Hunter College, with its tens of thousands of students and thousands of staff members, is as big as a small town, and there are myriad activities that go into making it what it is. Pick an individual, group, faculty member, student or staff person who you think has something of interest to offer and create a documentary “portrait” of them. Your piece must involve at least one interview as well as other visual material that helps tell the story.
You should pre-interview, as we did with our audio profiles, and restrict yourself to 5 to 10 minutes of raw interview material. You will be working with our zoom recorders, with limited capabilities, so you will have to get close and pick a quiet location. Remember that visuals are more than just “B-roll,” and they should help tell the story on their own.
While not required, you can add additional info through narration or text cards. (No on-camera hosts please!) You will also need to create a main title, as well as “lower thirds” identifying the people you interview.
*DUE Mon, Nov. 23rd -Preproduction deliverables for this option: a one-page treatment, a list of interview questions and a shot list of the visuals you hope to film.
Look at slides from Lecture 10 which will be helpful.
Pre-Production
Tools - Treatment
Includes only what the viewer will see and hear as they watch the film (no background on the issue, camera angles, etc.)
Example from the sample film:
The film opens with an unusual angle of a ballet dancer as she moves her arms into second position, then third. The camera is at her waist level, and it moves with her. We see the concentration on her feet and feel the fluidity of her movements. Next, over a few shots of the same dancer putting on her toe shoes and fixing her hair, we hear her introduce herself. “My name Soltari Gomez and I’ m a professional contemporary Ballet dancer ...”

Tools: Shot list
Interview
Shots of Soltari dancing
LS, MS, CU
Shot from perspective of her body
Shots of Soltari getting dressed - various
Visuals from studio: books, out the window, boombox, signs on wall, other details.
LS Soltari walking down hallway after practice (from front and behind)
Shots of neighborhood where her studio is

Sync vs. Non-Sync Sound
Do not use camera microphone for dialogue! Must use zoom recorder and sync in editing
(will review next week)
Think creatively about how to minimize sync sound

Key Concepts
Documentary - definition Documentary elements
Visual Evidence
Observational Footage
Narration: first person, third person Sync vs. Non-sync Sound Treatment
Shot list
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