Advanced Video Journalism

Pitch:

For short documentary I want to cover how supplements and drugs in the fitness industry could influence beginners into toxic or risky path for their fitness journey.  There is a gym called Crunch Fitness which is located in shore parkway, Brooklyn. There is a testosterone replacement therapy right beside the Crunch Fitness Bensonhurst gym. This might just make it easier for beginners especially young people to get more involved into trying enhanced method to build muscle like trying TRT and steroids.

Main Focus:

My main focus would be on the environment on Crunch Fitness Bensonhurst and the consequences of Testosterone Replacement Therapy being so close to this crunch fitness gym. A gym where people are struggling to look better and feel good. It is not a surprise that members of this gym who might not be satisfied could try alternative way which could be testosterone replacement theory that is right near the gym or other drugs enhancement use.

Main Characters:

Roger Colins, who is personal trainer of Crunch Fitness will share his story on the situation and his journey as a trainer in the gym.

Roger’s clients would be filmed for the B-roll while he share his opinions on the supplements, TRT and steroids.

 

Here’s how the rest of the semester is looking:

Tuesday, May 3: Screening rough cuts of short docs.

Thursday, May 5: Class attendance not mandatory. One-on-one edits optional: sign up here. Please state your preference for meeting in person or on Zoom.

Tuesday, May 10: Class attendance not mandatory. One-on-one edits optional: sign up here.

Wednesday, May 11: Since this is the day before the final deadline for all documentaries, I will be scheduling last-chance edit sessions all day this day as well: sign up here.

Thursday, May 12: Attendance required! All docs due.* We will start screening them together as a class. There will be popcorn.

*Please note that this is a change from the original due date of May 10.

Tuesday, May 17: Attendance required! Last day of class, portfolio websites due. We will continue screening docs. All equipment must be returned. (Here’s my blog post with guidelines about the portfolio websites assignment.)

 

Looking Ahead

For those of you who are interested in getting further into video journalism/documentary filmmaking, here are some resources/suggestions.

• • If you have another documentary project you want to work on, consider submitting a proposal for an independent study.
  • Consider submitting to a film festival. As this article advises, it’s usually best to start small. Here’s a comprehensive list of film festivals; check if there are any you would like to enter:
    https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/film-festivals/
  • Think about joining Video Consortium:
    https://www.videoconsortium.org/
    A recent VCNY Gathering. 
  • Think about what elements of video journalism you have an affinity for. Are you more of a behind-the-scenes person and enjoy the process of constructing a story with pacing, flow, etc? You could be an editor. Are you all about cinematography? You could be a DP (director of photography). Are you less interested in the technical stuff with camera settings and Premiere BUT great at finding stories, connecting with people, scouting locations, maybe multilingual? You could be a producer or an on-air reporter.
  • Please stay in touch and let me know if I can ever be of help connecting you with people in the industry.

Link: https://vimeo.com/694593863

I want to cover my short doc on autistic kids and their education. I feel like after the pandemic the comeback has been a struggle since kids were so used to being in their houses doing their school work to now being in a classroom setting once again. The kids I wanted to cover are adolescents so between the ages of 6-and 11.

Some of these kids haven’t even seen a classroom setting before the pandemic and some have forgotten what it’s like to be in a classroom setting with that one-on-one learning, especially autistic kids. For those, that do remember I want to cover what it was like being taken out of the classroom setting and how it was adjusting for the child and especially the parent because some parents became that teacher and had to make sure their children were learning the material since the teachers were virtually teaching the hard class.

For the short doc, I want to focus on how the pandemic suspended essential services and learning for Austin children and how the child, teachers, and parents were affected. I also want to interview the teachers on the difficulties of bringing autistic kids back into the classroom setting and what challenges they faced since being back in the classroom and if it has any long-term effects on these kids. Especially with the constant changes in regulations with the mask being required, vaccines being required then both mask and vaccines being optional and has it affected the attendance, have they gained kids or lost kids, etc.

I believe that this could be interesting because I haven’t heard many things about autistic children learning being suspended. I know the news has focused on children in school as a whole but I want to know specifically the challenges for autistic kids since they require one on one learning, essential services, etc.

This semester, because of my cultural reporting class, my interest in Staten Island cultural organizations has grown. I am particularly interested in non-profit organizations. 

I plan to focus on a few topics. Which are: How does a non-profit get started, what keeps a non-profit running, who funds their educational programs, why non-profits/the arts are important to our youth. how were they affected by the pandemic and how they’re doing now.

Covid-19 caused a number of changes to cultural institutions, such as the switch to virtual operations. Especially smaller local places, such as Alice Austen House Museum, Emma’s Place – grief and loss center, St. George Theater.

These non-profit organizations that I am featuring, aside from Emma’s Place, all have educational programs for children – I want to try to highlight the educational programs, by including descriptions, with b-roll of the locations, just incase the timeline does not pan out or if permission is not granted to film in a educational setting. (Emma’s Place does offer grief training in schools and workplaces after a loss, so maybe that also counts as educational?)

My reason for including Emma’s Place among all these cultural organization non-profits is because over the last two years – many of us have suffered numerous losses,from in person interactions to jobs and income to the loss of a loved one due to Covid-19. With the interview I already conducted, I feel the importance of working through grief will be conveyed. 

Main Characters: 

1. Karen Goldman – Founder/ Executive Director of Emma’s Place
2. Doctor Carolyn Taverner – Co-founder / Program Director of Emma’s Place
3. Victoria Munro – Executive Director of Alice Austen House
4. Doreen Cugno – President/CEO of St George Theater

Possibly Staten Island Museum & Staten Island Lighthouse Museum as well

Filming Locations:

1. Emma’s Place – Cottage Row; Staten Island, NY
2. Alice Austen House Museum – Rosebank, Staten Island, NY
3. St. George Theater; Staten Island, NY

Crew: Cristine Trimarco

Filming timeline: April 2022. 

Edits complete: May 10, 2022.

PITCH: Ramadan 2022 has begun. It is the first Ramadan since the COVID-19 pandemic started, which most Muslim college students will be observing during in-person classes throughout their spring semester. This main act of worship that all Muslims partake in throughout this religious month is fasting every day, which requires them to abstain from eating from dawn to dusk. Fasting might be more challenging to practice on campus. 

Two years ago, when lockdowns began worldwide, Muslim students were able to observe Ramadan at home, with the comfort of praying there, breaking fast with their families, and having enough time to stay up late and go to the mosque for Taraweeh prayers since classes were online and their schedules did not include commuting throughout the day. That comfort is no longer an option for some college students at schools such as Baruch, and they will be adapting to this circumstance. For some freshmen, sophomores, and juniors this will be the first time they spend Ramadan on campus. 

For these students, their spiritual connection to this month does not have to be tethered, since it could be tied down to Baruch’s Muslim Student Association which some would consider a gem and a necessity. Correlation and community are made possible through this prayer room and through the activities this religious club offers. In Ramadan, they will be supplying students with meals for Iftar, which are Zabiha Halal, ensuring that anyone on campus during that time can break their fast in union with their peers when they are far from home. 

This short documentary will follow characters such as the board of Baruch’s MSA as well as members who frequent the prayer room, from sharing the history of the club to the importance of it for each individual, how it functions as a crucial part of their college experience, and whether they have faced inaccessibility in professional settings when it comes to praying or breaking their fasts. The arc for the narrative will be the main characters’ need for a prayer space/Muslim community on campus, their search and discovery of the MSA, their experiences before finding it, and finally, the way it has changed them. It will capture the necessity of the room and the sisterhood/brotherhood that it fosters. The shooting plan involves shots located at Baruch’s campus and shots from mosques and homes to show various prayer spaces and iftars that the Muslim community is acquainted with during this month. 

Main characters: Hadiyah Jalloh, Baruch MSA’a President Zoya Cheema, Baruch MSA’s Co-Secretary  Ibrahim Rauf, Baruch MSA’s Co-Events Coordinator Brandon Nordin, Bauch MSA’s Assistant Treasurer	Crew: Producer/ Director: Siddrah Alhindi  Producer/ Shooter: Siddrah Alhinid
Filming locations: Baruch College, New York, US MAS Staten Island Center, New York, US	Shooting timeline: April 2022 New York, US

Edits complete: May 10, 2022