1. Brainstorming

1. Anderson Cooper: a renowned journalist and reporter, lives an incredible politically active life, human rights activist; RGB: obviously; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: incredible activist, environmentalist, WOC, leftist political leader who’s done with Trump’s bullshit; Neil Degrasse Tyson: again, obviously
   1. Appropriate: All these people would make for politically topical or just simply professionally interesting subjects
   2. Accessible: none of these people are accessible to me (unfortunately).
   3. Size: Using each individual as a subject themselves could work, but that would be more of a biographical documentary; if I were to do a documentary on what their own passions were, that subject would become even broader; they all apply to so many different current day contexts, and they’re all so passionate about so many things. Definitely not a small enough target.
   4. Scope: definitely plenty of topic points to point out with all of them; a diverse set of people all with broad, knowledgeable backgrounds that I think would definitely have a wonderful scope of opportunity to be featured in a documentary.
2. My apartment is certainly a social experiment and sparks a lot of interest in societal norms, gender, women, family/friend/home dynamics, navigating difficult social situations, etc. I also love nature in general, but specifically the Maine trails surrounding UMaine and my home down south; they sparked a love of the environment and ecology within me and have pushed me to advocate for protection of our wilderness and world.
   1. Appropriate: In terms of my apartment, probably not? At least not for class; there’s a lot of informality that goes on in that apartment, and even if I spun the documentary in such a way that was meant to be deeply analytical and reflecting society in a broader sense, I think the general feedback I’d get is it being inappropriate. In terms of nature, I think that would be plenty appropriate, and there’s plenty to film just in the great Maine outdoors. Even if I wanted to do the kayaking/canoeing topic, Scarborough is only a two hour drive away, and if I couldn’t do that there’s plenty of canoe/kayak business up here in Orono.
   2. Accessible: completely. My apartment is… my apartment, and Maine nature is just outside of that. Both are completely accessible.
   3. Size: the apartment topic might be a little too small of a topic; it would be reflective of a lot of other, broader issues and concepts (like gender, social constructs and etiquette, etc.) but just filming the apartment might be a little narrow. As for the nature, I don’t think that’s too small but the scope may be a little too big.
   4. Scope: Vice-versa of size; I think for the apartment the scope would be okay, especially if it was in order to understand a greater network of connectivity and human interactions, but “Maine nature” may be way too broad. Maybe specifically the Scarborough estuary, or environmentalism in Maine and how it’s impacting Maine’s natural world, would be topics a little more in-focus for a documentary.
3. Art! I love to paint and in general manifest my creativity. I love the psychology of creativity and how being creative impacts one’s quality of life and general mental health. I think that’s something that could definitely be explored through documentarian means.
   1. Appropriate: Unless I stumble upon some really wacky artists (which wouldn’t be too far-fetched given some of the artists I’ve met at UMaine), it would more than likely be fully appropriate. The pursuit of art can definitely act as a catalyst for a lot of weird or uncomfortable topics, but those don’t necessitate inappropriateness.
   2. Accessible: Probably! I wouldn’t have world-renowned artists at my disposal, but there are plenty of artists, art historians, psychologists and otherwise creative people who could help make the documentary.
   3. Size: This topic probably isn’t too small (as in the psychology of art/the implications of practicing creativity)
   4. Scope: This is probably just a little too big for me personally to tackle; I think if I had an entire camera crew and research team, it would be fine, but I think just for me and a group it would be a lot to handle. For an actual documentary it would be perfect, for me probably not.
4. Relationships between people have always fascinated me; how people create, maintain, end, and change relationships, how those relationships are established and with who, how different categorizations of relationships are treated differently (i.e. friend, girl/boyfriend, best friend, family, professor, acquaintance). Sociology and anthropology in general are super interesting to me.
   1. Appropriate: probably not. Again, if it were a full-blown documentary with a skilled team and with the approach of analyzing social structures and the likes, I think it would be perfectly fine, but given that it would be me documenting the lives of those I’m close to and exposing the intricate inner workings of their social circles, I’d probably be breaking a few ethical codes as well as just making things awkward for myself and the subjects.
   2. Accessible: very. Social constructs are everywhere; all I would need are people!
   3. Probably not too small; social workings and relationships in general, at least for me, would be a really interesting topic to learn about that has enough meat behind it to provide substantial documentation for a film.
   4. It may be a little to big; just “social situations” and “relationships” seems a little too big.
5. Kayaking! Both in Orono and my hometown kayaking and canoeing is a big business. In Scarborough, the estuaries are some of the most diverse within the country, and in the summer we get a lot of bird watchers, researchers, and ecologists (as well as just plain tourists) looking to explore the coasts and marshes. Anything involving lumber and wood would also be cool, since Maine’s economy relied heavily on those industries for a long time.
   1. Checks out!
   2. Also fine; plenty of resources around for both the lumber and kayaking/canoeing industry
   3. size/scope: I think both of these ideas are an okay size! Especially if I just wanted to narrow it down to Maine estuaries, the Maine kayaking and canoeing industry, or simply the lumber and logging industry and the impact it’s had on Maine.
6. So many. Anything regarding the political atmosphere of America right now would be important. The ties between mass incarceration and racism within the country would be something I’m interested in, especially for something like nonviolent drug crimes (since people of color are incarcerated many times more than white people for the same nonviolent crimes). Environmentalism in general (like the green new deal) would be important, especially since environmentalist movements impact Maine heavily with our forests and coasts duo.
   1. Definitely appropriate; political opinions, though I know sometimes frowned upon within academic hemispheres, are extremely important to integrate into education and everyday conversations, especially academic ones.
   2. Accessible: not really. While there’s plenty of information and resources about mass incarceration and the discrimination against minorities especially with drug related crimes, there’s a distinct deficit of people of color in Maine, as well as experts who would be able to talk on those points. There would be very little b roll I could acquire, even if I could gather the majority of the technical information.
   3. Size/scope: this would probably be fine for a normal documentary, but again probably a little too big of an issue to tackle well as an undergrad group
7. Identity, intersectionality, the subjugation of women, LGBTQ folks, and people of color, gender and the implications of patriarchal constructs built around toxic masculinity, environmentalism (again), capitalism and how it’s currently manifested as the US’s primary economy (not well), the erasure of the “hard science” and “liberal arts” binary, education within America and how it’s essentially setting us up for failure.
   1. Appropriateness checks out
   2. Accessible: a lot of these would be fine to research, especially since a lot of professors I know would be more than willing to talk on these subjects
   3. Some of these would be too big and would need to be narrowed down significantly in order to be feasibly managed and executed; I could just make them localized and almost immediately all these issues become more focused.
8. Anything political, nature-oriented (environmentalism again haha), anything experts have already spoken on (the new Green Deal, Trump)
   1. Appropriate: It would not be appropriate for me to show a penis in class, but I’d definitely be able to touch on the New Green Deal.
   2. Accessible: I think so, plenty of green experts on campus as well as politically engaged individuals who can speak on the implications of the green deal. Plenty of people available to talk about Trump as well.
   3. size/scope: I think an overview of the Green New Deal would be feasible enough, but just “Trump” is way too broad of an undertaking.

C. Development

To my crew and cast,

This project is an anthropological undertaking that will hope to display not simply the atypical behavioral and societal patterns of a specific group of undergraduate UMaine students, but the root of the creation of these norms and how they’re perpetuated, broken, and changed through social acceptance or rejection. The main group we’ll be focusing on is none other than my very own roommates, a gaggle of undergraduate women defying the norms of dorm and young adult living, who we’ll be comparing against other living situations on campus. Why? To see not only the inner workings of an intimate group of friends, peers, rivals, and supporters, but to contrast their behavior against that of other variations of social groups. This will hope to exemplify the importance of certain social movements, such as body and sex positivity, as well as explore different intersectional identities (sexuality, gender, race, etc.) and how they all play a role in the creation of social dynamics and relationships. What makes some groups more closely-knit? How do they interact with each other? How do the groups interact with other social groups? How does homelife translate into academics or public social situations?

Our team will consist of the technicians (videographers, audiographers, director, editors, etc.) and the subjects. The documentary will be on campus, surrounding the environments the subjects find themselves in naturally, unless for one on one interviewing purposes. The progression of production for this project will be categorized into documentation (the actual recording of the subjects), analysis (how are we going to compare/contrast the subjects? How are we going to cut the video, and what themes were touched on more dominantly throughout filming?), and then finally editing. Filming will command the majority of our time, while analysis and editing will go more hand in hand and take up whatever time we have left. Now let’s make this bread y’all.

• Saved: 2-Documentary, W2, Writing