The Choraliers - ID# 408
Maine West
Documentary
Entry Description
This is a documentary about the Choraliers, the most talented singers at Maine West! The documentary includes originally composed music by Sam Rubio.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/23 8:29 pm - Strong opening with good nat sound and observational footage pulls in the viewer before we even hear any voiceover to talk about what the story is going to be about - that's highly effective. Interviews are often solid, well composed, and often showcase good shallow depth of field in the beginning. The interviews in front of the plain white background toward the end after the performance to break down just a little bit. The cadence of the editing where you intercut the interviews with the b-roll and observational footage works well. I do notice in one of the wide shots of the chorus room there is a camera and a videographer on a tripod in the middle of your shot. Also remember that when you use camera movements whether it's a pan or a tilt, you should also use head and tail - that means a little bit of static hold on either end, and it should resolve at the end with "payoff'. That means every camera movement should tell a story, and it seems like one of your pans seems to just meander a little bit. In the interview shot with the choral director there's a lot of room tone or machine noise in the background. Toward the beginning third I'm not quite sure of what the through line is, and I see the timestamps give it a little bit of context as a performance moves on. I start to feel a little bit of tension with those poor postmortem interviews and it comes together. Nice job overall with the documentary!
- 3/24 2:34 pm - Keepers: Good use of natural sound throughout and I like that you found ways to break away from the interviews and let the viewers see and hear the rehearsals without being talked at the whole time. Pretty good sense of editorial pacing. Improvements: The interview set ups aren't always consistent. Some follow rule of thirds and some do not. Make sure the eyeline of each subject is consistent. Consider your interview backgrounds for your students. Where could you place them aside from school hallways? Is there somewhere else you could put them that evokes musicality? something to consider. In regard to your broll, can you film broll that specifically features the students you interviewed? It would make the piece feel a bit more personal and a bit more intimate in terms of what the viewer gets to experience. In terms of your broll, feature more singing, especially at the beginning of the piece. As it is, you hear more piano introductions and the teacher instructing. Let's hear the singers first! As cool as the original music is, it's hard to discern it from the music coming from the singers. This may be one instance where you just use music from the natural sound. In terms of the story, work on the ending of the documentary. What's the conflict? What are the stakes? What are the challenges of acapella? Exploring these themes makes this more like a documentary and less like an extendeed news feature.
- 3/4 5:36 pm - +I like the b-roll of the class time to see what it's like to be a part of the group. It is very fly-on-the-wall. +Nice use of photos as b-roll - In the lower third, you do not need to say "he's a senior" you can say "Maine West Senior" -There's some background noise in the interviews -Make sure your interviewee knows where to look.
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