As it was not always possible to conduct interviews in ideal locations, sound was easily one of my most important, and annoying, elements. I ran into my biggest issues with sound during my interview with Abdallah. I was scheduled to meet him at the International Center on campus on a Saturday. At the time, this seemed like a reasonable location for both of us; however, we both seemed to have forgotten that it was football season. It was a game day, and nowhere on campus was quiet. We went back to Case Hall, where Abdallah lives, but that location was not much better. There was a lot of background noise and because Abdallah is a naturally soft speaker, it became even more difficult to hear what he was saying. I had chosen not to use an external microphone when filming in order to avoid unnecessary difficulties. This was a mistake I won't be making again. The solution, however, was simple. I just used captions. It wasn't ideal, but it did the job.
After the interview process was over and I felt I had finally collected some usable material, the process trudged on. Issues of format and presentation still haunted my dreams. And even after receiving some input from my professor, I was left disgruntled. I hated his advice. It seemed to me like no one understood my vision. But that was the least of my problems, as I soon realized that I didn't understand my vision either. It took me longer than necessary, but eventually, after finally getting bored with being left with my own ideas, I decided to try something new. I took the advice that my colleagues and professor had been giving me all along. Two days before the final project was due, I decided to mash the three interviews together and see what I could come up with. To my surprise, I was extremely satisfied with the result.
When I showed the final project to my class I was nervous about what their reactions might be. Surprisingly, the overall reaction I received was amazing. It was much better than I had expected.
After the video finished playing, there was a short moment of silence in the room. I knew that I had hit a nerve, hopefully what I had been aiming at all along. For the most part, my classmates' overall reaction was that they wanted to see more. This was a great confidence booster on my part, especially after encountering so many problems along the way. I was finally able to create something that spoke to people, something that made them think. I wanted my peers to begin questioning their own beliefs instead of just the beliefs of others. This was what creating the video did for me and what I hope it can do for everyone who chooses to watch it.
Site design by Noah Blon