Critical EYE

After 15 weeks of Specialized Reporting with Professor Kenneth Jones, I can no longer watch movies the same. I can't even watch my favorite TV series without studying the style or critiquing the production! It's a blessing and a curse. I have learned that it's best for me to watch movies with my classmates because they are the only people who understand why I talk throughout the movie. I recently went to see Tyler Perry's "Why did I get Married Too?" with my classmates. We found ourselves highlighting the money shots and the way the editor sweetened the sound. I never realized how much of a difference music made in a film until I was assigned this documentary.

My obsession with producing and editing is kind of unattractive. I find myself watching movies over and over whether they were good or not. I study them and I use some of the things I learn from watching movies and TV shows. One of the best things about Tyler Perry's last movie was the beautiful music sweetening. It was beautiful but unfortunately, my friends don't understand my obsession. I also found the song choice in the film interesting. Perry used several songs in the film but he only used one throughout the entire film. He made it work for him. One of the problems I have run into with the documentary is making sure I had enough songs in the documentary. I learned from his film that it is not necessary to have an entire soundtrack. Sometimes one song will do just fine!

The importance of release...

There are a number of things that could go wrong after the final product of this documentary is complete. One thing that could ruin it all is not having releases from all of the characters in our documentary. The purpose of the release is to protect the university against law suits and other disputes. The best thing to do is to have all characters sign a release before we conduct the interviews. We didn't go that route. We had to go back and cover our trail!

Acquiring signatures was a week filled with miscommunication, gallons of gas, and dozens of text messages. Luckily, none of our characters decided to renege on their interviews. We endangered the integrity of our documentary by having to go back ad get signatures. If someone had decided they no longer wanted to take part in our documentary we would have had to drop them from the film. It was scary but we did everything we could to get signatures from everyone, even the people we were not certain on using. It's always better to play it safe than to end up sorry we didn't follow through. We got lucky and we're still on our way!

For the people...

Since I posted the trailer we have received an overwhelming response to our project. I honestly didn't think so many people cared about the topic. When people began tweeting our trailer and sharing with their friends, I knew the message had penetrated hearts. I have been getting random Facebook messages and emails for over a month. Some people just write to say they appreciate our efforts and others want to know when they will be able to view the finished product. I appreciate all the support but it definitely adds pressure.

There have been times I have wanted to give up but then I just think about all of the people I interviewed. Everyone from the 11-year-old girl to the 84-year-old woman deserves to have their story told. I do not want all of our work to be in vain. My greatest desire is for this documentary to change lives. I want people to think differently as a result of hearing these stories. Hearing the 84-year-old tell stories about how she never felt that her cousin loved her the way that she loved her cousin touched me. Her cousin was dark-skinned and she is light-skinned. She explained that she loved her cousin like a sister but her cousin left complexion taint their relationship. It pains me to know that something as minor as complexion could tear a family apart.

Paper Bag Test Trailer

Producing the trailer for the "Paper Bag Test" was a challenging task. I knew I wanted to try something new with editing but I also needed to tell the story without giving away the entire documentary. It was important for me to show the different hues and features of black people in the beginning to set the tone. The first SOT from a young black mother captured the essence of why this documentary is important. Our characters are all unique with different stories about how their complexion has affected their experiences in life.

The song I chose for the trailer is "the blacker the berry" by Field Mob. There are so many songs I could have chosen for this trailer but this track illustrated the struggles of a dark skinned person growing up. I like how the artist was open and honest about his experience. I found it difficult to allow the audience to hear what the characters are saying and hear hear the lyrics as well. I looked for an instrumental but I think it would have taken away from the purpose of the song in the trailer. Also, having to work around the lyrics gave me a glimpse of what I will have to know when editing the full documentary.