Apollo - ID# 454
Metea Valley
Documentary
Entry Description
Taking a look inside MVHS male acapella group "Apollo" and the brotherhood they share.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/16 8:26 pm - KEEPERS: The story of an all-male acapella group is really cool and you can clearly hear the talent in the group members. You interview setups are good and I like tha you have multiple angles to choose from while you edit. IMPROVEMENTS: There isn't enough of a story here for this to be consider a documentary. This almost feels more like a natural audio news package. The primary issue is the lack of dynamic broll. You have broll of rehearsals but you need performances, footage of them in school together, hanging out after school together, conversing with their teachers, etc. When they speak of their various school performances and other gigs, we HAVE to see that. In terms of editing, create a more dynamic beginning. Lead with singing. Let's hear that for a 8-10 second before you go to the interviews. Work on your interview lighting. Interview setups with a dark background only work with three point lighting. You need backlight to separate your subjects from the background so they pop. It looks like you have a good key and fill light...now add the third part of that puzzle. Intercut your interview shots more. At the top the rapid cutting of the different singer's interviews didn't work that dynamically becaue they are all on the same side of the frame and filmed with the same general shot. If you used your varied angles at the beginning it would have been a more dynamic way to introduce everyone. Overall, there is a good foundation here, but you needed more of a story to build this out properly.
- 2/25 1:02 pm - STORY: The story is about the group, right? If this is the case, then why do you only have interviews and some b-roll from rehearsal? You need WAY more footage and b-roll to really showcase the point of your documentary. Show them performing; shoot or find footage from actual performances. If this is about the group and the fellowship and fraternity of the group (which is what they say), then showing them outside of rehearsal hanging out, having dinner, or whatever else. You just needed more for this to be successful as a documentary. The 2 minutes you have is not enough. PRODUCTION: Lighting is so crucial. As the producer, especially when you are recording interviews in a studio or in a location where YOU have complete control, you must use three-point lighting. Your opening interview is terribly lit. There is no backlighting, which means your subject, who has dark hair, has his head disappearing into the black background. The shadows on the front of his face are very unflattering. And this is your first impression for your audience; a poorly lit interview. The lighting with your 2nd subject is not any better. You have a minimal amount of additional footage; you b-roll consists of a few shots from the same rehearsal session.
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