Introduction
For the Junior Documentary Project, we were challenged to take a deeper look at something meaningful to us, and figure out how to tell its story in an honest and creative way. The central question for this project was “How do you creatively and truthfully portray a significant person, group, place, idea, or issue in the community?”
To do this, we dug into primary and secondary research to build an understanding of our subject and develop our own angle on why it matters to the community. This became the foundation for other creative pieces, like our magazine article, and, for me, a film.
My documentary for English class, was about the significance of AI in Court Reporting, and whether or not it is replacing court reporters entirely. I was inspired to write about this because my grandma knew a lot of shorthand, when I researched further into shorthand I came across stenography, which is the type of transcribing that court reporters use on specialized keyboards. Then, after reading many articles, I discovered that there is a court reporter shortage, and I wondered how AI was affecting that.
I was really proud of how my documentary article turned out. I really loved the topic I ended up choosing and the entire process was super interesting. I’m glad I took my time with the article because I think the outcome was really good and I am really happy with it.
Film
For film, we started out the documentary unit with a mockumentary. This was just practice for us to get used to how the cameras should be set up, how the audio works, and eventually, how to edit interviews and B-roll.
For my actual documentary film, my partner and I focused on different therapy animal organizations. We met with people from groups like Love on a Leash, SJC Happy Tails, and Furry Friends. It was a great learning experience for me to go out into the community and interview people, and find their stories and be able to feature them in my production.
Interviewees
Maisie Gonzalez and Grace Middlesteadt
Susan Day and Leah Lane
Lauren Deshpande
SJC Mineta Happy Tails Volunteers
Thank you to all of the interviewees who made this documentary possible. It could not have been done without the support and willingness of the organizations that offered to help us. I am very proud of our documentary and I thank everyone who was involved.