American Legion Post 738 - ID# 339
Deerfield
Documentary
Entry Description
The local American Legion post is a place of community and refuge for our neighborhood veterans. Music: "The President's March" - The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps "Monteverdi's Toccata from L'Orefo" - The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps "Drops of Melting Snow" - Axeltree "Bugle Feature - Altenburg's Concerto from the Handel Show" - The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps All music from Free Music Archive -https://freemusicarchive.org/home
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/21 9:47 pm - KEEPERS: Very well done documentary explaining how American Legions function in various local communities. Your interviews were varied and nuanced and so many people were able to speak about how the Legion helps them with their experiences as veterans. The broll was well done in terms of capturing the Legion space. I felt like I got a good sense of that environment and you captured how it was a home away from home for the veterans. IMPROVEMENTS: Your piece needed more nat sound broll of your primary characters. The interviews were wonderful and I got a sense of the purpose of the Legion and the space in Deerfield. Now let me see how each of your principal interviews interact in that space. It would have been cool to have left each of them mic'd for a bit and film them interacting with other veterans during the social parts of the meeting. As a documentarian, you can never have too many of those moments because they serve as a great way to bridge from thought to thought or from story beat to story beat. It always adds to see these people interacting with others in addition to their interview sound bytes. As cool as the photos were, would it have been possible to have acquired photos of the veterans you interviewed while they were in service? This would have made the piece more personal. In terms of music, I thought that the military themes were a tad heavy handed after a while. It's great to lead with that, but could you have chosen different songs in the middle that would have better matched the emotional tone? You may see it differently and that's fine, but I thought the piece was lacking a bit of emotional heft in terms of music. Overall, very well done. I realize that some of my notes may not have been possible for various reasons but understand that those things are what will enable you to take the next step as a documentary producer. Keep working!
Judge 1
Positives: I like your choice of music and the sound editing was very well done! Camera work was steady and some nice use of rack focuses. To make this piece look more professional/cinematic - try using a camera and lenses that have a very shallow depth of field.
Improvements: When it comes to "Story" we need to ask ourselves, why should a viewer care or how can we make a viewer care? What I care about as a viewer I don't find out about until :45 seconds into this piece. Richard Southton's story is what the American Legion is all about - let's hear more about him and his story and how the American Legion helps people like him from the beginning. We then need to dive deeper into what these people endured and how the Legion helps them cope.
Judge 2
Positives: Strong opening. Good use of editing and sound to capture the importance of the subject. A fresh perspective on veterans and the role of the legion.
Improvements: At times, the background noise interfered with the clarity of the speakers. Small thing - not sure how well the clip of the back of the veterans at the table worked.
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Judge 4
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