4th Blog Post (1-28-11)

Another week gone by, filled with more intriguing speakers. As we continue to soak in all the knowledge provided by these various public figures, I think that deep down inside we all long for the chance to someday be in their position, to be asked to speak in front of a room full of the next generation, sharing our life experiences to anyone eager enough to listen. Each speaker brings something different to the table, whether it's the Fraser's with their vast political knowledge, or Julie Anderson, a veteran newsroom producer who provided many tips that will be useful. We're still in the process of piecing together our documentary idea, because our topic was switched to Project Success. This will be an interesting topic though, because we're all familiar with them & they've helped me out a lot personally. The reading definitely provided some good tips for interviewing, not only tips for what to ask & how to act, but also the more subtle things as well, such as drawing the line between discovery & exploitation. The article focused on things that the interviewer might not normally pick up on, such as the problems with interviewing a couple or conducting it in a public place. Overall, it was a very good read & was very useful.

2nd Blog (1-14-11)

As another week goes by, I find myself being increasingly surprised with the number of speakers that we have had in our VOICES class. Most of them have been some type of film-maker, & to have the opportunity to learn from someone who does what we do recreationally as a full-time job, that's pretty big. They've all taught us something different, such as to always try & have some sort of conflict shown in your film to just sitting down with your interviewees to get to know them better before they go on camera. We haven't really done a whole lot of hands-on things this week, so we haven't accomplised much, per se.

Blog #1 1/7/11

So far, we've accomplished a lot in our VOICES class, from learning how to edit film we shot to how to conduct an interview. All of the students are collaborating really well to give each other feedback, advice, & help with producing their films. Every person has different connections, & we all make sure to take advantage of that. I can't think of anything that needs to change at this point. I was actually pretty interested in the latest article we read about directing documentaries. It provided numerous viewpoints on the reasons behind producing a documentary, such as wanting to persuade an audience while still presenting an integrated point of view. I had always wanted a better definition of a documentary, & although this isn't a complete definition, this passage really hit home with me: "...each documentary examines the actual through the lens of a human temperament."