Documentary Production Process

 

             Hey, welcome back readers! On this blog post, we will be discussing the production process of my documentary. If you are confused, production is another word for the filmmaking process of a movie or project. Production can be divided into two parts: Production and Post-Production. However for this post, we will only be focusing on the first one. Alright, let's get into it! 

        

          As I've mentioned before, in the Introduction to Documentary post, staged B-Roll is a crucial part of documentaries. The term B-Roll refers to when editors insert supplemental footage that relates to what is being spoken on. For those that do not remember, my documentary was relating to book bans. In addition, our setting was of the Cypress Bay High School campus. With this being said, our staged B-Roll was primarily of books. We filmed various books and we gathered shots from our school library. We made sure to align our B-Roll with exactly what was being said. Here are some pictures of the Cypress Bay High School campus:

Furthermore, let's dive back into the process of interviews. As mentioned before, my group and I interviewed two teachers at Cypress Bay (Ms. Herring and Mr. Berna). Both of these teachers were happy to participate in our production and answered the questions asked in great detail. As said, both are Language Arts teachers so they were very passionate about the topic. You might be wondering what material I used to film the interviews. Well don't worry, I'll tell you! I used a Tripod. Tripods are popular equipment among filmmakers, for it is a good utensil to use if you want to stabilize your phone. Here is an  example of a Tripod:

      As you are now aware of the equipment used, let's talk about the setting/filmmaking of the interviews. My team and I decided to interview each teacher in their classrooms. We thought that it would be best to get a look of them in their natural setting. As a result, they felt extremely comfortable. We had them face in front of the camera and look in a diagonal direction. Each Book Ban question gave way for the audience to truly understand the teachers position on Book Bans. The audience could clearly see and hear their emotions/passion for the subject being discussed. Here are pictures of the interviews conducted:

Mr. Berna:

Ms. Herring:

As you guys have been given a sneak peak into the production process, you are able to learn about the interviewing process and obtaining B-Roll process. These are key to a successful documentary. Therefore, I hope you enjoyed reading about this. However, it is not over yet. Post-production is as important as production, if not even more important. See you on the next post!