My First Film!

(A short assignment where we practiced our first interviews)

As I mentioned in my “Vibrant Videos” post: “If there’s anything in the world I adore more than a freshly baked cookie… it’s film.”

…And documentaries definitely fall under that category. 

Although it’s not always as engaging as Star Wars, sometimes a good documentary is the perfect accompaniment to folding laundry all afternoon. Whether it’s murder, plague, or an adorable pet turtle named Snowy, documentaries never fail to entertain. 

Making my own documentary? Let’s just say it was harder than I thought. 

(Me, sleep deprived, writing this blog post)

Over a month ago, we took the next step and immersed ourselves into film. “Vibrant Videos” was easily one of my favourite projects from this year. Now, we’re taking those skills to the next level… it was time to create “Our First Film.”

Our assignment? To INDIVIDUALLY create a 3-5 minute ENTERTAINING and INFORMATIVE documentary style film… on a topic of our choice. 

Little did I know, “INDIVIDUALLY” would come back to haunt me later on. Although I enjoy working on my own, I had some roadblocks in this project. 

Anyways, we basically had to follow this criteria:

Before we could officially start, we needed a topic. This topic couldn’t be something random without meaning (like ducks or cupcakes,) it had to be PERSONAL. We had to dive deep down inside our souls and discover a topic that resonated with us. 

In other words, we were assigned to fill out an “interest brief”.

Although it took quite a lot of time and contemplating, I decided to go along with an important aspect of myself; food allergies. I thought it would be a unique subject (and I wouldn’t have to look far for an interview subject 👀)

In order to create a successful documentary, we obviously had to examine some professional examples. Each class, we’d watch one documentary (nicknamed “doc-a-day”), and analyze it for storytelling and filming techniques. Through these experienced, I was exposed to a whole  lot of inspiration. They were all very entertaining and fun to watch.

I’d say my favourite documentaries would be either “Snowy the Turtle” (as mentioned earlier) or “Silence” (just for those final moments of anticlimactic screaming…)

After our topics were approved, we’d then have to move on, and create our treatment and log line. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, a treatment is a summary of the whole movie, and the log line is a blurb that attempts to grab your attention. 

Here’s mine: 

As time went on and I created my screenplay, I realized that my treatment has become outdated. I was quite happy with it, but I guess that’s just what happens in film :’)

Speaking of screenplay, it was time to create our own. I’ll admit, I’ve had some experience with screenplays. I once attempted to write an animated series about mystical and paranormal creatures in the 1800s, but I never got past the first page. This time around, I managed to complete my very first screenplay!

If you can’t tell, I’m fairly proud of myself 🥳

Although I was stressed about it at the time, looking back, it was a very good experience. Now, I know how to properly format a screenplay (because I was doing it VERY WRONG before.) Maybe over the summer, I’ll be able to write my own screenplays (“Moonlocke” here I come.)

…Not me making references to things only I understand…

ANYWAYS, with our completed screenplay, we were able to visualize our final documentary. It was storyboard time. 

At first, I was sceptical. I didn’t think that a storyboard would be necessary for this particular project, since I had all the shots planned out in my head. Since the documentary was relatively short, I thought I could remember the shots I wanted to get.  However, I was proven wrong. 

The storyboard turned out to be very helpful while filming, so that I could visually keep track of all the shots I needed.

Instead of drawing mine, I attempted to create the storyboard out of stock images (because one of the examples had pictures, and I thought it looked cool.) 

You can check mine out here:

Finally, it was time to start filming. 

For the interviews, I borrowed a tiny microphone from PLP. It was very helpful, and I named it “Alfred.” Is this relevant to the project at all? Nope. 

Anyways, “Film Week” was chaotic. I didn’t have much time to film on the weekdays, and I couldn’t film B-Roll at school. In the end, I had to wait for the weekend to film. Luckily, my screenplay and storyboard really helped organize the filming process. It was easy to check if I had all my shots. 

In the end, I organized all my footage into iMovie and started the final film. 

I even tried to make “my own music” in Garageband. However, I soon discovered that I didn’t have enough B-Roll for my interview. So, I decided to animate my own.

Ironically enough, I drew these while listening to a documentary. They were quite fun to draw. My favourite one has to be this animation of an “itchy watery eye”…

PSST- It makes a lot more sense in my documentary and you’ve already made it this far into the blog post, so you should totally go watch it. 

Representing my topic “food allergies” was extremely difficult. While I was writing my screenplay, I realized how broad of a topic it was. In the end, I wasn’t able to give an in-depth representation of it. If I were to redo this project, I would have chosen a specific aspect of this topic. For example, the mental health impacts or just the scientific parts. 

However, I’m happy I completed it on time… and that it’s the last maker project of the year! I’m really looking forward to a nice, long break from hunching over my iPad. 

BUT- there’s another step. Where will we present our documentaries?

You can check out my reflection of our exhibition here!

“How can I engage and entertain an audience using my video and storytelling skills?”

Haha. Good question. Maybe by making a documentary or something 🤔

Ok, ok. I’ll be serious here. 

Entertaining an audience is no easy feat. However, if we use the video and storytelling skills we’ve learned, we can have a better chance at engaging them.

Interesting film angles can catch their attention, an understandable story can keep their attention, and a clear message can stay with them. Using our skills properly can not only engage an audience, but inspire them.  I believe that, if done right, a good story can influence in incredible ways. 

(I should know, since film has definitely been a key part of my life! I don’t know where I’d be without it!)

AaAaaaaa! I can’t believe it’s summer already! It seems like I started high school just yesterday, and now I’m moving on to Grade 10! 

Well, at least I’m looking forward to a nice, long, and relaxing vacation (probably filled with cheesy movies.)

Anyways, I’ll see you later!