I've decided...

 Hello! After reviewing the suggestions from my group meeting and brainstorming my ideas a bit more, I have decided on a topic. The docuseries that I will create is...

America's Greatest National Parks

S1:E1- The Florida Everglades

I have decided to develop a 5-minute extract from a series called "America's Greatest National Parks." In this series, the producers will take viewers on a journey to the most beautiful, scenic, and lively national parks in America. I will create an extract from the pilot of this series, which will feature a national gem that is quite literally in my backyard: The Florida Everglades.

Sections of the pilot that I can represent in my 5-minute extract include:

• History of the Everglades
• Everglades and The City of Weston
• Native tribes in the Everglades
• Climate Change and the Everglades
• Native Everglades flora and fauna

I will have to decide which section of the pilot I want to represent in my 5-minute extract. In the meantime, I cannot wait to dive deeper into this topic. I am excited to document this national treasure that is so close to home! Stay tuned for more!

Successful Group Meeting!

 Hello! Today, I participated in a group meeting with 8 of my classmates. At this meeting, I had the opportunity to bounce all my ideas off of them and get feedback on how I can create an effective extract. Here's what we discussed:

Topics:

My group members read the list of topics from my previous blog and shared feedback with me. They mainly showed interest in the Florida Everglades idea, as they thought it would be a perfect topic for the resources I have at hand and would fit perfectly for this project. They suggested that I create a docuseries about national parks and, in one of the episodes, feature the Florida Everglades. The 5-minute extract that I would create for this project would be from this Florida Everglades episode. They made sure to warn me that obtaining footage for this topic may be hard, so I am going to have to brainstorm filming methods. In addition, they recommended that I stay away from topics like homelessness. Although this would be a captivating topic for a docuseries, with the resources I currently have on hand, they advised me that it will be tricky to get footage for this topic.

Magazine Article:

For the magazine article portion of the project, my group members suggested that I draft a faux magazine article that would indirectly feature the docuseries. They recommended that I could do this by writing an article about the director (myself) and in the article feature my new docuseries (this project). This is a great idea for putting a creative spin on this portion of the project.

This group meeting was very successful. After receiving their feedback, I think I am closer to finally figuring out what idea I want to go with. Stay tuned!

Preparation for Group Meetings

Hello! Today, I was informed by my instructor that next class, we will be put into breakout rooms for group meetings. At a group meeting, we have the opportunity to collaborate with other classmates and involve them in our brainstorming process. It is a perfect chance to get other perspectives on your ideas and see which of your ideas you should stick with. 

In preparation for this meeting, I decided to organize a list of ideas that I could present to my group members at our meeting. Here's what I came up with:

Topics:

• Recycling- How to, DIY, and facts behind recycling
  
• Digital Divide- History, modern implications, solutions for future
• Florida Everglades- History, climate change, impact on life
  
• Homelessness- Statistics, expose (of current housing crisis), inspire change
  
• Golf- History of the sport, World's best golf courses, Athletes
• History of South Florida- Prohibition, Mass Immigration, Culture shifts
• Firefighters- Daily job, experiences, advice, testimonials
• Dogs in Pound- expose (of sheltering crisis), inspire change
• Florida Beaches- Most Spectacular Florida Beaches, Climate Change and Florida's Coasts
  

My task for this project is to create a 5-minute extract from an original documentary TV program together with an official social media page and magazine article for it. Because the documentary I create must be from a TV docuseries, I will have to ensure that my idea is something that can be replicated as a whole series. For example, for the golf idea, I could design a docuseries where one episode talks about history, one talks about athletes, and one talks about amazing courses. However, I would only need to create a 5-minute extract from one of those episodes. Due to these standards, I was forced to think from big to small during my brainstorming. I first had to come up with a broad topic, then I had to come up with subtopics that would be my episodes.

My brainstorming was a success, and I am well prepared to present my ideas to my peers. Stay tuned to see how it goes!

My past documentary experience

Hello! A few months ago, I was assigned a documentary project for my media studies class. My partner, Isabela Gonzalez, and I brainstormed a range of ideas and decided to create a documentary about local teenagers who are exerting their influence on the political atmosphere by making their voices heard, titled "Teen Voices." Take a look at our project.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WKUeclIQAPBCFB0NrM4uHnD3Bw_n0dtv/view?usp=sharing

For this project, we had to work under COVID-19 circumstances, which meant no in-person interviews and limited exposure in public places. This made it a bit harder to film, but because the 2020 election was going on at the same time as this project, we used our resources to our advantage and chose this topic because it allowed us to get footage with ease. Our local library is registered as a polling center, which allowed us to get any footage we needed for the documentary safely. For this project, I plan to choose another idea that both fits my interests and will be possible to film with the resources I currently have.

Some ideas I have come up with already are Florida Everglades, local climate change, and gun violence in Florida. 

All are good ideas, but I am going to continue brainstorming until I find one that truly sticks out to me.

Stay tuned to see!

I've made up my mind...

 Hello! After deliberating a bit more about what package I wanted to do for my second portfolio project, I have finally decided. I want to create...

A DOCUMENTARY PACKAGE!

You heard it here first! I decided on creating a documentary package for my portfolio project because given the current circumstances of our world amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, I am more confident in my ability to use the resources I have to create a nonfiction documentary rather than a fictional film package. Replicating most ideas that I would have for a film package would be tricky, as I would have to follow social distancing protocols during production and will have trouble finding a cast. Because documentaries depict a "slice of life," I won't need to worry about replicating anything for this project, my available resources and surroundings will choose the topic/story for me. 

Now, I will begin my brainstorming phase. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

Missed me?

 Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog. I have been inactive for a while because I have been completing the A level of my media studies course. This year, I have studied topics such as representation, postmodernism, documentary, brand identity, and distribution. In addition, I have been practicing my skills through various projects, such as a Brand Identity project, a documentary project, and most recently a film distribution project. Here is a sample of a trailer that my partner, Isabela Gonzalez, and I created for the film distribution project. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ow-9s5kJAJvpFalUlQpo80VsBt6G5l94/view?usp=sharing

As you can see, I have been further developing my knowledge of media and I am well-equipped to tackle my second portfolio project.

I have two options I am deciding between a film promotion package or a documentary package. I have to think a bit more and decide which I want to do!

Stay tuned for more!