Filming | Editing & Producing | Writing & Research
Sturges Cottage: Short-Form Documentary
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Sturges Cottage Documentary
Sturges Cottage Documentary
Click to watch the full documentary above!
ABOUT
This project involved selecting a topic to cover in the form of a short-form documentary. I chose to highlight the historic Jonathan Sturges Cottage located in Fairfield, Connecticut and I was able to interview a descendant of Sturges himself to learn more about the cottage’s history and its presence in the community today. Producing the documentary involved planning out the story, filming an interview and B-roll and editing it all together.
PLANNING
I was able to preliminarily visit the cottage and meet with my intended interview subject so I had a better idea what my documentary would look like. I jotted down my notes and ideas in a planning document to ensure I was covering everything important, and came up with a sample script to provide myself with some direction before I went to film.
Click to view the full planning doc here! →
PRODUCING
Using a UX-90 camera, I interviewed my subject Polly Roessler and inquired about the cottage’s history and present-day state. After we spoke, she showed me around the house and I was able to get some interesting shots of her explaining various details alongside footage of all of the rooms.
After completing the filming process, I moved onto editing. This part of the process involved sifting through all my footage and going through the interview. Using Adobe Premiere Pro, I organized the clips in a cohesive manner and included title and lower third graphics, made in Adobe After Effects, along with a background music track. I also wrote together a final script composed of the interview quotes I selected and my own narration to complete the story.
