Last week

Our film is finished! I am happy with the finished result, and Hannah did such an amazing job putting it together, especially after many editing complications that should have set us back. Looking back on the beginning to where we are now with our film, I think our group did a great job. We didn’t even know what our subject was going to be for this project until 2 weeks into class, and with all of the deadlines that came and went so quickly, I think we utilized our busy and conflicting schedules to the best of our ability. I’m excited to see where this film will go, hopefully we will get into a festival, if not multiple! This class has been a learning experience for our group and I’m happy that through our last semester we learned a lot about balancing schedules and focusing on what we wanted to accomplish. 

Weeks 12-13

These past two weeks have been pretty straight forward for our project. We worked with a friend who does animation to try and create some simple animations to bring a little bit extra to our film and he was able to get us two great animations. We are still working with him throughout this coming weekend to get a couple more before it is due next week! Very thankful to have someone willing to help us since none of us are experienced in animation. As for editing, we almost have our final cut ready, but are still sorting out some aspects here and there, such as where we want to include certain b-roll and extra footage for more information about moonshine. We also have some small details in editing to work out. We are looking forward to having our final cut ready next week!

Weeks 10-11

These last two weeks have been all about communication for our group. We had to take a step back and try and sort through all of our schedules to try and find any times we could potentially film more for our film. With it being the end of the semester and all of us are graduating, it is difficult to try and prioritize our lives will all that is going on. With that being said, last Friday my group was able to get some extra footage to add in which will add a more light-hearted angle to the documentary. I unfortunately couldn't be there because I had to go out of town last minute, but they got pretty good footage. They had a handful of people sit down for mini interviews and take a shot of illegal moonshine and a shot of legal moonshine, getting facial and verbal reactions.
Me and Hannah also met with someone who is willing to help add some animations to our film, so we are just waiting through this weekend to see some of his first steps. As it seems we always do, Hannah and I had some minor editing problems while working on our cut which didn't let us get the cut we wanted, but we have set apart three separate times this coming week to really knock out a good edit and add some sound and color correction, as well as hopefully adding some of the animations.
I'm anxious for these last few weeks, but I know our group can come together to get the best possible film with what we have!

Week 9

This week for our group was mostly a re-grouping week. We discussed the direction we have come so far and where we want to go with the rest of the film. We also found a few more potential subjects, which is exciting. We definitely want to include more interviews to get the more personal feel that we were originally going for. The only thing now that we have to finalize is the filming schedule for the next interviews. As for the editing, Hannah has been doing a great job organizing the footage into a cut that she wants the final piece to model. It's difficult to have a rough cut when we don't have all of the interviews yet, but we still have time which is reassuring. We still have some progress left, but after meeting this week I think we all feel a little bit more confident about the film.

Week 7-8

This past week or two was our spring break, and all of us had separate plans which created a lull in our production schedule. I think overall our film has been great so far, but we have reached a point where we need to continue brainstorming to add a bit more, whether that be a new subject or more creative b-roll or something. We have been lucky to not have many (or any, really) hiccups during our production, so hopefully our start of editing will be the same way. We have already started sorting through the footage, but it will be nice to see some of the structure of the film come together over the next couple of weeks. We also are discussing who we would like to seek out as our next subject(s) and the direction we are trying to head in. We have a good chunk of work left to put into our film, but we have successfully stayed on track with our schedule, so I am happy to say we are not behind at all. Spring break put a sort of pause on production, but I know we are all ready to get back into the swing of things with our production for the next few weeks.

Week 6

For this past week we mostly focused on looking at our footage and sound and discussing how our first interview went. We talked about what worked and didn't work as we started looking at the b-roll and listening to the sound. Overall, the sound didn't turn out terrible. There was a bit of background noise, but that was probably just because we were in a big warehouse and it's tough to cancel out all sound. It was a learning experience, and we're eager to keep learning, especially this weekend for our next interview with the illegal "in the woods" style of moonshining. 

This weekend should be a good weekend for making progress on our film. Saturday we are going back to the distillery to get footage of the monthly open house that they have. They have food and there should be a ton of people, which will add a lively aspect to our b-roll of the customers that this distillery has. Sunday will be great, as we are heading to Dunn, NC to film our subject, Alex, and his family. It will be interesting to see a different side of the moonshine industry!

I'm looking forward to the progress we will make and have been making and look forward to really start editing and bringing our documentary to life. 

Week 5

This past weekend we filmed our first interview! It was very exciting and overall I think it went very well. Before shooting and during the first days of pre-production, I think we were all a little nervous for how our shooting would go just because none of us are super experienced in camera or sound. It was definitely a learning experience, but now that we have the first day of production over with, I think we all feel more comfortable in this project. It helped that our first subject, Don Walton of Walton's Distillery in Jacksonville, NC, was very compliant and eager to help us with whatever we needed. Before we even began shooting, he gave us a full tour with so many details of having a distillery and distilling moonshine. His interview went well, but I am nervous to see how the sound turned out. I filled in as the sound recorder this week and having very little background knowledge, I was definitely nervous. We worked as a team, though, and in the end I think we figured everything out just fine. I am excited to see this first part of our footage come together for next class and eager to film our "in the woods" moonshine experience and interview next weekend (2/26).