming in his living room. I wanted to make the interview a bit more personal and his office seemed too formal. Mostly, I wanted Josh to feel comfortable and free to share his feelings in the responses. Here's a behind the scenes of the set-up.
It was cool to find items around the house that improved the quality of the interview. For example, I do not own a ring-light but he did have this lamp that had bendy arms. We used this to create better lighting, bringing the focus to the interviewee. Now here's an image of what the interview looked like:
Visiting the Fields
Honestly, I never saw myself spending so much time at a baseball field, but I have to say it was exciting. To start, I wanted the b-roll to consist of shots of an empty baseball field as well as getting a more personal look with shots of the dug out, or the place in which a team meets while I also wanted a time-lapse of the field. The first day I didn't know who to talk to or how to gain entry into the field, but after encountering a parent who frequently visits the field, I was told I was free to enter and film. I have to admit, I was nervous at first (which can be seen in the footage shot with shaky hands), but by the second day I was definitely more comfortable and began freely filming every thing I thought would be useful.
Here's a sneak peek at some stills form the b-roll footage I have.
I have a point-of-view shot of me walking into the dug out the way a player would.
Also, I want to mention that I tried to film everything twice, once with a telephoto lens, and once without it. This lens is something I've become familiar with it as I've used it for photography and for a media project in the past. However, I was unsure whether I'd want this hazy effect the lens creates on the b-roll or not. It does make the movement or the camera seem a bit blurry but I like the feeling it creates, almost dreamlike or reminiscent.
This is just an advantage that comes with the use of the lens. This is still something I'm thinking about as I review the footage but I'll soon come to a decision.
The Filming Plan
Before I began filming, I started to think of how I would organize my filming schedule. I had dates set for interviews and planned to get most of the B-roll before hand. However, I realized that each part that makes up the doc extract could be filmed on separate days and that way I could bring updates on each segment.
Although I'm already about halfway through the filming process, I thought I'd share the plan:
1/3
This first part is the B-roll. Because I have the liberty to obtain this footage whenever, I made this the first thing I'd like to complete. However, it may also be an ongoing process if I see myself needing more b-roll to fill the time. In the next post I'll share more about this as I've filmed most of the b-roll.
2/3
Interviews make up the second part of my filming plan. Since this section involves others, I would have to rely on them and their schedules to get this done. I also want to say that scheduling the interviews definitely helped me become more decisive and it may sound cheesy, but brave as well. It took some courage to talk to these adults and plan something with my time, but it was a good thing for me to experience and learn from.
3/3
Lastly, I would use the final day of filming for any re-enactments I wanted to shoot and mainly obtaining the archival footage. By this point I was hoping to have a cover for the documentary that would illustrate the purpose of the doc or at least provide insight on the story I'm trying to share.
Here we Go!
I start filming tomorrow! It's crazy when I realize how quickly I got to this point, but I feel more than prepared. Josh had a quick trip to Orlando over the weekend, leaving us having to push back the filming date, but also giving me extra time to get organized. So, I wanted to share a bit on the equipment I'd use to film.
First, I'll be using my personal Canon camera for all the filming. I try not two switch between my phone and camera because of the change in quality, however if it does seem necessary at some point, I will use my phone. I chose to go with this camera mainly because of the quality and I want to portray this level of sophistication especially in the interviews as we cover serious moments of someone's life.
Then I was thinking about the audio component. In interviews, mics are often used to improve the sound quality. However, I don't own one. Tomorrow I won't be filming interviews, but I will do a test with my phone mic to see if that is enough.
In past projects, the microphone on the camera has been enough to capture sound, but if it proves to work, I can easily order a microphone off of Amazon and have it quickly.
This is the microphone I've been looking at. I think it's important to have it as a plan B since I don't have much time left to be re-filming if the audio doesn't sound well.
Lastly, I'll use my tripod for stability, mainly in the interview shots and can even be used to capture different angles during the interview which I've seen other documentaries make use of. I believe this will allow a deeper look at the interviewee such as their gestures, and also take away this feeling of the talking head that can get repetitive and boring.
Although tomorrow will only be a day of capturing B-roll footage, I'm still excited to begin filming. I will be back with updates on how it went as the piece begins to come together and I start recording interviews! One last thing I'll be using that I didn't mention, a mask!!
Interview Questions
Over the course of this project I kept coming up with more and more questions that I wanted answers to, coming from someone who honestly didn't know much about the sports industry or even baseball. However, I had to narrow down the questions I had to a list of few strong ones that would bring light to the topics I cover throughout the documentary. More specifically, topics such as: getting started playing baseball, the dedication and commitment you make to playing the sport, how it affects your social life and your education as well, and lastly the positive aspects it brings for your future. So I came up with a list of personal questions for Josh, my primary interviewee and for his parents, other interviewees I hope to use in the doc extract.
Questions for Josh include:
- Tell me about when you started baseball and what it was like. (Age, Team)
- How did you feel about baseball as a kid and do you still feel the same?
- Tell me about your committing to play college baseball? How did it feel?
- How did you get injured? (Details on the moment.)
- What were your immediate thoughts when you got injured?
- How do you think your parents felt?
- Do you feel regret after the injury?
- If you didn't get hurt, would you see yourself still playing baseball to this day?
- What would you say is the best thing you got from baseball?
Questions for Josh's parents:
- Why did you choose to put Josh in baseball?
- What was it like attending games for most of his childhood and teenage life?
- How did you see he felt towards the sport?
- How did you find out about the injury? What were your first thoughts?
- What was the greatest thing you believe he took from the sport?
These are all questions that I plan to ask for the interview, however not all will make the cut. Instead I will choose from the best responses to structure the documentary extract.
Working Shot List
Shot List
(Concept, Working draft)
As you know, the episode will tell the story of Josh's baseball career, highlighting the outcome of a great career ended by an injury.
The reason this is still a working shot list is because I'm not sure what direction the interview questions will take me. As well as I formulate the questions, I'm still not sure of how Josh will respond. His responses will pretty much determine how much of his story is shown as well as what aspects. However, I do want the documentary to end with one last interview question that allows him to demonstrate his appreciation for the sport, but not sadness or regret from the injury, rather a positive outlook as this is what he displays in real life.
I've also created a list of some interview questions for both Josh, my main interviewee and his parents which I hope to share in an upcoming blog post.
Meeting in Groups
I'm so glad we had the opportunity to meet once again with a group to discuss the process and possible struggles were having or even ask questions to get some feedback from our classmates. These meetings are so helpful and I leave feeling extremely confident about my doc and what I'll be able to create.
Today we were in a smaller group of 5 people, including me and we all shared our ideas. Most of us are on the same stage in the pre-filming and planning process while a few have started filming. I thought I was falling behind, but this made me realize that I'm actually right on track with everyone else.
Some helpful input I got from today's meeting was about the voiceover. I asked everyone whether they thought a voiceover would help develop the documentary or whether they thought it'd be unnecessary. Everyone agreed that I should use a voiceover, and instead of it being in the voice of the subject, it should be in my voice. One classmate supported this idea by stating that it would provide an outside perspective since I wasn't directly involved in each story.
Further, it was even brought up that my voice would be what brought each episode together. Although each episode tells a new story of a different athlete, my voiceover would be what remained the same, staying consist and creating a similarity between each episode.
So now that I have decided upon using a voiceover, I'm going to need to start writing a script! As I finish my shot list, I begin on the script for the voiceover and complete the planning process. I'm looking forward to sharing these things as I begin to bring my ideas to life!
A Little Setback
Well the filming process has been pushed back as I'm not quite ready to start yet. I'm mainly writing this post because the calendar, or schedule I'd made for this project showed that the filming was supposed to begin yesterday, March 13. Clearly I'm still missing some important aspects of the planning process before I can begin filming, one major thing being a shot list.
Other things include, set dates for interviewees, interview questions, and deciding on b-roll footage. Although I have given these things some thought, I've been preoccupied with some college stuff and that hasn't allowed me to give much of my attention to this project.
Also, I'd been a bit worried about the software I could use to edit but I've found a solution, more on that once I begin editing!
To conclude, I've made the decision to push back the day I begin filming to this Friday, March 19 instead of starting the filming stage unprepared as this can lead to a more hectic process and a poor quality outcome. Throughout this week I will get in contact with some interviewees I have in mind those being Josh, his parents and possibly any past coaches he's had to agree on dates, and I'll be back with updates including the shot list soon!
Episode vs Extract
Lately I've been thinking a lot about what to include in the extract. My plan for this docu-series was to feature a new athlete and their story in each episode, and Josh would be the focus of the episode. However, I'm not producing an entire episode, only an extract of it. This is extremely important to keep in mind because it leads to the choice of picking only specific parts of his story to tell while making it clear what the episodic documentary would be about.
I created this concept make to demonstrate my thought process:
Having to select only certain parts seemed like a difficult decision to make as I had so much to choose from like the start of his baseball career as a kid playing tee ball, or his high school baseball career, or even how he went to college to play baseball for a great Florida school. I kept putting off this decision until I thought about it today and come up with some kind of resolution.
I've opted to focus on the injury that ended his baseball career, but instead of demonstrating the negative side, I want to show what he got from his career as a baseball player. I could include montage footage, as he reminisces on his past. I even thought of using a fade in and out while editing to make it like memories that come and go. Although many people may see this as a tough time, Josh optimistically found other opportunities that came from this situation and that's what I hope to portray in the extract.
Having this part decided, I can start working on a shot list as well as planning for interviews so I can begin filming and stay on schedule!
Inspired by YouTube
I went on Youtube today looking for inspiration on the types of shots I could use as I begin to create my shot list and I stumbled upon a mini documentary about Zion Williamson, an American professional basketball player who rose to fame after becoming the NBA draft's pick one. Here's the link if you'd like to check the video out: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swoH636CmQY)
The documentary focuses on telling the story of his athletic life. From the start of the doc, I knew I'd like it as it began with an aerial shot of a basketball court with him practicing then to a short montage of his best dunks, transitioning to him now. These moments show a few highlights of his career and serve as a great opening for the documentary.
This is one of the first shots we see, clearly shot on a drone as the camera begins to move further upward. This establishing shot introduces the character and the plot of the film: basketball as we see him moving around on a small basketball court.
This shot is something similar to what I had in mind for the establishing shot, however I don't have a drone. Although I could ask around to see if I have a friend that has one, I don't want to count on this and then have to come up with something last minute. So here is my backup plan: I can stand far away from the baseball field on any corner and have a shot where I show him hitting the baseball. With music and him hitting the baseball on beat, I think this could make for a strong establishing shot.
What follows is a compilation of his many dunks with a voiceover from his coach. although I really like this concept I don't think either aspect will be achievable. Unless I can obtain archival footage of Josh's best plays, then I don't see this montage happening. However, this doesn't mean I can't put my own spin on it. When I come up with ideas for this I will share them as I currently have something in mind but nothing definitive.
Lastly, this got me thinking about the audio components of the documentary which still need to be figured out, but for now, I'll start looking into music options as well as deciding upon the inclusion of a voiceover.
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