Critical Reflection

It’s been a long time coming and now is my chance to look back on Giuseppe’s and Fernanda’s life-changing events.

     Our documentary, Shifting Success, focuses on two people, Giuseppe Norrito and Fernanda Zalfa, and how they pivoted to find a new passion when faced with the need to make a change. Our documentary represents this issue by focusing on what can be perceived as devastation and turning into opportunity. It also deals with the understanding that change is a natural part of life but it is normal to feel loss when change is forced upon you. Giuseppe dreamed of becoming a baseball player, even making it to the major leagues, before injuries forced an early retirement. He became a police officer with the Fort Lauderdale police department where he has worked for the past thirteen years. Fernanda was a set designer for a large company in her native country Brazil where she designed sets for soap operas. After coming to the United States on a student visa, Fernanda was limited in her opportunities to find work. She missed her native country Brazil and the delicious foods found only in her country. Fernanda decided to open a store, RememBR, in her new hometown of Weston, and carry food and products from Brazil. RememBR has become a meeting place for Brazilians living in Weston. 

The documentary was created with the main purpose of showing two people and how they had to reinvent themselves after their initial plans didn’t work out. My group consisted of myself, Lauren Del Barrio, Riley Orovitz, and Maria Arruda. The four of us decided that our primary audience would be young adults, ages 21-30, who were just starting their careers. We chose this as our target audience because it was the most relatable to us. The secondary audience would be older adults who were in a position to make a career change. By mostly focusing on young adults who are just starting their careers, we are reaching those people who may have been solely focused on one thing and circumstances have prevented them from reaching or achieving that goal. The secondary audience will benefit from watching the documentary as it can serve as inspiration that it is never too late to change. 

In terms of genre, as a group, we decided to film a biographical documentary. We chose this format because we wanted to tell the stories of two individuals to the viewers by using interviews and archival footage. We felt this was the best way to share both Giuseppe and Fernanda’s stories as this type of documentary uses interviews to move the story along. We all thought it would be the most authentic to have each person tell their story without any interruptions except for the questions from the interviewer. The only audio that is heard in the documentary are the interviewer’s questions, the answers, and soft background music. We purposely used the technique of direct interviewing at the beginning and end of the documentary. In between, we used indirect interviewing which allowed the subject to speak more freely without interruption from the interviewer. We also chose to shoot some B rolls in order to visually represent what the subjects were discussing and to help further engage the viewer. Guiseppe’s B-roll included several photographs of Giuseppe when he was a college player at Miami-Dade Community College, Nova University, and a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A photograph of Giuseppe and the late Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda was also included to show when Giuseppe was at the pinnacle of his career. For Fernanda, we included some B-roll of her first convenience store, shots of her set designs, and the footage of her store RememBR. The graphics in the documentary were minimal so as not to distract from the subjects. We edited the documentary in a way to keep the viewer engaged as we alternated between subjects.  

There are a few things that I think we could have done better. The music should have been played more consistently throughout the film. We also filmed two additional people, Barbara, a nurse, and Giuseppe’s mother, who would have further explained Giuseppe’s injury and how it affected him but chose not to use it in the final version. I think that using this footage would have made Giuseppe’s story more rich as it would have provided different viewpoints rather than just his own. Barbara could have explained the initial elbow injury, the “Tommy John” surgery, and the recovery. She also could have commented on how this injury would have affected Giuseppe if he continued playing baseball. It would have been interesting to learn more about the shoulder injury that finally sidelined his career for good. Giuseppe’s mother could have discussed her perspective about the injury. She could have insight into his mental and emotional state after sustaining the injury. It would have added credibility to our documentary to have a second person’s perspective on the same event. 

Regardless, I believe that one of our strengths as a group was the message of the documentary. The documentary really focuses on turning something negative into a positive and finding the silver lining in something that may at first seem hopeless. Another strength of our group was the members. Everyone shared their ideas, worked in cooperation with each other, and divided the responsibilities of the project evenly. 

Our documentary challenges conventions because these two subjects overcame challenges to create a new path toward fulfillment and happiness. All in all, this project was a great learning experience especially when it came time for us to put all the pieces of the documentary together. This was very hard during certain parts of the process, but I think it made me, Lauren, Riley, and Maria much stronger students and creators. We were able to problem-solve on the spot and make quick editing decisions. I have gained knowledge about production and the planning process that I would not have expected to learn. As a result of this project, my self-confidence has increased. Even though certain parts of the project could have been done better, I am happy with the overall project and am proud of the work that we did. 

Is it Over Now?

Hey everyone! I am back to delve deeper into the creation of our documentary, Shifting Success. Lauren filmed Giuseppe's interview, Maria filmed Fernanda, and Riley and I filmed Barbara. After the initial filming was done, it was time to edit the interviews for clarity and time.

Since editing is not one of my strengths, I relied on both Lauren's and Maria's expertise. As we started to edit, we ran into our first challenge; how to introduce both characters in a way that wouldn't confuse our viewers. Although both Giuseppe and Fernanda had big career changes, the impetus for the change was different.  Our top priority was figuring out how to begin their stories without causing confusion.

My role during this process was to serve as a mediator between Lauren and Maria when deciding what shots should be included and how the documentary best flowed. We wanted to make sure that our audience was invested in our subjects as soon as the film started to roll and that their stories were easy for the viewer to follow. 

 

After we figured out how to introduce Giuseppe and Fernanda, we needed to come up with a title that captured what we were trying to convey. We tossed around a few different ideas until we decided on the title, Shifting Success. We chose this title because we felt that it showed how Giuseppe and Fernanda were able to pivot to different careers after their original career paths were derailed; Giuseppe's because of injuries and Fernanda's because of her move to the United States. After the editing process, Riley and I were tasked with the assignment to watch the film with a critical eye and give feedback on what needed to be added or changed.

We watched the documentary and after a few small stylistic changes, we felt that the film was ready for submission. The documentary looked and sounded very good and I am proud of all our hard work. After, a few weeks of research, planning, filming, and editing our documentary was done! Can’t wait for you guys to watch it! See attached below!

Shifting Success Documentary

Are We Out of the Woods Yet?

The next stop in our documentary after researching and planning it, was to actually start the production. We decided as a group that the perfect time to film would be during the Thanksgiving break since we had off that week from school.

On November 21st, we planned to film Giuseppe’s story. Lauren, one of my group members, is Giuseppe's stepdaughter and they live together. Therefore, it was easiest for her to interview him. Although I wasn't at the interview, Lauren told me all about it!

She explained the entire process and shared Giuseppe's enthusiasm for the project. Lauren decided to approach the interview by sitting Giuseppe down and firing questions at him. As he answered the questions, he started to relax and the conversation started flowing. He was open and willing to share his past experiences. He was engaging and thoughtful which made Lauren's job much easier. Lauren focused the interview on Giuseppe's life before becoming a cop. They discussed his dream of becoming a baseball player and how he planned to turn that dream into a reality.

We planned for Maria to follow the same format as Lauren and to ask Fernanda several questions to make her feel comfortable with the interview process. It was important for us to show different subjects that followed similar paths. Both Guiseppe and Fernanda had careers that they were passionate about before their circumstances changed. It was important to showcase Giuseppe as a rising pro baseball player and Fernanda as a student juggling her dreams of being a set designer as this passion was a central part of our documentary.

After, Giuseppe's initial interview with Lauren, we interviewed Barbara. Barbara is a nurse and we wanted her medical perspective on Giuseppe's injury as this injury changed the course of her life. We felt Barbara's opinion would lend a sense of credibility to our project and help explain why this injury was so devastating to Giuseppe. During the interview, she detailed Giuseppe's injuries, the surgery, and what kind of lasting impact this type of injury would have on his baseball career. Even though Barbara’s interview was very informative and interesting, we ultimately cut it out of the documentary.

In my next posting, I will explain more about the production and editing process. See you then. Bye!

If You Fail to Plan, you Plan to Fail.

Hey everyone! I am back with another posting. This next post is going to focus on the research and planning I conducted for my group’s documentary project: Shifting Success. When I first thought about creating our project, I carefully reviewed documentaries I have watched, including the ones I mentioned in my last blog post, and how to create a similar format and production for our documentary. After discussing some topic ideas with the other group members, we decided to create a story about how the best-laid plans don't always work out.

Our original plan was to just focus on one subject, but after discussing the topic with our teacher, she suggested that we include another subject, so the story would be more interesting. Having two subjects would make it easier to show the similarities and differences between the kinds of redirection people can have in their lives. The two subjects of our documentary are: We decided to focus on two subjects: Giuseppe Norrito, the stepfather of one of our group members, and Fernanda Zalfa, one of our group member's mother.

The goal of our documentary is to share with our viewers how Giuseppe and Fernanda's lives changed from what they originally planned and how they dealt with these changes. Giuseppe was on his way to becoming a major league baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers team until he severely injured his elbow, ending his baseball career. After this injury, he was forced to a new career and became a police officer. Fernanda started as a set designer in Brazil, but when she moved to Florida, she had to find new work. She wasn't able to get work as a set designer so she she became a business owner and now sells Brazilian food.  With these two subjects in mind, we devised an outline to follow when filming our project.

As previously mentioned, the rough draft of the outline only had sections for Giuseppe, as the documentary was originally only supposed to focus on him. However, after our instructor advised us to add another subject to the documentary, we added Fernanda.

The biggest challenge we faced in making the documentary was the struggle to merge two stories while effectively conveying our message. Although we had a solid plan for the project, we worried about the execution. However, to make sure that our documentary's message was clear, I thought back to American Promise since this production also focused on the lives of two subjects. After rewatching that documentary, we drafted a series of questions and a list of shots for Joey and Fernanda. This was to ensure our interviews flowed well and to schedule time to capture extra footage. 

We carefully followed this outline and were able to get the interviews and shots necessary. My next post will focus on the production process. Talk to you then! 

In My Research Era

Hello everybody! Similar to how Taylor Swift has her different eras of her musical journey, I have embarked on a documentary journey. First, I started with my research era. I watched a documentary entitled American Promise by Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson that was released in 2013. This documentary captures the lives of Seun and Idris and their experience in the education system as two black boys living in New York City. The production spanned over thirteen years. While watching this documentary, I learned what indirect and direct interviews are and how to implement them. The directors chose their interviewees, by focusing on those people who have or had a direct impact on Seun and Idris’ lives. Some of these people included employees and teachers who worked at the boys’ schools. I realized that including interviews not only from the subjects but from other people in their lives, is important to include in my documentary. I also liked how different camera shots and angles were included such as the hand-held shot. This was my favorite documentary I watched and it taught me about details that need to be used in my own productions. 

Another documentary I watched was Exit Through the Gift Shop directed by Banksy, released in 2010. Throughout this documentary, viewers are introduced to some of the most prolific street artists of the last decades through the perspective of Thierry Guetta, a Los Angeles-based Frenchman who videotapes various underground art escapades, and Banksy the infamous, shadowy British graffiti street artist. This documentary was very different from American Promise and I did not enjoy watching it as much. Although I didn’t enjoy watching it as much, it taught me more techniques used to make a good documentary. Throughout this documentary, the director flip-flopped. It went from Thierry Guetta’s production to Banksy’s. It’s very difficult to switch directors mid-way through a production, but they made it look effortless. I liked to see the real lives of certain street artists and how they create and execute such creative ideas. I also learned what B-roll was from watching both of these documentaries and plan to use it in my own production. B-roll enhances the storytelling experience and makes the interviews of the subjects more entertaining and interesting.

 

After watching these two documentaries, I realized what elements need to be included to create a good production.

Welcome Back!

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog. It has been eight months too long. I have now moved into the A level of this AICE Media Studies course. I am ready to go on this journey and share my experiences with you all! Hope you are excited to see my progression. See you soon! Bye.