A Hidden Blessing - ID# 319
Waubonsie Valley
Documentary
Entry Description
Documentary about being thankful for what you've been given.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/24 5:01 pm - The opening is a tad confusing, but the interview shot is well lit and well composed. That said, the chanting underneath is distracting as she's speaking in sync on camera and in voice over, and it can be a little hard to follow. The story gets quite emotional, but editing would have benefited from some beats or areas where there's a little bit less talking wall to wall, little moments where we could pause and reflect on images and/or music. In the end, the story is very emotional and the production values are largely very strong and this is a very powerful documentary. Good work!
- 3/29 8:56 am - Keepers: Nice work on the interview shots and the lighting for the interviews. The multi-cam is cool and I like that moving secondary shot. Moving story of perseverance and faith. Improvements: The story is a little disjointed. The story about winning the lottery to come to America was cool, but it doesn't quite link up with the primary story of cancer. I think I understand what you were trying to do with that, but it feels out of place. As a whole, you needed more broll to use. More photos of treatment, family, etc. Perhaps film her arriving at church, since the interview appears to be filmed in a church and religion and faith is obviously very important to her. You needed additional perspective for this story, which means more interview subjects. The husband perhaps? Her minister? These people and their voices would help keep the story fresh and break up the monotony of a one-voice story. The music needs to be more varied. 3 songs at least for a story like this. Look for three different points in the story to change songs. I feel like you have one at the beginning during the the introductory portion. One for the introduction and initial treatment of the cancer, and then one towards the end signifying hope and faith. These differing songs would provide additional emotional heft to the documentary. Get some hummingbird broll. It's such a big symbol of the story, so let's see it visually. Overall, this documentary has good foundations, but it needs more work to bring out the full potential of the story.
- 3/4 5:50 pm - +Interesting perspective +Main interviewee is inspiring and good on-camera. -best to put lower third on the "look space" side of frame -Story is disjointed. It takes an abrupt turn from talking about moving to America to having colon cancer. -There's only interviewee. Typically for a short doc you should have 2-3 interviews
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