Anatomy of Hate - ID# 223
Antioch Community High School
Documentary
Entry Description
A study of hate.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/25 8:52 am - This is an Important story and topical story that is well told. The interviewees tell stories that are very emotional and go straight to the heart and it's a very effective and emotional story. That said, it truly doesn't function as a documentary because it lacks storytelling elements like lots of visuals cinema verite and really just relies on those talking head interviews. The interviews themselves have mixed production values overall, but the tight framing does lend itself to a very emotional response. The Q and A setup also is very limiting as a storytelling device; it could have been more compelling to create a narrative structure that includes those questions in some way. However, it is the lack of b-roll and visual material outside of the studio interviews that hinders the story the most. The talking head interviews are so powerful that they do draw viewers into the story but, ultimately they also want to make us desire more from these people's stories.
- 4/18 10:02 pm - Keepers: This is such a powerful and important subject to tackle and I applaud the producers of this documentary and the brave people who put themselves out there to share their stories of hate. These are the types of documentaries that change hearts and minds. Well done. I really like the unconventional lighting you used for the interviews. I know that technically, you should have had more light on their faces, but I loved the heavy amount of back/hair light. It made for a really interesting look. Improvements: Keep working on your editing as a whole, as this will greatly improve your storytelling. For example, I would argue that you really don't need to verbalize or even show the questions you have in text. The flow of the interviews should be enough to drive the story. One of the main things missing from this documentary is broll. Obviously you can't capture broll of the moments of hate, but did you consider showing yearbook photos of the students being interviewed? Or perhaps film empty hallway shots of the school. Anything like that would allow you to cover the jump cuts in the interview and allow for viewers to see the environment being discussed. Consider at least 2 more songs in this piece. One for each story beat/section of the doc. The emotions differ subtly and use music to let us feel that more. It also helps keep the documentary from getting to stale. Tip for interview set ups: Flip them. In other words, if one interview features the subject on the right side, then film the next one with the subject on the left. It keeps the images fresh and it's a good habit to get into. Also, when you follow the rule of thirds, take special care with your close up shots. I would argue that these close ups look more like floating heads. Tilt your camera down a bit and really line up the eyes with the rule of third lines. this will cut off a portion of the top if their head but it will make for amore attractive show, as we will see more of their neck and top of shoulder. Ovearll, this was a wonderful piece. Keep working and keep growing as storytellers an above all, tell more stories like this. Also...where can I watch part 2?
- 3/4 7:01 pm - + Important story to tell! +Interesting interviews -could use more light on the front of faces -there are some abrupt cuts when the first student is telling their story -missing b-roll
Judge 1
Positives: Nice job finding subjects willing to tell their stories. Good idea using a black background for interviews.
Improvements: There were so many opportunities to capture additional BRoll to cover up some of your interview subjects - show me an exterior shot of the women's locker room or the Walgreens etc. instead of putting the light behind your subjects you could have put the key light on the lead side of their face to create a more dramatic effect.
Judge 2
Positives: 1. Very clear story with extremely compelling interviews. I could tell these were genuine accounts of peoples experience with hate. 2. This was a very moving piece and I thought the soft piano music worked well to lift the piece as well.
Improvements: Some of the editing could be a bit tighter...for example at 1:13 the person starts a new sentence but then is cut off in the edit. Could possibly leave some more breathing room between interviews vs the constant voice over/interviews.
Judge 3
Positives: I think giving each person time to tell there own personal story worked great for me. I think all three people that were on camera seemed very comfortable with sharing these moments. Lighting was very good, I really enjoyed seeing them all in different lighting setups. It was a very cool touch and a very good way to keep each story fresh.
Improvements: I think editing was good clearly trimmed what was said out and kept all the important stuff in made it very digestible. But the editor should have used B-Roll,it doesn’t have to be a real location (could be a picture) where these cuts from there stories happen and the audience won’t be able to tell when things should be getting cut out. It would also elevate the story tellers power by giving the audience a visual to think of in there head that you help control. Audio definitely could have been improved but it is still good work, I think the most important thing is to hear them clearly which the audience can the entire time. I think what your audio could improve on would be cutting out more background noise. Isolating the vocals and throwing room tone in to blend it together. But it was easy to understand every person talking, so great job overall.
Judge 4
Positives:
Improvements:
Judge 5
Positives:
Improvements: