On November 22nd, I opened the "iMovie" app on my phone and commenced the journey, unaware that this would become the longest editing process I have yet endured. The first, and most challenging, obstacle we encountered was the introduction of both characters, a hurdle resulting in our utter disorient. Considering the documentary covered two subjects with entirely different stories, the introduction was especially grueling. Needing to discover a way to present the beginning of both Joey and Fernanda's narratives in a non-confusing and thorough manner, I traveled to Lauren's house with my jaw sling wrapped on my face and ice packs prepared to be stuck in her freezer, hoping that together we would resolve the first editing barrier we encountered.
I hope this video of us sitting in her room, editing, and singing Taylor Swift is amusing:
During our 3 hours together that night, Lauren and I constructed a plethora of rough-draft-openings for the documentary, attempting to eventually encounter one which satisfied us both and effectively introduced the subjects in a clear, coherent manner. Below are a couple of the introductions we each created.
Not allowing our frustration to inhibit our motivation, Lauren and I revisited the documentary outline I presented on my "Baby Steps (Documentary Version)" blog, thus concluding the perfect manner in which to configure the extract's sequence. On the outline, the interviews are separated by the foundational life events both subjects similarly endured. For instance, under the first subheading, "how subjects began their initial stage of their career," we outlined an interview with Fernanda describing why she went into set design and one with Joey stating why he began playing baseball. Employing this idea, Lauren and I concluded that the fitting manner to approach editing would be to present each subject discussing their experience under the individual steps (or subheadings), one after the other, before transitioning to another phase and recycling the process. Consequently, the two stories would be intertwined, as opposed to told separately and in full, thus accentuating the similarities between Joey and Fernanda and effectively conveying the piece's purpose to audiences.
Below is our concluded introduction, highlighting the events under the first subheading referenced above.
Following our effective conquering of the introduction obstacle, the remaining editing journey, although time-consuming, streamlined extremely smoothly. We carried the introduction's principle throughout the entire piece, repetitively accentuating both subjects' life events in categorized and homogenous phases, therefore constantly translating the connect between their career changes and the theme successfully to audiences.
Once the final sequence was contrived, the group concluded that some form of special-effects transition was necessary to maintain a coherent flow in the documentary, removing any "choppy" or abrupt shifts between the stories. Firstly, I attempted to incorporate a fade transition between each transfer from Fernanda to Joey, or vise versa. However, this idea proved to merely magnify the "choppy" aspect Lauren, Abby, Riley, and I were concerned about, creating a larger disconnect between the stories due to the repetitiveness of the transition element. As a result, I instead attempted to include the technique solely between each phase described in the outline, a thought which proved itself effective. For example, following both interviews categorized under the first subheading, "how subjects began their initial stage of their career," a fade transition would appear, redirecting the piece to the second subheading, "subjects' lives in their initial paths."
Here is a clip from the extract in which the fade transition is included between phases of the stories, specifically the first and second steps described above:
Collectively, we felt this specific employment of the editing technique reinforced the idea that Fernanda's and Joey's journeys through redirection had similar, distinguishable phases, thus diminishing the surface-level differences between each subject's stories and effectively conveying the purpose of the extract through the hinted similarities.
Concerning the archived footage editing element I also referenced on my "Baby Steps (Documentary Version)" blog, our plans were once more altered. As stated on the blog, at first, the idea was to demonstrate archived images of both Fernanda and Joey with a picture frame green-screen effect, as demonstrated below. However, in practice, this editing technique did not, aesthetically, present well, thus requiring us to select another effect which elicited the same concept while visually matching the same aura as the rest of the documentary. Eventually, we landed upon the film filter below, which may also be seen in the final introduction embedded above. We believe this specific effect perfectly ties our B-roll together with the extract as a whole and fittingly illustrates to audiences the idea that the footage is, in fact, archived.
Original: Final-Cut:
Considering a large portion of the editing was then complete, we were merely missing finishing touches, including music, picture-labeling, and a title for the piece. Given the unsteady nature of each subjects' stories, we concluded that incorporating one song throughout the entire piece would not be effective due to the constant tone alterations in both narratives. Instead, Lauren, Abby, Riley, and I decided that merely editing stings of music, placed where the major tone shifts were presented, would be a more effective and meaningful inclusion of the element. The three vital moments we deduced required music are as follow: the discussion on how their careers ended, the statements describing their favorite aspects of their new positions, and the conclusion in which the subjects discus their happiness in their current home lives. Consequently, we would need one melancholy song and an upbeat one reused twice.
Lauren took the liberty of searching for the music online, landing upon the two YouTube links below:
Following this conclusion, the next final-touch was placing labels on the B-roll included, a decision made from the deduction that the audience might require clarification on the visuals presented. Specifically, we felt Fernanda's set-design projects, convenience store, and Joey's surgery graphics would benefit from subtitles given their alienated natures.
Here are a few of the settled labels we included in the documentary:
Set-Design project title: Convenience store name and location:
At last, the time had come to conclude our project and finally title our documentary, a credit which, once more, goes to Lauren, who brainstormed the name and designed the visual for Shifting Success, a label we unanimously agreed perfectly encapsulated the subjects' stories and the overall theme, highlighting the positivity behind redirection in life. Below is the clever title slide Lauren crafted, with "shifting" literally shifting as the video progresses.
As Taylor Swift once asked, "Is it over now?," a question I may finally respond "yes" to.
I am happy to present the google drive link to our completed documentary:
Enjoy! (If not, I'll cry).
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