Love of Mine : Documentary

Love of Mine

Documentary - Film

Figure 1. Screenshot of the first frame of the film *Love of Mine* (2021)

Pitch

For the class 344: Moving Images, for the Interactive Art and Technology program. For the final project, I was tasked with creating a short documentary-style film. I had to make a documentary about a specific person or community’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This was done as a collaboration with the Museum of Vancouver, and all of the student films are hosted on the MoV’s website in the exhibit called Isolating Together.

Process Analysis:

Concept & Treatment

I started with the idea that I wanted to create a documentary about something surprising, and I began thinking about my own COVID-19 experience and the good and bad things that happened to me. I deecided the story I wanted to tell was mine own. The most surprising thing that happened to me over the pandemic was I fell in love, so I thought that making my film a love story would be an interesting idea.

I also chose to focus on the way that my boyfriend and I were able to interact with each other which was through video games, specifically Minecraft.

After I had my initial concept, I started planning and writing out my treatment which can be seen in Figure 2. With a clearer vision of what I wanted this film to look like I thought up some of the shots I wanted to include as well as how I wanted the story to be told.

Figure 2. Treatment for film *Love of Mine* (2021)

Figure 3. Mood board for film *Love of Mine*(2021)

Process Analysis:

Mood Board & Storyboard

After the treatment was written I then created the storyboard through two iterations that can be seen in figure 4 and figure 5. As well as designed the mood board for this film which can be seen in figure 3.

I planned my storyboard to have a variety of shots and camera angles in order to create interesting visuals because I planned to have mostly voice- over for the speaking.

Figure 3. First page of the revised storyboard (2021)

Figure 4. Second page of the revised storyboard (2021)

Process Analysis:

Filming & Editing

Next all that was left was to film and edit. The whole film was recorded either on my phone or my screen; I managed to adapt a tripod by constructing a stand with cardboard. I started with all the scenes my boyfriend Efe was in, then the ones with just me and the screen recordings. I set up my lighting with the lamps I had in my room, aiming for a warm, cozy lighting effect.

After all the shots were recorded, as well as the audio, I started editing in Adobe Premeire. I also created an animation to add as a visual effect in Adobe AfterEffects, of a Minecraft heart floating and disappearing. I edited all the shots and audio together and next added the visual effects as well as music. Lastly, I added the subtitles and title.

Figure 5. Camera set up with constructed stand for phone (2021)

Figure 6. Example of the lighting set-up (2021)

Final Film

This film is about my experience during the travel restrictions of COVID-19, it was right as me and Efe first started dating. It tells the story of how we stayed connected when we had to be long-distance by playing video games together, specifically Minecraft.