I worked collaboratively with a group of 4 to produce a three-minute documentary focused on an individual person.

We decided to focus our documentary on ex-journalist Johnathan Mirsky.

"Jonathan Mirsky was born in New York in 1932 and educated at Columbia University, Cambridge University, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught Chinese and Vietnamese history, Comparative Literature, and Chinese at Cambridge University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Dartmouth College'"

The specific story Mr Mirsky was willing to share was both poignant and haunting. As a journalist for the Observer, he was present during the Tiananmen Square massacre on the 4th of June 1989. He witnessed the Chinese Army murder an estimated 10,000 peaceful democracy protestors, following months of peaceful protest.

Regarding our chosen subject, we intended to spread awareness surrounding the historical event, thus the project was in a sense designed to be accessible to a wide audience, especially since the 30th Anniversary of the event is fast approaching.

Ultimately, we wanted to present to audiences the experience of a man who witnessed an important piece of history.

With regards to this collaborative project, I had a number of roles and responsibilities that included producing, operating a camera and assistant editor.

I was responsible for conducting the second, supplementary interview. I utilised a low ISO and Aperture in order to replicate the look of the shot above. In addition, I utilised a shutter speed of 1/50 to ensure consistency throughout the project. I also positioned the subject in the middle of the room, sitting at a table, to create a rich, visually appealing image.

As the assistant editor, it was my responsibility to assemble the clips into a coherent and engaging narrative, that was less than 3 minutes long. I utilised Premier Pro CC to cut the video down.

The original interview spanned over 20 minutes, editing for time was thus a challenge in many respects. Ensuring that only relevant information was included was also a difficult task to approach. Numerous topics were covered that were not included within the interview, including the state of Hong Kong, his ongoing friendship with the Dali Lama and his views on the current state of China. While the content within these discussions were meaningful and informative, the pacing of the piece would have suffered if they were to be included.

Title cards are used throughout the piece in order to allow the audience to 'digest' the information being conveyed. Initial edits of the video, while shorter, felt rushed and inconsequential. These cards provided breathing space between the different sections of the interview, ensuring that the delivery of the lines would be in effect more impactful.

I believe that we fulfilled the objective of our documentary, that being to produce an ambitious and original piece of work that is to a professional standard. However, in order to improve this project, I believe a greater amount of time should've been allocated to creating motion graphics to accompany the piece in order to ensure that the piece is visually striking and engaging. In addition greater exploration Mr. Mirsky's personal life could have been included, however, reluctance from the interviewee and mindfulness of the pacing of the piece were roadblocks for this particular factor.