The Documentary Project was a project about building a magazine article and website about a topic, or person. In this project we learned about how to conduct an interview, write a documentary paper, and use InDesign to design a magazine page. We also learned how to use after effects so that we could make an intro video for the article. My project was about Travis Schuh, a robotics mentor for Mountain View High School’s FRC team. In this Project I interviewed him about what it was like to be a good mentor, as well as his mom who is a fellow mentor, and a senior on the team who works closely with him.

I acquired a ton of skills on this project in all of my classes. In English we practiced making interview questions to search for specific answers that we could use and eventually weave into a narrative. We also learned about how professionals style their documentary papers so that we could emulate it. In Design we learned more about applying the principles of design to make a magazine article look appealing. In Digital Media we continued to refine our website making skills, but the new program we learned was After Effects. After Effects was a great program to learn because it lets you animate other files much easier than Adobe Animate. Overall I am happy with the progress I made in all my classes and I think that this unit has taught me the most out of any unit.

These are screenshots of the Aftereffects, and Protool sessions I used throught the project.

Ginger

The Magazine was the final product of this unit and was made using InDesign. We started thinking about the magazine through sketches in our notebook about where everything would go and how it would be laid out. Next we transferred this rough outline into Adobe InDesign using placeholder text, and images to make sure things would look right. Then we worked on editing the pictures we took from our interviews, and shadow days. While this was happening we chose a color pallet that would help set the mood of the article, as well as making graphics to put in the magazine. After all the images and graphic were done we put them into the magazine and added our color scheme to the different parts. Our essay was added last as we worked in English until the last minute. We changed the leading, kerning, and tracking on the text, as well as added drop caps to parts so the text would look nice in the magazine.

Through this design process I really learned to keep a theme in a piece. I also experienced first hand how important planning is in any piece of work, but also remember it is just a plan and plans can change. When I after I finished the project I realized how cluttered it was, and just how much better I could make it. Since then I re-did the magazine and am much happier with how everything is presented, it is less cluttered and presents the theme better.

  • Team Meeting Starting
  • travis Schuh
  • Travis Talking to mentor on different team
  • Students and mentors working on robot
  • Travis Again
  • Students and mentors disscussing manufacturing process
  • Mentors and student inspecting 3D printed part
  • student and mentor inspecting parts
  • Students and mentors testing robot code
  • students working on CAD
  • Mentor working on CAD
  • Students Soldering
  • Robot full of balls
  • Campbell Crowley Robot Driver
  • Bellermine Robotics lab at night
  • Robot shooting balls
Team Meeting Starting1 travis Schuh2 Travis Talking to mentor on different team3 Students and mentors working on robot4 Travis Again5 Students and mentors disscussing manufacturing process6 Mentors and student inspecting 3D printed part7 student and mentor inspecint parts in general8 Students and mentors testing robot code9 students working on CAD10 Mentor working on CAD11 Students Soldering12 Robot full of balls13 Campbell Crowley Robot Driver14 Bellermine Robotics lab at night15 Robot shooting balls16

This section has all of the interviews I took to write my documentary. I chose these people to get distinct perspectives from each of the people. I wanted to see how Travis views his own life, and mentoring method. Then I interviewed Wyn to see how his Mom, and a fellow mentor, saw what travis does. Finally I interviewed Ginger to see how a student he works with views him, and get an inside on how effective his mentoring method is.

Travis Schuh
Travis Schuh

Travis Schuh is a 27 year old Olin graduate working at Auris Surgical Robotics, and mentor on FIRST Robotics Competition team 971. Travis, mainly his work as a mentor on 971, is the subject of my documentary project. He was a student on the team from 2005 to 2008 and was on the team in 2009 where the won world championships in Saint Louis’s America’s Center and The Dome. He has come back to Mentor the team and raise a new generation of engineers.

Wyn Schuh
Wyn Schuh

Wyn Schuh is Travis’s mother and current head mentor of the FIRST Robotics Competition team 971. Wyn joined the team as a mentor the same time her oldest child Austin did, and has been a mentor on the team ever since. Currently she has served around 10 seasons and helped many students. Even though she has a masters degree in engineering, she has decided to tackle keeping the leadership of the team on track and does a large amount of behind the scenes work to keep the team on track.

Ginger Schmidt
Ginger Schmidt

Ginger Schmidt is a senior at Los Altos High School. She has been in STEM programs since grade school, and enjoys expanding on her skills. She joined these extra-curricular classes because she feels that school only teaches the conceptual aspects of engineering, and she wants to make sure she has the practical skills as well. She is going to Harvey Mudd College, and looks forward to all the new people she will meet, and the new experiences she will gain.