Getting Somewhere

We had our second group meeting on Friday, and we found potential specific topics for our project. 

From initial research, the definition of a documentary is a non- fiction motion picture, who's purpose is to be used for instructional or historical use. It was important for us to identify a definition for this project, which helps limit the scope of our idea. From our previous meeting, we wanted to explore how people born in America learn about a culture they originate from in a different country. Based on that topic, I researched how streaming services like Netflix categorize this type of documentary. Based on my research, I came to the conclusion that the idea falls under the social and cultural documentary genre. 

With our preliminary research, we decided to look at past students A- level projects. Luckily, our instructor provides a website where students can view past A- level projects, to better understand how the final piece should look. We viewed 3 different documentary projects, and realized that we needed to narrow the scope of our topic. Because the project is a 5 minute- excerpt, our original idea will not be depicted in its entirety. We will have the opportunity to cover the beginning, middle, or end of our topic. Because our topic is multi-faceted and needs context, we decided to focus on the beginning. 

Additionally, from watching these documentaries, I started to see a common format. The projects I saw started with a concept or current event, that was explained in depth. Secondly, the project provided examples that correlate with the concept, and showed how the concept affected the person, place, or thing. Lastly, if the concept is an issue, the piece showed how to solve this problem, and provided a final resolution. This structure was something we utilized to further brainstorm, and come up with a more specific idea. 

We decided our potential concepts could people who have two different cultures, American and international, experience some sense of Americanization. When learning about a persons ethnic background from a place where culture does not originate, the traditions and values can experiences many forms of Americanization. Also, I thought we could focus on Generation Z in our concept, because they are considered the most culturally diverse generation. Therefore, they would be the people to experience learning about traditions and values of a separate culture, from an American perspective. For the part about providing examples, we decided to use ourselves as the examples. My partner and I are both Americans, that have learned about our ethnic background, traditions, and values, in America. Additionally, as we are both part of Generation Z, we bring an informed perspective that helps explain our topic better. Lastly, we wanted to cover how we learned about our culture and ethnic background,  such as through movies, food, clothing, and much more. 

We realize that we will not be able to cover all these topics and parts of the documentary. Though, we felt it was best to over plan and brainstorm more, in order to make a cohesive idea in terms of the episode and series. I will continue to research specific examples that talk about our topic, though it has been hard for me to find this. We are planning to speak to our teacher about our idea, to get her further input.