Szechuan Sauce Documentary - ID# 389

Highland Park

Division: AA

Documentary

Entry Description

Last fall McDonald's released their infamous Szechuan Sauce. This documentary examines one student's efforts to attain this limited edition sauce! This portion of the documentary focuses on the controversial first release of the sauce while part 2 will document the rerelease of the sauce.

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/26 2:06 pm - Fun, unconventional style that plays with the fun manner of the subject. The subjects in the story make the story, real characters that complement the fun nature of the story.
• 4/10 1:36 pm - Really entertaining documentary with great set-ups and payoffs throughout. Not knowing the backstory, until I asked my students, I wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not until the reveal at the McDonalds. Great storytelling- a lot of fun. Great job not falling into the familiar pitfalls of Youtubers (making it all about you).

Judge 1

Positives: Funny topic with a comical hook. Liked the interaction and build up.

Improvements: Consider a wind screen for the microphone and not just using the camera mic for all audio. For example: in the car, nearly lost your audio when the camera turned. Need to use natural sound when using broll.

Judge 2

Positives: Excellent use of editing and graphics. Very well told, very entertaining.

Improvements: Could have been shorter. Needed another element other than just the one location.

Judge 3

Positives: The film’s humor comes from using classic documentary techniques with an issue from pop culture as opposed to an overtly social issue. The interview subjects are well chosen, questions are thoughtful and humorous, making the other people in line important to the film’s charm.

Improvements: The compositions vary in terms of quality. Taking just a moment more to frame up subjects would help with the overall professionalism. While the graphics were a good impulse, they could be more consistent in terms of their design. Sticking to a singular font family and making sure the images with graphics also have an overall visual theme will help solidify the film’s look.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: