Introduction
The goal of the documentary project was to create an interesting documentary book or magazine article about a person, place, or idea. We had the option of producing a 24 page minimum book or a 5-8 page magazine article with photos and graphic design elements relevant to our topic. We used Photoshop to edit the photos we took, and InDesign to put together our books or magazine articles.
I chose to do my documentary on something very important and close to me. A family friend of mine, someone so close to us I consider her my family, has fought lymphoma for the past 15 years. Throughout all of her struggles, Dee Heckman hasn't given up and remains as positive as possible. She's always been an inspiration to me, and I wanted to tell her story. This project helped me grow both emotionally regarding Dee, and as a freestyle student.
Going into this project, I was told that I had chosen a brave topic. I didn't see it that way. To me, she was just Dee, and the lymphoma, which she's had since I was 2 years old, was just her life. But as I learned and researched more, and faced head-on facts I had vaguely known for years but never really thought about, I began to see what everyone else meant. I was a child when Dee was diagnosed, and I always thought that since I'd grown up with her like this, it wouldn't be difficult to focus on. I didn't realize that since it had always been in the background, I had been able to ignore its severity. Going through that realization helped me to see just how incredible and inspiring Dee is, and made me that much more grateful to have her in my life.
Academically, this project helped me grow more than any other project so far this year, except maybe the animation. Not only did I learn InDesign, which was difficult on its own, but I was able to gain a new appriciation for my skills. As with the animation, I didn't think I could fulfill the requirements of the project at the beginning. But instead of giving up, I just told myself to take it one task at a time, and I surprised myself by being capable. My book isn't as great as some of the others, and there were several things I wished I'd had the time and ability to do, but overall, it turned out much better than I ever thought it would at the start, and I'm incredibly proud of what I produced.
Book
The assignment in design was to take our essay from English and turn it into a book or a magazine article. As an Honors student, I had to do a book. The idea was to incorportate photos, small graphics, and design principles to make an interesting presentation for the information in our writing.
My own personal design was fairly simplistic. My topic was serious, so I didn't want my design to end up looking silly or playful. Most of the color was incorportated through the pictures. The simple design juxtaposed Dee's vibrant personality, and allowed it to pop off the pages. Had I included colorful design, it would have been overwhelming, and the power of Dee's positivity would not have been as clear as it is.
Over the course of this project, I improved a lot. Going in, I hadn't ever heard of InDesign, let alone used it. While it wasn't incredibly hard to learn, it was a challenge. I had to position everything correctly, keep bleed and margin lines in mind, and remember what would be going on the page, even before that page had been written. And when I accidentally left too much room between chapters in one section and too little in another, it was difficult to rearrange things to fit the text properly, since I couldn't just move pages around; the text was linked to each specific text box, not to the page order. Eventually what worked was subtly changing the font size or spacing in certai places, so it wasn't noticable, but lengthened or shortened the text as needed. Another issue came when I realized I'd been using the wrong font, and had to redo all of the font tweaking I'd done to fit the proper font. Most issues with InDesign don't show up in using the program, but in how long it takes to perfect a design.
Gallery
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16Bios
I recorded interviews mostly because they were a requirement for the project, but also because it was important to make sure I remembered exactly what was said. Without input from my interviewees, my documentary would be filled with holes. I chose each interviewee for their relationship to Dee and the unique perspective they could give on her life and her struggle.
Dee Heckman is a teacher in a remote farming community. Diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 14 years ago, she’s made the most of every challenge life has thrown at her. Dedicated to herself and her students, Dee has made sure not to let an incurable cancer affect her life any more than it has to. Full of personality and energy, Dee is the star of this documentary. Her interview took place at her home in Arroyo Seco, near Greenfield.
My mother and Dee’s close friend since their college years, Leslie has been there to support Dee as much as she can through all of her treatments, in whatever capacity possible. Whether that means travelling to Monterey to take care of Dee in the hospital or taking care of her two dogs, Leslie is there. Her interview took place at our home in Mountain View.
A close friend of Dee’s, Aaron has yet to experience Dee during anything but positive times. Yet despite this, he can still see her considerable strength and is also a huge support to Dee when she needs it. His interview took place at Dee's home in Arroyo Seco, near Greenfield.