The first project Logan, Dean, Chloe and I were assigned in Filmmaking class was to make documentaries on one another. This project was designed to teach us how to set exposure on the cameras, use various kinds of microphones, interview people and finally how to use the editing software Adobe Premiere.

We started by recording our “A-roll”, or, “talking head” footage, which is the interview component of the documentary. We quickly learned the importance of the interviewee having to repeat the question that they were asked so the interviewer’s voice could be cut out of the final edit. We then moved on to gathering “B-roll” footage. “B-roll” is all of the footage that is not part of the interview. These videos and pictures are actually what make up most of what you see while watching most documentary films. For example, we followed each other around with cameras in the hallways, classrooms and at lunch. We also sent each other archival material like childhood pictures and videos that we had previously taken.

Next we moved on to the editing of our films, or “post-production.” We started by making a “script” cut of the interview footage we had recorded. This consisted of us editing out our own voices from the interview, choosing which takes got the best answers, and cutting out a lot of the ums, likes and other generally uninteresting parts. After we had our script, we put our B-roll footage on top of it. This project took a long time because this was our introduction to recording and editing films.

Now our class, with the addition of Yannick, is working on our own documentary and experimental films before moving on to narrative filmmaking later in the semester.