Critical Reflection | Blog Post #49

 When I first began this entire process, I was clueless and immature. I had no idea how much effort I would have to put in day in and day out. I planned to do things in a perfect world which led to many setbacks. I had no consideration for my timing or other time or lives. The research I did helped me gain a better grasp of exactly what I am dealing with. I like to inform myself often of the world and what is going on. I tend to remember information much more easily if it piques my interest. In contrast, in cinematography as a director, it is interesting to me to realize the actions done and taken in films as well as have a more informed opinion on the film and what I am viewing. As I have moved along in my research throughout the film, I have felt like I am striking something big, exposing media attention to an audience normally not spoken to. I felt like my inclusive actions would shine amongst the films of this year. Yet the idea I had in mind was beyond reality and my capabilities as a cinematographer. I am not at the level to conceive grand ideas yet. My wildly ambitious ideas got the better of me and led to me wasting almost 9 weeks (about 2 months) trying to achieve something that was beyond me.  

 

Starting on this new refresh I decided that my original ideas were nothing more than fantasy and unachievable. I decided to focus my attention and goals on something closer, something more local. Hence the idea of the Sandhill crane. I conducted research on it, and I know that I can capture footage of it as they are local to Florida. I decided to want people to not only go “There's that bird” and instead go look at those “sandhill cranes!” Okay maybe not that far, but I want them to at least recognize and understand them. As a result, I was led down a path that involves education and entertainment otherwise known as edutainment. I was led down a path that wanted to engage viewers and increase retention rates, hence animation and infographics. I looked at the famous David Attenborough and his achievements. I informed myself of something that piqued my interest, and I have retained the knowledge about what makes his documentaries so great: It is universally beautiful to all. 

 

Documentaries usually utilize a large mix of video shots and angling with fewer deciding to include animation. All the large hits use natural footage. I decided I wanted this as well, but as my studio is smaller, I still cannot get to quite the level that the big film companies can, so with a realistic goal in mind I decided to follow the conventions of smaller documentaries and include animation to increase retention rates.  

 

In my documentary, we displayed an interview with a kid who was of Middle Eastern descent. This adds cultural diversity to the documentary and helps connect audiences to feel that the appreciation of nature is universal. The migration patterns of sandhill cranes are international which further increases the feeling of interconnected communities. This emphasizes the need for global cooperation in conservation efforts to address environmental challenges affecting people worldwide. My documentary raises awareness about environmental issues. It makes the viewers consider conservation efforts facing challenges against habitat loss and climate change. My interviews with several people have been educational and informative too. It becomes a valuable tool for educating audiences and promoting understanding of wildlife across different social groups. The engagement of the local community in discussions about conservation efforts or involving them in activities related to sandhill cranes allows for community involvement to come into play. This leads to greater awareness in local communities about the problem. 

 

My use of infographics presents complex information in a way that is easy to understand. Whether it is showing patterns of migration, details about different bird species, or environmental challenges, infographics are important for helping the audience understand and remember key information. Additionally, Animation is an engaging way to make your documentary more interesting and creative to audiences. By using animated sequences, you can bring the behaviors of sandhill cranes to life and make the overall story more exciting or you can introduce pops of color that contrast to other parts of video. This maintains audience engagement throughout the documentary. When you combine video content with infographics and animation, you create an experience that appeals to multiple senses. This helps with inclusivity as different people learn in separate ways. By using infographics, we can make the information more accessible to audiences through visual and audible learning. Infographics and animations are also helpful for increasing retention rates. With infographics and animations, you can make sure that the audience remembers what they learned long after they have finished watching the documentary. Using infographics strategically can also make the audience feel more involved. By using a combination of infographics, animation, and video content, a documentary can then have a lot of different rhythms and tones. This keeps the audience interested and prevents the documentary from becoming boring or repetitive. It makes the whole viewing experience more dynamic and exciting from beginning to end. The integration of animation capitalizes on the documentary's allure to various age demographics. This inclusiveness is particularly vital for edutainment, as it ensures a diverse viewership and maximizes the documentary's influence. 

 

My educational focus and visual consistency will help create a consistent feeling of what to expect from my studio. Strong openers with engaging locally created content that feeds the mind, and imagination with information about our community. While this film will not be an international success, I know that it will be a guide, a source of information, and inspiration for people to do their part, and for people to learn about their neighborhoods. The creative storytelling and multisensory experience further engage audiences with this film. The film will be forever a call to action, a call for people to learn and do their part to stay informed. A call for us to arm ourselves with knowledge and keep striving to learn more.