Documentary Reflection

In the past few years, for various reasons, thrift shopping has become more popular. That was the focus of our documentary. We captured how the attitudes about shopping at thrift stores have changed.  We were able to interview two experts, our classmates and also we were able to do some shopping at thrift stores. It was great to also interview our classmates. They shared their experiences with thrift stores and what they loved about the stores. Making this movie has made me even more interested in thrifting. I learned that people have careers and hobbies in finding outfits constructed mostly of items bought at thrift stores and then they blog about them. We interviewed two experts who devote their lives to buying cheap outfits from thrift stores and blogging about them. As we made this documentary, we pursued the topic even further. We decided to enter a contest where someone had to model an outfit constructed of clothing bought from a thrift store. Although we didn’t win, it was great that this documentary enabled us to explore the topic even more in depth.

It was great that we could choose our own topic.  It gave us the opportunity to explore a topic that we are interested in. Choosing a topic is a crucial part in the documentary process. We had to find a topic that we are not only interested in, but also find a topic that we can make a documentary about in a specific time frame. It was amazing the number of jobs and steps there are in the process of creating a documentary. One person had to find the music, another was more in charge of the editing and another needed to create a title slide.

Even though our documentary was overall a success, we did face some challenges along the way.  The most difficult part was the editing. We faced many computer problems, so it was hard to work around them. If it was either our computer was being slow or we couldn’t import the proper clips, It seemed like every day we had some sort of issues. Therefore the most challenging part was probably overcoming with all the different technological issues. After having to change computers and mostly just being patient with the computer, we finished the documentary.  If I were to do it again, I would try to interview manager of thrift stores. It would be great to get the manager’s perspective on how attitudes have changed about thrift shores.

My only criticism about the whole process is the amount of time we had to make the project. Although I know, we were running on a tight schedule, it was hard to finish the project in time, considering all the technical difficulties.  I think we should of spent less time on the researching phase, so we could have had more time on getting footage and editing.

I am very pleased about how our documentary turned out.  It was at times a very stressful process, but I think we did a good job of capturing how attitudes of thrift stores have changed.