Now that the interview process is behind me, these past few weeks consisted of scriptwriting, specifically an A/V script for my narration with B-roll and interview selections alongside each spoken portion, the actual narration of the script in Logic Pro, and the ultimate undertaking: the editing process in Final Cut Pro, which, upon its completion, will bring this project to a close.
1. SCRIPTWRITING
Scriptwriting took place over about a week period and consisted of a compilation and culmination of my research involving Gen Z, Digital Natives, and social media up to that point. The script followed an audio/visual format with the text of my narration of the left column as well as other aural SFX elements, and any visual elements on the right including, B-roll, interview excerpts, and VFX. The finished A/V script was 11 pages and 3,377 words in total.
2. NARRATION
The entire narration process consisted of several hours of takes and retakes, reading through the script in a clear and methodical manner while balancing inflection and objectivity. This stage also involved tweaking the audio quality in Logic Pro by using a compressor and de-esser to make the narration as clear and natural sounding as possible. In the end, the final narration block was 18:05, however, once the interview clips are added, I expect the finished film to hit the 30-35-minute mark.
3. EDITING
The editing process is still ongoing as I write this blog post. Although I am fast nearing the end, there are still numerous finishing touches and tweaks that need to be implemented before this film can see an audience. Under the editing process category also falls clip selection, which involves both B-roll, (stock archival and organic footage) and interview excerpt curation, and is by far the most time-consuming part of the process aside from the actual assembly and cutting process.
4. “POST-POST-PRODUCTION”
I call this section “post-post-production” because it’s essentially what needs to be done after post-production (the editing of the documentary itself) has been completed. In order of when they’ll be satisfied, this involves cutting a brief trailer to be shown at the beginning of the piece and during the upcoming faculty presentation, drafting the content overview for the 5-minute presentation, creating an engaging documentary cover poster to be displayed on my trifold poster during the official presentation, getting the cove image professionally printed, brainstorming, designing and writing the content for the poster, and finally, purchasing any necessary materials before the final presentation date such as a headphone-spitter to allow multiple viewers to watch the documentary at the same time. In short, while the documentary itself will be complete within the next few days, the project as a whole is far from over, and will now mainly involve the promotional and aesthetic aspects of this film’s release.