I held a workshop with two of my codesigners/high school video club members to work out the structure of the school gun violence documentary as well as to discuss what material we had and what we still needed to get. The workshop was extremely productive! It resulted not only in a clearly defined “flow” for the film, but also provided a space to parse out the aesthetic of the film. We discussed possible graphics, camera shots, and how we can use audio to convey transitions between the various sections of the piece.

In order to allow space for my students to voice their opinions about where they see the direction of the film going, I made sure to structure the workshop in a way that would be more fluid than rigid. Although the workshop guide divides out the workshop into three sections, the actual workshop I facilitated was more of an organic conversation and planning session rather than a rigidly timed workshop.

Going forward, we will be meeting twice a week along with regular check ins to make sure we stay on task. The two students will schedule additional interviews, gather footage from other local and national protests, assist with filming B roll, and edit together footage. We will continue to define roles as the process continues and make this experience as collaborative as possible. I’m very excited to see how all this turns out!

Our “storyboard flowchart” for the documentary.