In this page, you’ll find a breakdown of the production process, project stills, and the opening sequence of the documentary.

Skills:

  • Time Management

  • Scheduling

  • Directing

  • Camera Operation/Rigging

  • Gaffing/Lighting

  • Editing & Color Grading

Production Overview

Pre-Production Tasks:

  • Scout Locations

  • Organize Scheduling

  • Learn/study relevant equipment

Production Tasks:

  • Shoot continuously in variety of environments and locations

  • Conduct interviews

Post-Production Tasks:

  • Fine tune the story in the edit

  • Screen with test audience and make follow up edits

  • Color grading and sound mixing

Documentary Intro

Project Description:

This documentary came as a product of my Documentary Filmmaking Class. Outside of periodic check-ins, finding a subject, crafting a story, shooting, and editing all fell to me as it was an individual project.

The Documentary was later submitted to the Southern New Hampshire University Student Film Festival where it was well received as the Festival’s opening film.

Development/Pre-Production:

I first had to find a subject that I had access to and could create a narrative around, and being that I’m a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and we had just gotten a new young president, I chose Dylan Martinelli as my subject.

Afterwards, I had to have conversations with Dylan to get an idea of the bigger picture: What was his WHY, and what can connect to it. The chapter was also undergoing several changes which put Dylan in a challenging position to take over the mantel.

After I had an idea of the story, I went into shot listing, scheduling, gear rental, creating questions for the interview, and just developing the story overall. After deciding the style I was hoping for and coming up with some creative constraints, the hardest part of this process was scheduling.

Production/Shooting:

Dylan was involved all across campus and in his personal life, working off campus, being a part of club teams, representing our fraternity in the Intergreek council, all while taking one of SNHU’s hardest majors, Computer Science.

I did the process a bit backwards and started shooting b-roll first and then weeks later getting an interview with Dylan. This documentary was captured on the Sony FX30, my first major project with the camera. Most of the b-roll was captured in the span of a week with some re-shoots being done as needed, and the interview was shot in an apartment in Boston with a Boom on a c-stand.

Post-Production/Editing:

This project was my first time trying a color grading workflow of editing my project in Premiere Pro, then coloring it in Davinci Resolve and bringing it back to Premiere for final transitions, animations, and sound mixing.

When I was in editing, I noticed that the documentary started to come to form in its own way with what was available, and pieced itself together to tell a cohesive narrative that feels almost like a 3-act movie. This documentary was my first time incorporating different sound elements and sound effects to further enhance the narrative.