Critical Reflection - Documentary Project

                 War is a sensitive subject affecting people's lives in and out of the hot seat. The documentary “A War at Home” explores how tensions in the Israel-Palestine conflict affect the lives of Palestinian high school student, Yousef Safa, despite living thousands of miles away in the United States. The purpose of this text is not to sway the audience’s opinion on the war but rather to express how the impacts of war can target those out of direct harm’s reach.
                Research was arguably the most important part of developing this documentary, and it began with documentary conventions in general, as my partner, Mateo, and I had never created one before. In class, we studied several types of documentaries, including long-term productions such as American Promise, whose production spanned over 13 years; satirical ones, like Exit Through the Gift Shop; and short episodic texts (NYT op-docs). Typical conventions may vary by genre and purpose, but the consensus is to show a “slice of life.” Documentaries are often non-fiction and specific, frequently relying on interviews to progress the structure and purpose.
                Then came researching the topic of the Israel-Palestine war itself; which I initially found daunting. Mateo was the group member who had a bit of background knowledge in this area, and the connection to our interviewee, but I found that I was pretty uneducated about this. I felt a bit embarrassed to be honest, that in this day and age where information is accessible at the touch of your fingertips, I had never taken the time to learn about a relevant political event that is affecting people across the world. I took this opportunity to educate myself and fill gaps in my knowledge, which was a thorough process. I examined a variety of texts, including articles, YouTube videos, and transcripted interviews. Those that proved most helpful were a brief history on YouTube by Vox, and an interview transcription with a Palestinian woman, Amal Amireh. Together, these texts gave me a solid foundation in understanding the origins of the Israel-Palestine conflict and its effects on people. The interview especially served as a model for how I could draft and structure my interview questions.
                An important point to stress about the purpose of this documentary is that it is in no way, shape, or form meant to sway the political standings of the audience. While we recognize the potential bias of including only one interview, particularly with a Palestinian interviewee, the careful structure and word choice effectively address this concern. Mateo and I were very pleased that this came across to our peers. Yousef delivered an overview of the origins of the war, how it has affected people on both sides and how it has affected his personal life in the United States.
                The target audience would include teenagers and young adults aged 15-25, all genders, and those interested in social justice, international affairs, human rights, and politics. The main factor determining the audience is whether or not they are or want to become educated about the current war. This makes it an expository documentary, which delivers factual information on a specific topic. “A War at Home” adheres to typical conventions in this genre as it relies on an interview, uses archival photos (when explaining the conflict’s origin), and graphics. We did however avoid narration/voice-over, or “a voice of God” because, as mentioned previously, the purpose is not to persuade. Yousef does a great job of moving the story along in this feature’s absence. Apart from some staged clips of Yousef for the introduction, most of our b-roll was graphics, photos, and videos Yousef took himself in Palestine.
                Our documentary represents victims of the war’s effects both in combat zones, and other regions of the world by highlighting Yousef’s experience. In Florida, he faces prejudice for his posts online and for representing his culture at International Fest at his high school. Not only is it hard for him, and many others, to worry about family back home, but to also be hated for speaking out on his beliefs. This is why we decided on the title, for its double meaning; there is a war going on back home (Palestine), but its effects are real where Yousef lives. By providing an authentic voice, “A War at Home” gives a platform to an often marginalized and misunderstood group of people, addressing a significant and current social issue, without taking a persuasive stance.
                A portion of Yousef’s commentary is spent giving historical context into the origins of the conflict. To do this in a way that kept audiences engaged and helped them to understand, we chose graphics and B-roll that reflected the explanations. The interviewee explained that the main cause of the war between Israel and Palestine was territory disputes, so we showed a graphic that visually changed to display changing territory lines. Another instance is when Yousef described witnessing a raid in his village in Palestine. To enhance this moment, we included a first-hand video taken during the raid, which added a powerful, personal connection to Yousef’s experiences and his ties to the conflict. His perspective makes the topic feel closer to the audience, as he is just an average teenager attending high school, like most of the target audience. The brevity of the documentary also makes it accessible and appealing to audiences with shorter attention spans, ensuring they stay engaged while keeping the focus on the issue at hand.
                This documentary illustrates the importance of understanding the personal and global impacts of the Israel-Palestine conflict. I am proud to have worked on a piece that has an impactful message. It has not only taught me that I have a responsibility to educate myself on current affairs but also to keep storytelling and creating opportunities for others to learn.

Crafting "A War at Home" (Production Part 2)

The Editing Journey: Crafting "A War at Home"

Editing can be a rollercoaster of emotions for me (throwback to last year's portfolio project where my computer BROKE). My partner Mateo and I have our unique quirks in the editing process, but we worked together and it went great. While I wouldn’t say I hate editing, some moments make me want to cry. Editing interviews, however, are a different story; they tend to be more manageable,and luckily that's what we were working with for our doc. That said, Mateo made my life a bit more challenging by not taking notes or timestamps during our interview with Yousef. I found myself diving into a 25-minute video completely blind. But hey, I can’t blame him too much—I was the one who ditched filming day. Luckily, Yousef was super articulate and insightful, making my editing life way easier. He seriously was the blueprint interviewee.

Our editing was a collaborative effort, with us passing a laptop back and forth as we took turns finding/organizing the b-roll, which included online graphics from YouTube, photos, and Yousef's personal videos, or editing in the timeline. I realized that I often convince myself I DREAD editing, but end up managing to produce something I’m proud of and being just fine. It helps that both Mateo and I have had experience in TV production since our freshman year, so we approached this project with a familiar workflow: organizing materials, creating a line edit, incorporating b-roll, and adding final touch-ups. This entire process took about three days, all while juggling classes, homework, and other commitments.

Here's what our timeline looked like ^

We structured the documentary thoughtfully, focusing on key themes that would resonate with our audience. Our outline included Yousef’s family background, a news montage transition, and an exploration of the ongoing conflict in Palestine, including personal accounts of Yousef’s experiences. We also delved into the emotional impact on Yousef, his interactions at home, and his hopes for the future. Each segment was designed to maintain engagement and avoid redundancy, which was crucial since we featured only one interviewee.

A standout feature was our montage of news headlines about the war, which we sourced from YouTube and other platforms. This montage was a powerful transition into the heavier themes of the documentary, paired with a dramatic riser that really cranked up the emotional intensity. Music selection was initially a concern for me, but Mateo had access to Epidemic Sound, which helped us to find a dramatic instrumental that complemented Yousef’s words without overshadowing them. We used the music strategically to enhance the emotional flow of the documentary rather than forcing it throughout the entire piece.

Inserting b-roll was a breeze, as it was a straightforward choice based on what Yousef discussed. When he spoke about his family, we showcased his personal photos and videos; when he talked about territory lines, we displayed relevant graphics. We spent a LOOOOOOOOOOT of time on YouTube. The editing process was efficient and enjoyable, even when we addressed the lighting issues. Mateo color-corrected the darker clips to match the brighter ones, resulting in a cohesive visual experience.

One challenge we faced was ensuring that the documentary didn’t become monotonous with just one interviewee. Thankfully, Yousef had great commentary and our careful structuring kept the narrative engaging. We also added graphics, including lower thirds in the colors of the Palestinian flag and a simple title font for the b-roll of Yousef.

Here's the lower thirds and title graphics^

Now, Mateo and I are considering submitting "A War at Home" to film festivals after making a few minor adjustments. We plan to resize the lower thirds, add credits, and include a brief interview with Yousef explaining what International Fest is, as we realized that not everyone would be familiar with it.

Overall, I had a fantastic experience working on this documentary, and I’m genuinely proud of how it turned out. The documentary module was incredibly rewarding, and I’m now inspired to pursue a similar project for my final portfolio. :)

Check out "A War at Home" in the link here

Production - Interviewing Yousef

This post will be short since I was absent at the interview/filming date.

Normally, when Mateo and I team up, I handle the interviews while he takes care of the editing. He’s way faster at it than I am, and I really enjoy chatting with our subjects. But with wrestling season in full swing—practices and tournaments almost every day—I had to sit this one out, so Mateo stepped in to conduct the interview.

I had written up the questions, but I lost the document in my Google Drive, so I can’t share them here. I based a lot of them on the interview format I discussed in my research blog.

I texted Mateo afterward, and he said everything went smoothly, aside from a few minor lighting issues with the sun.

The only thing left to do was edit the final doc together!! In the next post I'll go into detail about how that went. :)

Research + Planning for DOC

Introduction to Project

For one of our first big projects of the year, we were assigned to create a short documentary in groups/partners. I joined forces with my friend and classmate Mateo, who I often work with for our AICE Media assignments now that we're in the same class.

Brainstorming was a struggle for us, we couldn't find a topic that really stuck out.

We bounced ideas around, discussed the mental health of first responders (which I especially take interest in, as I want to become a firefighter), and even created an outline, but it didn't feel right. We already had a solid foundation since we researched it for a podcast assignment. 

Mateo suggested doing a piece on furries or a homeless person, as it would be interesting to create a piece around a group/person who has such an intense image created by society, but there was no way for us to do it safely as high school students. 

The night before the outline was due, Mateo clutched up and decided we could do a piece discussing the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine. While it seemed interesting, I was a bit nervous that I wasn't educated enough on the subject. But, when our pitch got approved and we decided to continue, I knew I'd have to research more.

Directions

In the assignment, we had to submit:

- pre-doc planning outline

Unfortunately, since Mateo and I had already done one for our other topic, we never completed a final outline for our final subject. We should have gone back to check we had everything before the due date.

- A production log

To keep track of when we completed steps in our project (ex. interviewing, editing)

- And the documentary itself

Research

A big reason why this subject was a great call, was because we already had an interviewee lined up. Yousef Safa, a Palestinian student at our school, who Mateo was pretty good friends with. 

A major conversation between Mateo and I was about how we wanted this documentary to come across - it wasn't going to be made to be political in the sense that we try and persuade viewers' opinions. The purpose would be to show how the effects of a war can affect somebody so close to our own lives, and how it has influence even when you aren't living on an active battlefield. That's why we went with the title "A War at Home." Funny story, I was skeptical of this at first. Mateo came up with it, because it has the double meaning of the war AT HOME (the criticism and pressure Yousef faces here in the USA), and at home (Palestine). I didn't think other people would get this, so we asked our classmate and she immediately understood it.... yeah I just bowed my head in defeat after that one. I GUESS he was right. 

Anyways, in terms of research, since it is such a controversial topic, we watched a LOT of content. 

Here's my watch history on YouTube.

But the video I found most helpful in giving me a general background was The Israel-Palestine conflict: a brief, simple history This video explained how the conflict started long ago, over territory disputes involving Europe, Israel, and of course Palestine. It had a lot of graphics that helped me understand the changes in territory lines and whatnot. I also appreciated the specific explanation of what Hamas was. 

The video is linked in the text, but here it is embedded below (we liked this so much that we even included a short clip of the graphic that was helpful in our documentary).

Another source that personally helped me better understand how to draft questions for Yousef, and to better understanding of the subject, was an interview I read. It was called "Interview with Amal Amireh–a Palestinian immigrant to America–by Michael Benisek." (I have embedded the link within the title) This helped me draft questions for our interview with Yousef and it was honestly just an interesting read. 

I think it's important to comment that there was a bit of content that was hard to watch or read, but I am glad that I got an opportunity to learn about this. 

As we each had done our own research and felt confident in understanding, we began to draft questions. The next post will discuss the production of our documentary.

Documentary Conventions Research - Sample Studies

On October 2nd, we started to learn about documentaries and their conventions in class. I was really excited to start this lesson since as a kid I would often watch animal/nature docu-series, such as Savage Kingdom and other pieces by National Geographic.

Dr. K's Exotic Animal ER , right here in Broward County, was another personal favorite! I had always wanted to be a vet when I was younger, and I had a Russian Tortoise (Masha) who got sick, so I actually got to go there and meet the people in the documentary!

However, I came to learn that documentaries go way beyond what I was used to, and the pieces we would study in class would further prove that statement.

We began with American Promise (2014), a documentary whose production spanned over 13 years. It follows the growth of two black students, Idris and Seun, as they attend a prestigious New York Prep School, which had a majority of White students. I found this piece very interesting as it was produced by Idris's parents (Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson), teaching me a lot about bias and how it can affect a project. We focused on how the production techniques changed and developed as the boys aged.

Next was Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), directed by Banksy, a famous anonymous street artist. The discussion in class began with observing how the director seemed to shift throughout the text, beginning with the unique Frenchman Thierry Guetta, but eventually became a discussion about the meaning of art (if it even has one). I really enjoyed the thought-provoking statements my classmates and I made, it was a really interesting work to watch. I liked how this documentary's main source of footage was from raw clips taken by Thierry himself. 

Next, rather than watching another long documentary, we checked out a Netflix episodic documentary. It's called Abstract: The Art of Design (2019), and each episode examines a different creator and their respective art (ex. pottery, oil pastels, woodworking, etc.). The episode we watched followed the story of a costume designer named Ruth Carter, who worked on big projects such as Black Panther. My favorite part about this was how aesthetically pleasing it was. While stage b-roll is unconventional to most documentaries, I thought it was very well done in this piece. Being a professional production, the technical elements were debatably PERFECT and it was the kind of thing I couldn't not take notice to. 

(Confession... We were supposed to watch a second episode on our own, but I was on a field trip and forgot to complete this assignment 😬... so that was on me!) 

Anyway..... the last kind of studying we did was with the New York Times Op-docs. I chose to watch one called Pickle, which was in fact not about a pickle, it was about a bunch of animals. This short documentary had a cute quirky feeling to it, and it was easygoing to watch. The second one I watched was called Modern Goose, and it had a unique take on geese and their struggles in human-dominated areas. It was something I had never thought about before, so I found it interesting.

This wraps up the pre-documentary project research done in class. Stay tuned for the next post delving into research and planning for my own Documentary!

Season 2 Drop !!!!!! (NOT CLICKBAIT)

Hi I missed ya

We're in A level baby.

XD

(Stay tuned for a sexier blog layout)

-gsk

Film Opening

 Here's a link to the film opening on youtube.

YouTube