This week, the Space Jammers focused on beginning production for our commercial, as well as merging our ideas from the past two classes into a cohesive storyboard. Hoping to stay on schedule, we decided to revisit the spots that we scoped out last week to gather material that we could then use for the green screen. We got lucky with two pieces of good news early on today: firstly, that it was not as cold as last week, and secondly (and more excitingly), that the Diva girl Aziza would be joining our group, making us a group of five!
Before leaving to shoot, we met with Dmitri, the Regent Park Focus videographer, who let us borrow a Camcorder and showed us how to use it.
Dmitri teaching Aziza how to use the Camcorder (thanks Dmitri!).
We then bundled up and went on our way to a few key locations: the property purchased by the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) slated to be a Catholic School, the Aquatic Centre, Daniel’s Spectrum building, and Regent Park’s new soccer field.
On our walk, Sumeya caught Aziza up to speed on what our idea was, and she was not only on board but also expanded our ideas with us. It was easy then for all of us to continue to bounce ideas back and forth. We further discussed the changes that were seen in the neighbourhood and the experiences the girls and other residents have with the redevelopment. A lot of our conversation revolved around who the newer spaces are built for, and why the change is both good and bad. The girls expressed that these spaces are made for the higher-income, newer and white-r residents, who were also not the most neighbourly. We used this perspective to see how to frame our commercial, as well as to help us UofT students decide how to better focus the research portion of our project.
Ron captured the other Space Jammers at maybe not our proudest moment, somehow walking on the iciest part of the sidewalk on our way to the TCDSB sign.
After taking pictures and videos for about an hour, we were able to cover a good chunk of the neighbourhood and shoot a lot of material. We then returned to the classroom to begin putting our ideas on paper and drafting a storyboard.
During the time we had left in the evening, Sumeya and Aziza worked on making signs that mocked some of the signs we noticed this week and last, such as the “No trespassing or loitering” ones on the TCDSB property. Meanwhile, Nikki worked on drawing out the storyboard while Ron and Prashansa worked on uploading the footage and typing out an outline and script.
A big challenge for us during the plotting session was deciding how to be bold and blunt in our commercial, while also being nuanced and informed. We questioned how bold is too bold, and what tone is most appropriate. In the end, we were able to find a balance between being a parody that is a call-out versus one that is seen as an accusation that would seem distasteful.
On the other hand, the U of T students had already done some scholarly research, as well as compiling articles and social media posts, about the realities of social mixing, public space, and more information on the spots we filmed. We brainstormed on how to apply both research and theory onto our commercial while also keeping its tone and purpose. A lot of discussion went around envisioning an end goal for what we want the project to mean, and who we want it to speak to.
Sumeya and Aziza suggested that for our audience, we frame the commercial towards those who are unaware of what is truly happening in Regent Park. Using that, we then outlined the goals of our commercial to be:
Help people think critically of the spaces they consume or hear about when it comes to the redevelopment happening in Regent Park.
Highlight the disconnect between the physical existence of public space versus the access and representations that exist.
Letting outsiders know so that the voices of Regent Park residents are taken more seriously
This week was definitely productive and presented us with a framework to build our project on. Though we have a lot of work to do ahead - including still needing to finalize that cringe-y jingle - we are very excited to keep going!
Aziza, Sumeya, Nikki, Ron, and Prashansa are the Space Jammers.