We Are Generation Z

Mood: Proud (of my fellow Gen-Zers) :')

Hello!! Today, I've been brainstorming about possible ideas for the poetic documentary (which I have to soon discuss with my partner who knows little of my recent straying from our original plan... ha ha). So far, I've come up with this idea that I happen to think is really cool! First, a bit of background information.

It's not hard to find information that details the misrepresentation of teenagers in the media. Not only are teenage roles filled by people who are, wow, not teenagers, but we are also portrayed negatively. Alas, "the modern teenager," according to Google Images:

   

Yes, we like our phones; we're digital natives! We rely on technology, but that doesn't make us incapable of being good, respectable, hard-working people. It shouldn't devalue us, yet I've seen, in too many instances, that it does. 

Unaware. Dependent. Over-sensitive. Antisocial. Apathetic. Irresponsible. Superficial. These are just a few words that I came up with that can describe how current teenagers, members of Generation Z, are viewed in society. As a teenager, I can say that this misrepresentation of us in the media is damaging, and it needs to be remedied. For that reason, I want my doc to challenge these stereotypes and help people understand our capabilities both as individuals and as a generation. 

I'm going to discuss this idea with my partner, and develop the idea a bit more (figure out what type of shots, subject, music, mood, I want to create).

Thanks for reading,

Chey :)

So About That March...

Mood: Asfghjkgd??? (translation: I'm a mess)

Hi! Okay, so, the protest last week did not exactly go as planned. Our intentions were to arrive to Miami early so that we could film some establishing shots of the city and various march locations, but the traffic and several unpredicted accidents along the way prevented us from doing so. Sigh.

While we had tons of fun joining in the march and filming the marchers, streets, cop cars, among many other things, we did not obtain enough footage to make a quality segment about the march, its purpose, and its attendees. By the time we arrived, the sun was already setting, and we could not conduct interviews in the dark, especially once the march began. For that reason, we're going to have to alter our idea... But, we did get this super cool shot of the Torch of Freedom under the moon (sadly, we won't be able to use it, but I still like it):

However (and here comes the silver lining), I think this challenge to our idea was needed because, after researching the various types of documentaries, I feel as if making an expository documentary would not entirely reflect my creativity and desire to make the documentary a little different from the norm (and, for me, it would be quite boring unless we had some passionate interviewees or strong shots). The other day, my teacher put my peers and I into a group where we bounced our project ideas off of each other, and one person mentioned a poetic documentary. Upon looking into it, I found some information about this type of documentary, and I fell in love with its experimental, free, and abstract nature. I researched the conventions and found a good explanation here of this type of "visual poetry."

Also, I watched a few example of poetic documentaries on YouTube. One of my favorites, Amnesia, can be found below: 

I love the lighting techniques, narration, vibe, and shots (they're SO pretty). The mood is effectively established through the music, lighting, and visual images. I'm going to view more poetic docs to see the various styles and analyze how each one was composed. It seems a bit difficult to make this type of doc, but I'm always up for a creative challenge! I'm pretty nervous because I'm not sure if I can get such great and aesthetically-pleasing shots, but I'm optimistic. 

Until next time,
Chey :)


Biesterfeld, Peter. "Six Primary Styles of Documentary Production." 
     Videomaker, 13 Nov. 2015, www.videomaker.com/article/c06/ 
     18423-six-primary-styles-of-documentary-production. Accessed 16 Mar. 2017. 
COD Movies. “Amnesia Documentary A2 Media Studies.” YouTube. YouTube, 18 April 2016. Web. 16 March 2017.