Documentary Critical Reflection

Over the course of two weeks, my partner and I had to develop a 5-7 minute documentary, planning it, shooting it, and editing it. In doing so, we shifted ideas, had obstacles when filming, debated over editing choices, etc. However, in the end, we created a cohesive piece of work that I can say that I am proud of. 

Our documentary centers around a high school student, Yousef, whose family is from Palestine. The piece centers around how the Israel-Hamas War has directly and personally affected his life, both with his family in Palestine and the reaching effects in the U.S. Through this lens, we were able to capture and represent Palestinians in the conflict in the most neutral light that we possibly could, giving them a platform to speak about their experiences. In the beginning, we have Yousef talking about his family and trips to Palestine that he goes to every year, creating empathy between Yousef and his family and the viewer. From here, we go into the effects of the conflict on him and his family, with his cousins and grandmother being raided frequently and Yousef himself receiving harassment here in the U.S. This view into how Palestinians are being treated not only in Palestine but also in the U.S. showcases aspects that are sometimes not often seen in the media. Allowing a Palestinian who frequently visits Palestine while also living in Florida allows an accurate picture of both sides of the issue to be created. Because of this, we represent these social groups in the best way we can. 

When examining the conflict between Palestine and Israel in general, we also tried to establish a neutral representation of it. We designed questions for Yousef to give exposition and background information on the conflict, ranging back to the early 1900s. This paired with old archival footage of old wars and conflicts that have happened for the past century gives the viewer a clear understanding of the Israel-Palestine conflict before getting into how it has affected Yousef. A fault with this is that Yousef, being Palestinian, explains the conflict mainly from a Palestinian point of view, but acknowledges that Israel may see the history of the land disputes differently. Had me and my partner ended up doing an interview with Yousef and an interview with an Israeli student as discussed in my previous blog post, Research for my own blog, this would have resulted in a more accurate and unbiased representation of the conflict as it would have taken both sides of the issue into account and given both a platform to speak about their point of view of the conflict. 

This representation of Palestinians and the conflict in general creates an accurate depiction for the target audience. The target audience for the piece is teens and young adults, ranging from ages 15-25. They are any gender and have a common interest of global peace and educating themselves. They want to learn as much as they can about different situations or issues in the world. This piece does just that by providing an in-depth look into the effects of the war in Israel and Palestine on a teenage Palestinian boy living in the United States. The documentary engages with the audience and appeals to pathos from the start with Yousef talking about his family and how he is loved and accepted whenever he visits. This paired with pictures and videos of him happily spending time with his family in Palestine works to immediately connect the viewers with Yousef. 

Here is a video of Yousef having dinner with his family in Yousef. This video was used in the documentary as b-roll when Yousef explains his trips to Palestine.

As the piece continues, the montage of the news segments takes the viewer by surprise with its abruptness, almost like how a war abruptly changes one's peaceful life into a world of uncertainty, and shifts the piece into a more serious and somber tone. 

As Yousef has been in Palestine while the war was ongoing, his anecdotes work to demonstrate to the viewers that everything they see on social media or the news has been personally seen and experienced by a person not that far in age from them. While being in Palestine in his grandmother's village, Yousef witnessed multiple raids where Israeli forces would come to the village in trucks and harass and imprison Palestinian civilians. What made his account have so much more impact was the use of video that he took while the raids happened as b-roll. 

The video that Yousef took of the raids. 

This makes the audience understand the reality of what he is speaking about and the true gravity of the conflict. The same family that Yousef talked about at the beginning of the piece is getting arrested and raided, making the audience sympathize greatly with Yousef and his family. 

Yousef also explains how he has been affected in the U.S., with students harassing him while representing Palestine during a school multicultural day where stands were made for multiple countries and presented during lunch. Hearing Yousef explain his interaction may have been staggering for the viewers to hear, as the media often doesn't report on the harassment and repercussions felt in other parts of the world due to the war in Gaza. This anecdote also makes the audience sympathize with and feel bad for Yousef as he explains that he did not want to offend anyone and that he has come to expect this kind of behavior, making the viewer consider how often this happens. 

Apart from just Yousef's anecdotes and the use of b-roll to expand upon this, we also used music to set the tone and set the mood throughout the documentary, enhancing the emotions that the viewer experiences throughout. We used soft and subtle piano pieces that create the somber tone, and we used it sparingly, only at the beginning when describing his relationship with his family and visiting Palestine, when he explain the background of the war, and then at the very end when he describes what he hopes for in the future. We exclude music from some parts to allow the viewer to really focus on what is being said, such as when he is describing his personal experience with raids and how his family and people he knows have been arrested. 

Notes that we took in class regarding
the conventions of a documentary

All of our choices were influenced by our research of documentaries prior to the creation of our project. When researching the genre of documentaries, we explored many different pieces (which I talked about here) that both conformed to and challenged the conventions of the genre. Out of the pieces I talked about, the documentary that we resembled the most was Abstract: The Art of Design, which contains standard interview shots and uses staged b-roll as

 well as archival footage as b-roll, similar to A War at Home. When learning about the conventions of a documentary in class, we also learned about indirect and direct interviews and saw examples of both in productions, with some even containing both in one, such as with American Promise. With our interview, we wanted it to be indirect as the focus was on Yousef and his experiences, and inserting our voices as creators would've taken away from that. Another common convention that we took note of was the use of music to establish tone, which is what we did throughout our documentary to create a somber tone. Another convention that we learned about was the use of handheld camera shots which evoke a sense of realism, as if the event we are watching unfold is unscripted and not set up, but someone just got a camera and pressed play to capture the moment. However, we challenged this convention as it didn't translate to our documentary. All of our b-roll was existing, archival footage as b-roll would've been impossible to film for the subject manner. 

Considering all of these different aspects of the piece, my partner and I set out to do what we wanted to accomplish with the project and I believe that we did so successfully. Although not perfect, as every piece can improve, I am very proud and pleased with what I have created.