At this week’s session, we shot B-roll footage of the neighbourhood and conducted interviews with Deany Peters and Mary Henkelman, two Regent Park residents and community leaders. With the help of Dawar from FOCUS, we spent some time getting comfortable with using FOCUS’s gear (camcorder, microphone, tripod, etc.) and learning about documentary best practices. One major challenge this week was getting familiar with the documentary format, since none of us had ever shot one before. In particular, it was important for interviewees to incorporate part of the question into their response since it provides context for viewers who cannot hear us asking the questions. Both us and the interviewees tended to get immersed into the conversation, however, which made it difficult to remember to repeat part of the question in the answer.
Asae and Jacob prepping the room for our first interview
One major success we had was that we have begun establishing rapport with Regent Park community members. This helps us secure more interviews the more we gain trust in the community. Leveraging his previous working relationship with Deany and Mary, Ismail modified our interview protocol templates to suit the expertise and experiences of each interviewee. For example, we asked Mary additional questions about the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association due to her past involvement as a Co-Chair. We are currently watching both interviews to see what quotes we might be interested in pulling out from the footage. The remainder of this blog post will discuss the insights we gained from the interviews.
Week 2 tasks accomplished:
Collaboratively adjusted interview protocols
Conducted two interviews (Deany Peters, Mary Henkelman)
Rented and utilized recording gear
Shot B-roll footage in the neighborhood
Scheduled two interviews for upcoming Thursday
Tasks for week 3:
Watch raw footage
Conduct two interviews (Joel from CCEC and another yet to be finalized)
Work with FOCUS team to outline original B-roll
Each of us pick secondary media sources for B-roll (movies, podcasts, photography)
Schedule two interviews for upcoming Thursday
Work with FOCUS team to finalize documentary outline
Pick title
Did you learn anything new this week?
We learned a lot about apathy and the SDP through the interviews. It seems like power is concentrated among a few community members and there are few roles that are vacant for fresh voices. There is little incentive to become involved if most positions are filled, which further contributes to the concentration of involvement among the highly involved.
On the other hand, we learned about the long history of community involvement in RP despite current apathy surrounding the SDP. Plenty of community organizations unrelated to the SDP are doing good work to improve the lives of Regent Park residents. Even groups that tend to be uninvolved with the SDP, such as youth, are active participants in other aspects of the Regent Park community.
How is the course changing your understanding of the city and urban issues?
Overcoming personal agendas: sometimes, working for the broader community can be overshadowed by personal agendas and interpersonal power dynamics within group settings. Neighborhood groups, such as coalitions, resident associations, or tenant boards, must navigate a terrain of individual frustrations, staunch worldviews, and ego, if they expect to reach collective efficacy and cohesion.
The team making final edits to the interview scripts
Reflections
Now that we’ve started shooting and accumulated some raw footage, the intimidation factor has really set in for me. Transforming raw data into something coherent requires a high level of artistic and technical skill. We are not proficient in editing, nor are we remotely close to understanding documentary making. We have a vision for our story, but splicing it together to express this narrative is challenging.
Additionally, we have to keep ethics in mind, especially when representing community members who have been involved in sensitive issues or work for agencies who want to protect their reputation. For example, one of our teammates works for Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). None of us want to expose sensitive information regarding their work, but we do want to tell a balanced narrative, which may involve both praise and critique. Toeing this line, while also learning the ropes of filmmaking and roots of the community has been a tall task, but one that is nevertheless rewarding.
Project Support
More time would be nice! But outside of that possibility, we just need to face the editing head-on and learn by doing. FOCUS has been there every step of the way, so it's a matter of giving them our full trust and trying to make a coherent and cohesive film.
The SDP Champions team members are Asae, Ismail, Jacob, and Jackson