Documentary

Introduction

How do you creatively and truthfully portray a significant person, group, place, idea, or issue in the community?

This is the question we were tasked with answering in the Documentary Unit at Freestyle. In all of our classes, we were tasked with telling the story of a subject of importance through interview and documentation. We collected primary and secondary sources in order to develop and portray our perspective about the subject’s significance in our community/world. This unit placed emphasis on narrative-style journalism, with our ultimately producing a research paper, magazine article, and film.

Profile Article

In English, I wanted to tell a story that relayed the importance of Jewish community in a post-October 7th world. As such, I chose to interview one of the head staff members at BBYO, a Jewish youth organization. Her name is Anna Goldman, and we discussed the importance of environments such as these, and how they factor into the context of today.

Attached below is the research paper I wrote on her work and it’s importance. It is in conversation with some current BBYO teens, who were able to speak to Anna’s achievements.

Film Production

In Film, the documentary production was more open-ended. We were able to document a more broad topic, rather than profiling a specific person. However, we first had to learn some of the technological applications of documentary filmmaking.

We were tasked with filming a mockumentary before our actual documentary. A mockumentary is a staged documentary, and kicking off our unit with one allowed us to learn the rules that we would then apply to documentary. These “rules” involved Rule of Thirds, lighting, and interview etiquette. Once we’d learned them, we were ready to tackle our real documentary.

My partners, Mia and Lucy, and I worked together to produce a documentary that investigated the importance of music in a variety of contexts.

Interviewee Bios

Nora Mason is a piano teacher and memory worker. She works with Alzheimer patients and has witnessed the ways they have been able to connect with their past. She has also observed how music has helped to make those connections, in their lives and in her own.

Aidan Greathouse is a full-time student at UC Santa Cruz and the lead singer of Casino Youth. He’s played music his whole life, but being part of a band has changed what music means to him.

Elijah Greathouse is the drummer for Casino Youth and the brother of Aidan. He views music as an outlet and something that’s taught him a lot about his own emotions.

Liad Ofek is a husband and a father in Los Altos, California. A few months ago, he woke up from a 3-week coma following a bike accident. When all hope was lost, Liad woke up singing a song.

Mimi Zarkover is a close family-friend of Liad’s. She was present when Liad woke up from his coma. She is able to speak on his behalf, due to his severe memory loss.

Behind the Scenes…

Reflection

The greatest lesson I learned in the Documentary Unit is to let someone tell their own story. Often times, I found myself attempting to restructure and piece together conflicting ideas in order to fabricate a story that I believed would be more interesting. However, once I took a step back and let these stories in their truest, rawest form take the stage, I found that became the best possible version of the documentary. There are so many voices to be heard, and as a filmmaker, you have the power to tell them. In reflection, I learned that there is always a perspective greater than yours, and if you get the opportunity to tell it, you tell it.

Thank Yous

Thank you to Nora, Aidan, Elijah, and Mimi for speaking with us and sharing your piece.

Thank you to Liad for your courage in telling us your story.

Thank you to Liad’s family for allowing us into your home.

Thank you to Jonathan Berent for informing us to the psychology behind music.

Thank you to Jarl Payne and your band of buskers. Thank you for filling the streets with song.

Thank you to musicians, everywhere.

Thank you to fans. Thank you for loving music. Thank you for sharing it.