A Soldier's Journey Home- Tony Chobanov - ID# 461

John Hersey High School

Division: A

Documentary

Entry Description

Completing their fourth build in as many years, A Soldier's Journey Home (ASJH) built this house for Spc. Tony Chobanov and his family in Spring Grove, Illinois. Starting with just a foundation, this home was built to completion in just 10 days with the keys being handed over to the Chobanov's on May 20, 2017.

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/23 7:50 pm - Unclear what story is about with the tight opening stand-up. Too wide framing for first interview. Use some reporter’s track with timelapse.
• 3/12 6:59 pm - The way you set up your interview is not allowing the audience to identify with the interviewee. Your open is very well written and the stop motion animation is very cool, but I fail to see how come the main character is so special that a community build him a home. The music is unnecessary. This would be a good TV story, but not exactly a subject for a documentary film.
• 3/8 2:22 pm - The reporter open is strong, but I’m left wondering why this is in the documentary category- besides its longer duration… Tony’s audio levels are low and the music levels are too high. B-roll with other soldiers is shaky - a pan moves left, pauses, then resumes int the opposite direction. Camera movements should be purposeful. It would be more impactful to have an angle of Tony straight-on rather the profile the entire time. Interview with Eric should be lit for documentary, has odd things going on in the background. Rough transition to Eric- would be better to start in VO and b-roll rather than the interview. Interview with David has better lighting. LOSE the music track and use nat sound- the music becomes like wallpaper throughout the piece. Time lapse and drone are great- I would have opened up with these shots as best footage. The montages are weak - bring up music levels and place VO on top. In the end, powerful, emotional story. Some elements like the time lapse and drone footage are not fully integrated into the piece and stand out for the wrong reasons, but strong story and well done overall.

Judge 1

Positives: I love the main subjects interview was shot... Non traditional. Each interview had its own vibe (one needed lighting and or color coorection). The use of broll was absolutely critical and well done. This is such a great story of community and family - Great line about family is not just DNA.

Improvements: The use of drone and time-lapse footage is great but became less and less interesting the longer I saw it. Same with the finished house shots. If you would have used some of the narration and sound bites under it - the impact of that footage would be much more meaningful. The audio levels and in/out edits on a few interviews were rough and not consistent. As an editor, once I finish my initial content cut of a video, I spend a while just making sure that all sound is consistent and level and each and every sound edit is perfect before I move on to coverage and music.

Judge 2

Positives: Worked well as a journalism piece. The feel good aspect was captured well.

Improvements: The story structure and narrative could be improved to make it more of a documentary style piece. The lighting and cinematography can be improved.

Judge 3

Positives: I enjoyed the use of drone footage and time lapse, techniques that make sense in the context because they are used consistently and connect to the film’s message. The subject piqued my interest because it is something I don’t usually see and that made me want to know more about the organization who built the home and the circumstances under which Mr. Chobanov was the recipient of the home. Not knowing these things did not detract from my enjoyment of the film and sparking audience curiosity should be seen as a strength.

Improvements: The interview subjects are angled strangely. Putting each consistently facing the camera with the director to one side would help us connect them to the audience. I would have liked to have seen non-time lapse shots with details of the team building the house and fewer pans of the finished space.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: