https://www.brenikabanks.com
Author: BRENIKA BANKS
Alkaline Food Healing – FINAL CUT
This short documentary centers around Alkaline Chef Jamal Abdur-Rahim and his beliefs that alkaline food has healing benefits. Although more research is needed to prove that this diet boosts health, some studies have suggested positive effects.
Alkaline Food Healing DOC ROUGH CUT
Audio Video Exercise
Short Doc Pitch
My documentary will focus on my friend who is a chef. He is working hard to move up in the restaurant world and unfortunately the coronavirus is disrupting his plans in life right now. He really loves creating healthy, tasty meals; it’s his art and also serves as therapy. I want to capture him in his zone, making a meal. Also, record him talking about how he has to navigate through this pandemic and continue working as a chef. I also want to get B-roll of Harlem (our neighborhood), the city and the restaurant he currently works at.
Extremis Documentary Analysis
The documentary brought the viewer into an intensive care unit with Dr. Jessica Zitter and a patient. Shots were handheld, made for the viewer to feel like they are in the room. Director and producer Dan Krauss captured hand shots of the doctor with her patient as she tried her best to communicate with her patient in critical condition. Krauss intentionally focused the camera on the patient’s hands and doesn’t show the patient’s face at all. When a wide shot is shown, patient’s face is blurred out, indicating there was no consent for her face to be shown.
The next scenes were different shots of the hospital staff. Those scenes were fast paced; they showed emergency situations which included Dr. Zitter performing CPR on a patient. Krauss made sure to keep the camera angle on the head of the doctor, in a way that didn’t violate the patient’s rights. The shooting style in this documentary was dominantly close-up, handheld shots.
The film followed a patient name “Donna” with her family. Donna was visible on camera which showed that her family, possibly her brother, gave consent for her face to be shown. Donna served as chapter one of the documentary. No music was heard during conversations with Donna’s family members and Dr. Zitter.
The documentary continued moving with handheld shots behind the hospital’s medical staff as they rushed to the aide of another patient: “Selena”. This was separate from the previous scene and served as chapter two in the documentary. B-roll throughout the documentary was very literal to what was happening in the ICU. The overall pacing of the documentary complimented the reality of the ICU in a hospital.
Music kept the overall story going and kicked in during specific scenes, like when the doctor talked about off camera patients and as she walked throughout the ICU. Conversations from staff was used with the hospital’s natural sounds throughout the documentary. Krauss appeared to have spent enough time with the doctor and his subjects. The documentary captured the trust he gained through very intimate and vulnerable moments between his subjects.
Transitions flowed into the face-paced style with a sense of urgency. The story structure of the film was separated into different scene/chapters that weaved into each other. Consent and ethics didn’t seem to be much of an issue for Krauss. There were family members presently able to make decisions for their loved ones.
A Brownstone Story
A Brownstone Story Rough Draft
Bre’s Visual Poem Pitch
I want my visual poem to capture brownstones in Harlem and Brooklyn. Brownstones are historic houses that have been popular in NEW YORK city for years.
I want my video start with me capturing the sun rising in HARLEM with birds chirping and ambi sounds of the neighborhood in the background. I want to record different shots of nice Harlem Brownstone. I will include visuals and sounds of cars driving by, as well as other sounds that reflect the neighborhood.
I would like include a bit of visuals of a TRAIN RIDE TO BROOKLYN with the sounds of the subway as a transition into Brooklyn. Next, I want to capture Brooklyn’s Brownstones houses and the visual and audio vibes from the neighborhood.
I want my video to end with a beautiful sunset on the water in BROOKLYN HEIGHTS (with sounds of water.) I want to include music that gives me NYC in the 50s-60s vibes, a hip-hop sounding track for the subway ride & then upbeat music for the Brooklyn brownstones. I want peaceful music towards the end for the sunset shot.
I would like my visual poem to convey the beauty of these historical buildings in the “best city” in the world.