Homewood Baseball & Softball: Playing Through COVID-19 - ID# 68

Lake Forest

Documentary

Entry Description

This is a documentary about how the Homewood Baseball & Softball league was able to adapt to the pandemic and have a safe and successful little league season in 2020.

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/29 9:44 pm - Keepers: Well crafted story that featured a lot of voices and perspectives of a very unique baseball/softball season. The interviews were extremely well shot and I loved how you changed up the backgrounds of each interview by simply moving around the baseball diamond. It goes to show that great backgrounds don't have to be hard. Simply changing the perspective of the background helps so much. The broll photos and archival footage worked well. Sound was well mixed. Improvements: The broll got a bit stale over time. The lack of actual footage versus photos hurt the story. I realize the decision to film this may have taken place after the season concluded, but having actual footage of games to cut to would have really helped to push the narrative a bit more and let the audience feel more of the celebration of having a season in the middle of a pandemic. The other issue for me was your music choice. The song was fine for a while. But music drives emotion and having the same song play for 5 minutes makes the documentary feel more dull than it needs to. Figure out the emotional beats of your documentary. For me there were at least 3. 1. COVID strikes. 2. The plan to have a season. 3. Overcoming COVID and having a successful season. There should be a different song for each of those emotional moments. Let the audience feel the change in tone as it changes and enhance it with music.
• 4/15 1:42 pm - Well executed all around! Visually beautiful from your b-roll to your interviews but most importantly a very well told story that was about overcoming and adapting. Great variety of sound through different voices and visually compelling throughout. Great work!
• 3/10 3:31 pm - A really complete documentary that has beautifully shot interviews and tells a complete story that's loaded with visuals. Many times people get caught up in the talking head interviews and neglect to play the visual on top but this film does not. I love the actual old film stock footage that you share at the beginning of this as well. That must have been difficult to try and get but I also love the way that you filmed the projection it was a very artistic style.

Judge 1

Positives: A lovely hometown documentary about a timely and often overlooked topic of community sports and how a community pulled together to make it happen, safely. The story is well told using a variety of methods including video, images, and interviews. Nice use of b-roll to help tell the story visually and drive the story forward.

Improvements: The audio is a bit uneven. At times, there seems to be outdoor interference which may be addressed by lav mics and/or a wind sock. At times, the editing is a bit uneven. This may be addressed with greater attention to the relationship between the cuts, the music, and the pace of the story.

Judge 2

Positives: Nicely shot b roll footage.

Improvements: Don't be afraid to switch up your setup and framing for interviews. Seeing all of the people on the right third gets repetitive. The footage didn't always convey what was being discussed to help tell the story.

Judge 3

Positives: Nice use of creative shots of the field and details of bats, balls, masks, locks on the fence etc, etc. Nice use of footage and pictures - you were not lacking for coverage. Good Camera Work! Selection of music was nice and did not compete with the story.

Improvements: Framing/location for Interviews: The outside shots looked nice, but be careful - Tabitha was a little low in the frame and her eye-line was looking above the lens. Try to be sure the eye-line with your subjects are on the same plane as your lens. Larry's interview is not in the best of locations aesthetically, nor was the lighting very good - may want to have reconsidered his interview location.

Judge 4

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