Keeping Up With The Jones

It has been an interesting week as it relates to this project. For starters, I have been able to purchase all (I think all) of the equipment I will need. I purchased the camera itself last week and this week I was able to locate and buy another lens that will I will use a lot. I also purchased a wireless clip-on tie microphone system, complete with receiver, so that my audio will be as good as it can be. I spent a lot of time looking for a new lighting system but just didn't find anything I really liked (I can't stand the florescent light sets) so I'm just going to use the lights I have already, which are hot lights but I like the warmth of their color. The last piece I was able to acquire is a new external hard drive that I plan on using exclusively for this project. I also ordered the book on making documentary and reality films recommended by Prof. Eric Souther. With that, I think I have all that I will need to make this project happen. From a strategic standpoint, I think I have loosely determined the direction we are going to go with this film. I've decided to break it into four different sections so that I can tackle one at a time (although some of it will overlap, of course). The four sections are as follows: The Introduction- I want to open the film by introducing the viewer to Curtis (the star of the show, in case you have forgot). I think that since it is his story it is important to understand who he is and what his motivation is for taking this journey. We will briefly cover his childhood, his high school years, his shooting and the aftermath of that, and where he is today, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. That will set the stage for the next section. The Investigation- This will be where we really dig into his family history. We have started preliminary investigations and have already unearthed some cool stuff, like this:

This is a census record showing that Fred Jones (Curtis's grandfather) was a plumber for the city. Under Fred's name you see the names of his children, one of which is "Curtis", which is our Curtis's father. I've highlighted the area to make it easier to locate. Also, if you click on the thumbnail, it will show a larger shot of the census. Once we have gathered enough info, we will move into the next section. The Journey- This will be the actual trip that we make to explore the plantation(s) that Curtis' family was enslaved at. Not exactly sure where this will be but based on family legend we think we may end up in Virginia. We will visit the area, visit the local historical center, etc, before culminating with a visit to the actual land. Really, this is the meat of the film. The plan is to take this trip during spring break. The Conclusion- This will be something we film a few days or weeks after the trip itself (time willing), so that Curtis will really have a chance to decompress and think about the journey we have taken. This, I suppose, will be where we find our "final message", although I'm not sure what that will be. That is is the beauty of it! We plan on beginning filming this week on the introduction, so hopefully by this time next week we will have some footage to look at. I am feeling good about where I'm at and confident that this will all come together. Stay tuned!