This documentary is a result of many months of hard work (From September 2018 to May 2019), not to mention the previous years of effort which have prepared us for this project. There were many steps involved in the production process of this documentary. Here, we will briefly describe them.
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The First StepsOver the summer of 2018, we were asked to pitch ideas for a documentary based on the following theme: "America in Miniature: US artifacts as representations of a changing nation comprised of diverse perspectives, beliefs, and contributions."
As a group, we then chose to create a documentary based on Charlotte Foster's pitch, which focused on the Strawberry Fields Memorial--an artifact commissioned to honor John Lennon and his outsized impact on the world. |
In Preparation for New YorkThe trip to New York was coming up. To gain insights into the world of music and make the most of the time we had there, we met with interviewees Bob Gruen, Christopher Cousino, and George Fisher. We also planned out a list of locations at which we would gather B-roll. Among these destinations were Radio City Hall and Central Park, where Lennon's memorial is located.
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On the Brooklyn Bridge with our classmates
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In Times Square
After New YorkAfterwards, we transcribed the interviews we'd conducted in New York. We also gathered B-roll, chose background music, and conducted research. Using all of this, we created a rough draft of our director's script. Only then could we begin to assemble our documentary.
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Assembling the DocumentaryUsing the software Final Cut Pro X, we put together and edited the narration, A-roll, B-roll, and music. We pieced together the clips of the interviews that we thought were most important, and conducted two more interviews with Mr. Ian Mackaye and Mr. Paul Du Noyer. Initially, our documentary came out at just over ten minutes, but after some editing, we were able to cut it down to 8 minutes. During this stage of our documentary, we also began to create our bibliography.
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The Finishing TouchesThe last few weeks of our production process were hectic. After conducting peer reviews, we frantically scrambled to make changes to the documentary. We added in more relevant footage and cut out unnecessary effects and transitions, among many other smaller changes. We added at least 10 more sources to the bibliography and completely reorganized some parts of the documentary. At last, it was done. The bibliography was finished, the documentary complete. We've spent months toiling over this documentary, and we're so excited to share it with you.
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