The time to reflect has arrived.
The documentary Shifting Success centered around the idea that a major change in life does not always equate to a setback, but it could provide opportunity to generate success. Lauren Del Barrio, Abby Chaiet, Maria Arruda, and I created this documentary and focused on two subjects that experienced a shift in careers but remained resilient through the process.
Shifting Success covered Giuseppe (Joey) Norrito and Fernanda Zalfa and their respective professions. Both subjects experienced events that forced them to make a decision that ultimately resulted in them going in a different direction within their careers. Norrito, an ex-Major League Baseball pitcher suffered elbow and shoulder injuries that prohibited him from playing baseball again, transitioned to become a police officer. Zalfa, a former set designer and animator for production company Global, moved to the United States with her family and is now the owner of small business. Despite these vastly different stories, my group and I strived to connect them in a way that could engage with our audience and represent social groups present in the everyday world.
Going into the planning process of this project, I knew I wanted to focus on individual subjects rather than an event or group. In better terms, I wanted to create a biographical documentary. I thoroughly enjoy watching this genre of documentary and believed I could create a piece that was worth watching and would represent the subject(s) well. In preparation for this, I watched various documentaries, both in class and at home, to gather all the research I needed. As I said in my research blog post, I viewed the We Are Penn State op-doc which provided me some insight into how to create a documentary, especially one similar to this length, surrounding a single subject. This documentary primarily used b-roll to portray the story of a man protesting an ex-Penn State football coach, Joe Paterno, statue. While our documentary went back and forth between b-roll and interviews, I felt that we did an sufficient job in using both to our ability and gathering much of our information through indirect interviews. Prior to interviewing Norrito and Zalfa, I thought it would be difficult to collect enough information from solely talking to the subjects, but I was proved wrong when they provided us with more than enough to work with. With the genre that we chose, biographical, it is easy for our target audience to engage with the product. With other genres such as nature or historical events, it may be difficult to connect with audiences that would appreciate the message being conveyed. For the target audience of Shifting Success, adults in the workforce are selected. Teenagers that have a job would not be targeted because it is usually adults that experience massive life changes, not high school students. With the different layers of our piece, Norrito with sports and Zalfa moving across the world, there are various people that may relate to our story.
The main documentary that truly assisted me in my research leading up to Shifting Success was "Project 11 - The Alex Smith Story." I wrote all about this film in my continuing the research post which you can read about if you have not yet. Not only is this a biographical documentary as well, but it is one that focuses on the career ending injury of former National Football League quarterback Alex Smith and his rehab process. Of course, when watching this documentary three years ago I had no idea I would be making one of my own, but when I was doing my own research it came to me as the perfect example. This piece also gathered much of its information through interviews, showing how our documentary used biographical conventions such as this. "Project 11" had a target audience of athletes or those interested in sports and I wanted to use that to our advantage in Shifting Success by portraying Norrito's story and how he came back from his injuries.
Engaging with the audience is something that I take very seriously in that the people watching are the most important part of the story. What they see is what they take out of it and influences their feelings towards the piece. I made sure to engage by posting on my blog and taking into account the constructive criticism provided by my classmates. Holding an open discussion about the documentaries each group created made me feel that our work connected to the audience. Everyone provided critiques in how to improve Shifting Success which I wrote about in my first production blog post. Advice like adjusting the volume on Norrito's interview and sticking to indirect interviews only showed that the audience engaged with the piece and it will help my group and I improve.
Our goal was to represent individuals who face career adversity and how real life subjects have overcome that idea. Both Norrito and Zalfa had to transition career paths, for reasons beyond their control, and they made the most out of it. We attempted to break Shifting Success into three areas: past career, challenge faced, and current career. I thought we were extremely successful in doing this, especially in a way that showed both subjects' stories in a cohesive fashion. Norrito and Zalfa's stories were told in full even though the documentary was roughly eight minutes long. By separating their stories into the three sections, audiences could easily understand the path they each took in getting where they are now.
Shifting Success tells the story of Giuseppe Norrito and Fernanda Zalfa and how they had to overcome challenges faced in their professional and personal lives. From transitioning between a baseball player to a now police officer, Norrito suffered life-altering injuries. For Zalfa, she moved from Brazil to Florida and opened her own convenience store, Remembr, after being an animator. Our piece uses biographical documentary conventions in using interviews to convey the message, connect with our target audience, and represent those who face career adversity.
Here is the final product I hope you enjoyed reading through my journey creating this piece!!
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