Author: SHAMELLA KING

Website:

https://shamellaking.myportfolio.com/

Reel:

https://shamellaking.myportfolio.com/contact

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/946227718

For the breaking news story, I plan to cover the eclipse on April 8th. Prospect Park is having a solar eclipse community event from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. I plan to do man on the street interviews in the park and ask visitors about their reasons for coming to the park to view the eclipse, their thoughts and feelings about the big event, and anything interesting that they’ve observed. Hopefully there will be some type of expert present at the event, so if there is, I plan to ask them about why this solar eclipse is so significant.

https://vimeo.com/user214827002

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bbqduCwarp0i9XOqmReOODkN_m5Xcq2JotVnPYGyGBw/edit?usp=sharing

https://vimeo.com/user214827002

For the documentary, I want to do a profile piece and focus the attention on a young photographer named Nia based in Brooklyn. Nia has been doing photography for some time now and she puts together her own projects, collaborates with other photographers in Brooklyn, and has her own personal instagram page to showcase her work. She focuses on topics such as black beauty, LGBTQ+, and capturing the beauty within her own neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. In terms of access, I’ve already spoken to Nia and she’s agreed to be the subject of this project. With this piece, I want to capture her experiences as a young black photographer in Brooklyn, essentially her wins and losses. The pros and cons to being young and black in the photography industry. I want to convey the message of Nia’s journey as a young, black photographer and have the video stress the importance of having diverse voices within the photography industry. 

I want the documentary to have a bit of a vintage overlay to it but I don’t want this overlay to be extremely strong. I want it to be very subtle. Some clips in black and white could work too. In terms of pacing, I want it to be more slow paced so that you feel that emotion and you’re able to digest her story better. 

B-roll ideas: Art in Brownsville (where Nia lives), people walking around her neighborhood, Nia walking around Brownsville, playgrounds, popular locations such nail salons, beauty supply stores, and restaurants. Nia working on a project of her own (editing the photos or making her way to the photodom to have the photos developed), apartment buildings (NYCHA developments), grocery stores, and Nia in her element (taking photos).

Nia grew up in Brownsville. I think this detail may be an important piece to her story and what made her want to go into photography, so I really want to make sure I capture a lot of where she grew up because I think growing up in this specific neighborhood has shaped her artistic ability in a sense.

Personally, I believe that film fits the first framework mentioned. Although there isn’t much of a falling action or denouement, the film follows the sequence of a dramatic arc and makes note to show the theme and motivation. We come to understand that the theme here is how the normal citizens of a city have been greatly impacted by the effects of a deadly war. The motivation behind the film is to tell the story of the attack on Ukraine and of those who have been injured, killed, and suffered loss as a result of the attack. The exposition is revealed at the beginning, giving the audience a taste of what’s to come, when a clip of a tank is shown and we find out that doctors and patients are being surrounded by Russian troops. The rising action is the actual attack on Mariupol, where we see various scenes of infrastructure deteriorating due to shelling and missiles being fired at civilian locations. The climax or turning point in the film happens when Mariupol is now surrounded by Russian troops and it is said that there is no way out, safely. At this point, civilians have nothing and nowhere to live. Electricity, water, supplies, along with cell phone and radio lines have been cut. 

I think the closest we get to a falling action is when we see the journalist make it out of Mariupol while it’s still under attack. There’s still no real resolution or denouement because two years later, the war is still taking place and as the journalist left Maripol, there were still more civilians left behind that couldn’t be saved.  

For me, this was jarring to watch. I had a surface understanding of what was happening between Ukraine and Russia, but this opened my eyes to the severity of this deadly, ongoing conflict between the two territories.

Dating back all the way to the 1960s, Brooklyn was one of NYC’s key neighborhoods that further developed the graffiti movement. Although it’s illegal in NYC, graffiti is an expression of identity and an outlet for creativity. For the visual poem, I want to focus on the topic of art, more specifically, graffiti art in Brooklyn. I believe that art makes New York City what it is and also defines who the people are that create these are pieces.
In this visual poem, I want to convey the message that art doesn’t have to be traditional to be considered art, and that it can be quite literally anything. I think graffiti art is a good way to display this message. For the project I’ll have full access to getting the footage I need. In terms of sound, I am thinking of using something upbeat or fast pace, because when I think of NYC those are the sounds, I hear. I’m also thinking of including some natural sound, like the sound of heavy traffic. I want the overall video to be somewhat fast-paced, but not to the point where anything is a missed. I’m also thinking that it would be good to put some of the clips in black and white to emphasize the importance of including colors that pop in graffiti art.

Possible shots: Graffiti on high and low walls, in transit stations, on bridges, and any graffiti that can be found on vehicles.