Critical Reflection: Group Documentary Project

Over the course of this documentary project, my group and I developed a 5–7 minute documentary that focused on the impact of the Latinos in Action (LIA) program and its recent news about a shutdown going to happen. Throughout the process, we went through multiple ideas, faced scheduling and production challenges, and made creative decisions based on research and time constraints. Despite the difficulties, we created a documentary that meaningfully represents a social issue within our school community and engages its audience through personal stories and documentary conventions.

Representation of Social Groups and Issues:

Our documentary represents the social group of Latino students, teachers, and families who were directly affected by the Latinos in Action program. LIA was a program that supported students academically and emotionally while also encouraging community involvement, tutoring, and leadership. Its shutdown, “due to orders from the U.S. Department of Education, which claimed the courses may be discriminating based on race and violating federal civil rights law”, became the central issue our documentary explored.

Rather than focusing on political arguments, our piece represents the human impact of the program and its removal. By interviewing LIA students, the LIA teacher, and a parent of a child who was tutored, we showed how the program affected different people within the community. Students spoke from the heart about how LIA gave them confidence, belonging, and a sense of purpose. The teacher provided insight into the program’s goals and long-term impact, while the parent interview highlighted how LIA helped improve her child’s confidence, even if academic results were not immediately noticeable. We aimed to keep the documentary unbiased, acknowledging that not every experience was perfect while still emphasizing the positive role LIA played. This balanced approach helped us represent the social group honestly and respectfully, allowing real people to tell their story instead of forcing a single biased narrative.

Audience Engagement:

Our target audience consists mainly of students, parents, and members of the school community, particularly those who may not have been familiar with LIA or understood its importance. We engaged the audience by using direct interviews, emotional testimonies, and relevant B-roll that showed real classroom interactions, tutoring moments, and students working together. Hearing students describe how LIA helped them feel supported and confident creates empathy and encourages viewers to emotionally connect with the issue. We also used B-roll to transition smoothly between interviews, keeping the pacing engaging while reinforcing what was being said. Music was used subtly to support emotional moments without overpowering the interviews. In some sections, we intentionally excluded music so the audience could focus fully on what the interviewees were saying, although we could have used some more background music in some scenes. This contrast helped maintain engagement and gave more attention to the most important moments.

Research, Conventions, and Creative Decisions:

Research played a major role in shaping our documentary and the way it followed documentary conventions. Before filming, we studied examples of documentaries and discussed common conventions in class, such as interviews, B-roll, sound, and the use of music to establish tone. We decided to use direct interviews, allowing subjects to speak naturally without including our voices as filmmakers, so the focus stayed on their experiences. Our research also influenced our editing choices. Editing a documentary is more complex than editing a regular video, especially when matching voiceovers with B-roll and transitioning back to interview footage. To manage this, I focused on pre-editing clips, organizing interview footage, and selecting fonts for interview titles. I chose fonts that were clean, professional, and classy, ensuring they matched the serious tone of the documentary without distracting the viewer.

We also learned that having too many people editing would be chaotic, so tasks were divided among each other. This decision helped maintain consistency and prevented conflicting creative choices. Although some conventions, like handheld footage, were not heavily used, this was a known choice to keep the documentary visually clean and organized.

To add on, after reviewing our footage, we realized we had too much of the same B-roll footage, or it was just lacking what we needed. My group needed to think quick due to time constraints, so what we did was fill up some gaps with pictures. This was a really creative idea as we got to show more real connection of the class with people from the community. It was all smiles, fun and an insight to what the program really is like. With a simple touch of music we turned some pictures into a magical moment of memories to share with others. 

Conclusion:

Overall, this project challenged me creatively and technically, especially during post-production. While editing was not my favorite part, it was essential to shaping the final product and making sure the documentary flowed smoothly. Through research, planning, and collaboration, my group and I created a documentary that thoughtfully represents a real issue in our school community.

Although the project was stressful at times, I am proud of the final outcome. It communicates the impact of Latinos in Action, engages the audience emotionally, and demonstrates our understanding of documentary conventions. This experience helped me better understand the responsibilities that come with telling real stories, and how powerful those stories can be when done right.

Surviving the Final Stretch: Editing

Post-production… easily the worst part for me. I don’t know what kind of editing warrior you have to be to enjoy cutting a documentary together, but it is definitely not me. I can edit a normal video just fine, but a documentary? With voiceovers, interviews, music, and B-roll? Yeah… no.

Editing this project was way harder than I expected. Every few seconds we had to make sure the voiceover matched the B-roll, and then we had to perfectly transition back to the interviewee talking without it looking awkward. It was like putting together a puzzle where half the pieces are missing and the other half don’t even fit. We also had to pick music and fonts, which sounds simple, but it’s actually a whole mission when you’re trying to keep the vibe serious, emotional, and not cheesy. I focused on fonts for the interviews and pre-editing clips so I could send everything to the rest of the group to assemble. Since we had a bigger group, not everyone needed to edit, otherwise the project would’ve turned into pure mess.

For the fonts, I wanted something classy but not too dramatic, something that actually matched the tone of our documentary. I went through so many options until I found one that fit perfectly with the piece. I made sure every interview clip was clean, organized, and ready to be placed into the timeline. It sounds small, but trust me… it took time, patience, and three mental breakdowns.

Picture of font choice:

And honestly, that was basically the whole post-production experience. Long hours, a lot of rewatching the same clips 500 times, fixing tiny mistakes, and trying to make everything flow together. And this was jut my tiny part, shoutout to my group for doing an excellent job to piece it all together. But what matters is we got it done.

This is my last blog regarding this project, and looking back, this whole process was a lot. From brainstorming to filming to editing, we really did everything we could to make this documentary look good. It was stressful, but we actually succeeded, and I’m proud of the work we put in.

Here is my full production log of this documentary:

Also guys side note..

Christmas is in less than 15 days!!!

The Best Part

Hiii guys today im talking about day three of production, and honestly, filming was going way smoother than expected. I was actually excited to start shooting because we finally had a solid plan and a story we were proud of.

Day 1 of filming:

The day after planning we decided to start filiming right away to not waste time. Since we were filming in school, it made everything way easier. We borrowed mics and a tripod from Mrs. Stoklosa and headed straight to the LIA room to start interviewing students. We picked around five students and asked each of them to choose two questions from the list we created. They opened up about their personal experiences with the program, and it was genuinely really nice seeing them speak from the heart. After the interviews, we filmed the class working together and grabbed a bunch of B-roll clips to use throughout the documentary. Honestly, day one was extremely successful. We got home and reviewed everything, and it all looked great.

Clip from student interview:

Day 2:

We focused on getting the interview with the LIA teacher, Mrs. Rodriguez. We set up a little corner in her classroom with a clean background and let her talk about her experience with the program. Her answers were strong, emotional, and perfect for what we needed.

Last days:

After that, the only footage left to capture were the social events. Since everyone in my group went to them but I couldn’t (because they were right after school and I had to work), I took on a different job. I focused on finding a parent to interview

It took a few days, but I finally found someone, my mom’s friend, whose child was tutored last year. I asked her the same set of questions from my last blog.

Buuuut… there was a small problem.

Even though the documentary is supposed to be unbiased, it still centers around how LIA impacts the community. And her responses… were not exactly ideal. She explained that she didn’t notice much of a difference in her child’s learning because the tutoring was “too short” and the ESOL kids had to share tutors on different days. I get it, and she wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t the angle we originally hoped for.

BUT... she did talk about how LIA helped her child build confidence, so we used that part of the footage since it aligned better with our message. From there, we basically had all the footage we needed. Over the next few days, we filmed any extra B-roll just in case, and then we jumped straight into editing.

Here are some extra clips we filmed:

And that’s where we were at, definitely making progress!!

Planning Documentary

This was a little rough not gonna lie. My group and I, started the morning by thinking of some ideas we could do, at first we wanted to create a documentary about a girl at our school who has been a well known YouTuber since she was young. Our goal was to explore the internal struggles behind her life, interviewing her, her mom, and her close friends to give the story depth and emotion. As good as the idea was, we quickly realized the biggest issue: scheduling. Her availability is extremely limited, and combining her schedule with ours (since we all work and have different commitments) made the whole project feel almost impossible to do smoothly. After discussing it with Mrs. Stoklosa, she suggested we rethink our approach and consider something more manageable. That conversation actually helped us a lot, because it pushed us to come up with something even better you guys are not ready for.

We decided to shift our focus to Latinos in Action, a very know program at our school that was recently shut down “due to orders from the U.S. Department of Education, which claimed the courses may be discriminating based on race and violating federal civil rights law.” Since LIA has had such a big impact on students and the community, we felt this was an important story to tell. Immediately, we envisioned interviewing LIA students, the LIA teacher, and even parents of the children we’ve tutored. Once we talked it through as a group, we all genuinely loved the idea and felt motivated to get started.

We planned about 20 B-roll shots we want to capture, everything from classroom activities to tutoring moments, and organized our list of main interview subjects along with the shot types we want for each.

Some ideas we had:

1. Extreme long shot of LIA classroom

2. Close up shot of LIA students working together 

3. Long shots of meetings and events LIA hosts

Then came the scheduling challenge. Everyone in my group has a job, so matching our availability wasn’t easy. We decided the best place to start was with student interviews during our class period, since that would be the easiest time for all of us to be together. After that, we set up a plan to film LIA activities throughout the week whenever our schedules align. We logged everything in our production log: ideas, B-roll plans, interview notes, and filming dates, so we can stay organized throughout this process.

                                    

These were some questions we planned asking parents who's children got tutored by LIA students:

Overall, day two helped us solidify our concept and feel confident about the direction of our documentary. Even though it took some trial and error to get here, our group was excited and ready to continue.

Documentary Research (Viewings)

For this project, we had to create our own short 5 minute documentary, but before jumping into filming anything, we spent time watching different documentaries in class and for the Op-Doc assignment to understand how they’re built. The three main ones we watched were Exit Through the Gift Shop, American Promise, and Abstract: The Art of Design. Each one had its own style, pacing, and way of telling a real story, which helped me understand what type of documentary I wanted to make.

For our first documentary we watched American Promise (class favorite), it felt to be more of a traditional piece but emotionally powerful. It followed the same two African American boys for years, sharing their experiences in regards of their education at a prestigious school in New York, showing long-term storytelling, personal interviews, family interactions, and a calm observational style. This documentary really helped me understand how to insert B-roll, as the interviews and graphics flowed seamlessly.

Meanwhile, Exit Through the Gift Shop illustrated how chaotic but creative a documentary can become. It starts with Thierry being super passionate about street art and documenting real artists. But once he becomes Mr. Brainwash, everything shifts. He stops focusing on the meaning of the art and starts focusing on profit and fame. The film goes from being about passion of street art to showing how easily art can turn into a business. The documentary shows this by shifting the tone with visuals by using a mix of direct interviews, indirect interviews, found footage, and even moments where the filmmaker becomes part of the story. I liked how it felt messy but still super intentional. 

And finally, Abstract focused on design, but what stood out was the visual style, clean shots, voiceovers over footage (which I really liked), aesthetic graphics, and interviews that felt more artistic than just informational. It made me realize in order to get my purpose across I need to focus on presentation and how these choices affect my audience's perception of it. The editing gave me a good sense of what I wanted to do with my documentary in terms of choosing the aesthetic, even analyzing the music used. 

Watching these three really helped me understand things like:

– The difference between direct vs. indirect interviews

– How B-roll supports what someone is saying

– How documentaries use narration, archive footage, and real-life moments

– How the overall tone and style change depending on the topic

From all that, I started to get an idea of what I wanted my own documentary to feel like. Seeing so many different approaches made me realize I don’t have to follow one strict format, it's more about choosing the elements that match the story I want to tell. 

Season 2: A level!!

 I told you guys I would be back... cheers to another year of blogging!

It’s been a minute since I last posted, but now I’m officially starting my A Level Media blog. New year, new projects, and honestly I’m excited to get back into documenting everything again. Yay!