DOCUMENTARY
with mov
Raindrops & Reflections
FILM
ROLES.
Director, lighting, camera, SFX
programs: After effects, figma
Client: Museum of Vancouver
DURATION. GROUP.
12 weeks, group project
Emma , Kira, Allison, Jessica
DELIVERABLES.
Create a 5 minute short film documentary for the exhibit “rain people” for the museum of vancouver.
FINAL FILM WILL BE UPLOADED SOON
mov documentary
Vancouver is one of the world’s most diverse cities, both in its people and its weather. I want to uncover how rain shapes identities and stories, while highlighting the shared experiences within this diversity.
overview
Background.
I directed a documentary for the Museum of Vancouver, collaborating with our producer Kira to shape the storyline and visual direction for the exhibit “Rain People”.
Objective.
As the director, I aimed to create an abstract montage that explores hidden identities, focusing on creative expression and an immersive experience rather than an educational tone. It’s a story of identity, connection, and difference.
The Beginning.
Drawing from my background in expressive and abstract photography, I envisioned an artistic montage-style documentary. Instead of focusing solely on the interviewees, I wanted to highlight their stories through abstract visuals in b-roll shots, addressing potential bias and creating a more immersive experience.
To add to the immersion, I collaborated with the editing team to use cool tones for scenes conveying negative emotions towards rain, like sadness or discomfort, and warm tones with red accents for more positive, comforting views of rain. This color contrast was also reflected in the interview lighting setup I designed, helping to reinforce the emotional tone of each story.
Storyboard Pivot Point.
Challenge.
Diversity is a broad concept often explored in media arts, making it challenging to ensure originality. By focusing on careers instead of ethnicity or gender, we created a more focused narrative to avoid ambiguity and clichés.
Resulting Interviewees & questions.
healthcare
worker
construction
worker
newcomer to vancouver
international student
law enforcement
How does your background change how you see rain?
How does rain change your day to day life?
Where do you find yourself on a rainy day?
In one word, how would you describe Vancouver’s rain?
Story Creation.
Once we pursued the 5 interviews, the editing team created transcriptions of the voice overs where I then started to pick out key phrases and insights that could be useful towards a storyline we could visualize and create narrative connections between interviewees
I started by placing each "concept" on individual sticky notes, then collaborated with the team to explore possible storylines. We connected the notes into mini storylines within acts, all aimed at representing our central theme: the shared experience of rain, despite our differences. I noted down possible b-roll (orange sticky notes) for each concept to pursue for filming.
Filming.
I worked with the other videographer Jessica to gather the shots for the film using Canon T8i and GoPro for high intensity water shots, we uploaded stills to the Figma where the final shots were then organized under the timeline concepts to be sent to the editing team.
Challenge.
The goal was to create a highly expressive film with unidentifiable interviewees and abstract B-roll shots, but the ambiguity was taken too far. As a result, the film lost context, leaving viewers more confused than curious. To address this, I pivoted the storyline by introducing each interviewee's name and career through voiceover dialogue before their story narrative, while still using undetectable B-roll, to help orient the viewers to the storytellers.
Editing.
Once the storyline, shots, and style were defined, we moved on to editing. I focused on creating the question typography shots, illustrations, and subtle hints of the mosaic metaphor throughout the story. I also reviewed the sequence and sound editing to ensure cohesion and that the lighting effectively conveyed the narrative.
Take-a-ways.
Creating a story where the outcome is unpredictable and the responses are unknown introduces significant ambiguity and uncertainty about the final result. Being flexible and adaptable is crucial to maintaining creativity and confidence in your decisions, ensuring that the shots remain coherent and visually compelling for viewers. Storytelling is not just about crafting stories; it’s about knowing how to tell them. It’s a skill I’ll continually refine and improve with each experience.