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.
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