FST 495 Brittany Edwards

This past weekend, the crew traveled to Chapel Hill to initially film an interview with Andrew Hartley. Unfortunately, Mr. Hartley cancelled at the last minute, so the crew had to plan some alternate shoots. So, they ended up shooting some b-roll of Ira's old high school. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this past shoot weekend, because it was planned after my work schedule for the week had already been made. I have been in contact with people from the theatre department at UNC Charlotte and finally got us approved to shoot b-roll in Robinson Hall this weekend, November 4th. We got approval to shoot in the hall lobby, as well as the two performance spaces. We also plan on shooting some more b-roll of the Mount Holly area while we are in Charlotte, time permitting. After this weekend, we might have one more weekend of shooting, but that is undetermined at this point. Knox is also planning on visiting Chapel Hill on a week day, so that he can interview Andrew Hartley. In the...

We recently had a crew meet this past weekend. We discussed our game plan moving forward. We discussed the b-roll that we would like to get, as well as the interviewees we want to include. Currently, I am still waiting to get permission for us to shoot b-roll at the UNC-C Theatre Department. Knox is currently waiting to hear from one of the professors; he also is working on the letter that he plans to send to Ira's parents to potentially interview them. Due to the nature of our documentary, we have to be sensitive and cautious in how we approach our subjects. Since the nature of our documentary is a sensitive subject, the process is a bit slower compared to some of the other projects. However, I know that the project will eventually get where it needs to be. Moving forward, within the next few weeks, we hope to have made significant progress as far as b-roll and more interview subjects. As the end of the semester gets closer, we ultimately need to decide whether or not this pro...

We are at a holding point at the moment, so in the mean time, we are reaching out to different contacts to further our documentary footage. Knox is trying to get an interview from one of the professors at UNC-Charlotte. I recently reached out to one of the professors who is in charge of the theatre department at UNC-C, to get permission for us to shoot some b-roll around the theatre department. I also have posted on two different Facebook memorial pages for Irina, in hopes to find some people who knew her and would be willing to be interviewed. So far, I have gotten one response from a girl who had a class with Irina. Knox and I will be in contact with her soon to discuss a possible interview. Knox has delegated each crew member to reach out to various contacts in order for us to further our film. With our rough cut being due in less than two weeks, we need to get more interviews and b-roll, as well as organize and structure the film. We have a crew meeting this Saturday, October 21s...

The weekend before last, we shot three interviews as well as some b-roll. After showing some of our footage in class, it was suggested that we shoot some more b-roll footage of the Mount Holly area, to give the audience more familiarity with the story. It would be a good idea to have someone who is familiar with the area to walk us through the location where Ira was found, that way the audience knows what they are seeing. It was also suggested that we shoot more motivated b-roll. Someone in class suggested that we interview someone who was close with Ira, so that way the story is more personal. All of our interviews so far have been one-sided, and we would like to get more contacts who knew Ira, if possible. Knox had mentioned getting into contact with the poetry group that Ira used to be a member of. This would give us more personal insight into Ira's life. As of now, we have a total of three expert interviewees and four total interviews. I know that we will need some more b-r...

This past weekend, the crew and I traveled to Charlotte to get our 2nd and 3rd interviews done. On Saturday, we interviewed our two experts at one location. We interviewed them each separately, then together. They both had a lot of good information regarding their experiences with the case, and seemed comfortable talking about it. Elizabeth Leland is a journalist that covered the case in 2016. We interviewed her first, and the interview lasted around thirty minutes. Todd Sumlin is a photojournalist that covered the case, and he also worked closely with Elizabeth. He was very comfortable around the camera and provided good information regarding his experiences. When we interviewed them together, they both shared their experiences with one another, and it was obvious that they both had a good connection as co-workers. During their joint-interview, they discussed the pictures that they took of the evidence box relating to Ira's case. Later that day, we took a boat out on the river t...