Silver

Life of a Teacher Documentary

Waubonsie Valley

Documentary

Entry Description

Documentary of stories about Waubonsie Valley teachers

Judge 1

Positives: Great questions for the teachers. No one ever asks them why SPECIFICALLY they got into teaching. Very unique moments. I also think teachers are looked at (especially by students) and just teachers, not people. This documentary lets you see the personable side of not just any teacher, but YOUR teachers. Thats awesome. And finally, your lighting is superb. All of your subjects are evenly lit and their edges are incredibly crisp.

Improvements: (Im sure you have heard all of these, but I am saying them again) Where is your B-roll!? Youre in school all day with teachers and no b-roll? Major rule in interviews: always have your subject looking in the direction of the open area on screen. The CRAZY thing is that it looks like you shot these interviews green screen. That means, if you did, you could have literally moved all of the camera shots to the proper position in the frame and your interviews would have looked fantastic. Even if you didnt, the black in the background is dark enough where you could have moved your footage and filled in black next to it and no one would have known. I would blame your teacher for not catching that one. Minor note: If you are using a green screen, you could have literally put them ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. But you chose a black background. I would have liked to see a park! Or in a classroom.

Judge 2

Positives: The audio sounded great on all the interviews - they were all crystal clear which is very important. The music was a soft undertone throughout the entire documentary and did not overpower any of the interviews. I enjoyed the playful nameplate design that popped up with every teacher's name. It was very a cute way to introduce everyone.

Improvements: I think it would have been beneficial to have b-roll footage of some of the teachers actually teaching over the interviews. It's all very stagnate which makes it very easy to lose your audience's attention. Carrie Sternstein's interview went on for too long and she was the only interview who had an extreme close up shot of her which caused her nameplate to cover half her face when that came up. I think the questions could have been deeper and instead of how long does it take you to grade. Questions like what was your most impactful moment as a teacher? And maybe limited the amount of teachers shown so you can really just focus on a small few and get in more answers.

Judge 3

Positives: Great diverse range of teachers for the interview. Very well rounded interviews, subjects, and stories. Interviews were well put together. Great pacing and flow in the edit.

Improvements: Be conscious of all elements in the interview. Steve's interview is a head and his tie.You have a black background with a black shirt. Luckily you have the tie to pop some color so it is not completely a floating head. Also be careful of framing. Carrie's framing has a lot of dead space on the top and to the left. When the graphic comes up it cuts off her body and bottom of her face. Very distracting.