Critical Reflection Essay

The docuseries, Fighting for Change, aims to educate audiences about the racial injustice faced by local communities and the steps that can be taken by citizens to combat it. The piece focuses on the perspectives of different members within BLMWeston, a student-led organization dedicated to spreading awareness and increasing the involvement of young people in these issues.

After compiling research, I established the target audience for my docuseries as being males and females from the ages of 16-35. Since my docuseries focuses on a specific social issue, the target audience will also be individuals of a more left-leaning political ideology since the majority of people who support the Black Lives Matters movement are registered Democrats. In terms of race, I aimed for my docuseries to appeal to all races regardless since statistics showed that there are a large amount of BLM supporters from different races. All socioeconomic statuses will be included in the target audience, since my goal is for people of different backgrounds to learn more about the movement. To cater to my younger audience, I opted to use Instagram as a tool to promote my project since the app is most popular amongst the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups.

Considering genre, I followed some conventions of the documentary genre such as indirect interviews that progress the story, a narrative format, and an established POV. I chose to focus entirely on displaying interviews in my excerpt, since I felt it would be most appropriate for each person to tell their own perspective. I lacked the use of voice overs for this very reason, as I felt having an outside person narrate these personal experiences would not convey the message as strongly. Another way I challenged conventions was by not including any re-enactments in my docuseries, because after seeing the heavy use of re-enactments in The Social Dilemma, I felt these scenes were often over-the-top and created a more light-hearted tone that would not fit well with the serious nature of my docuseries. To keep the engagement of my audience, I instead opted to use b-roll footage and a multitude of clips displaying social media posts and infographics that were relevant to what the interviewees were describing. Since my target audience consists mostly of a younger generation, I thought the inclusion of all the social media posts would feel familiar to them, since I previously mentioned how popular Instagram is amongst their age group.

The Instagram page for the docuseries works to advertise the project, including several quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists which are frequently referenced by BLM protestors in current times. Additionally, it features posts with a comprehensive list of BLM resources such as places to donate, educational websites, and lists of other organizations to support. Most importantly, there are various posts with simple phrases and graphics encouraging people to use their voice and educate themselves on the topic of racial injustice. The ultimate purpose of my brand is to encourage others to speak up and make a change in their community, which is a message constantly relayed by the interviewees in my docuseries, as well as in the magazine article, where my director interview explicitly states that I hope people who see these docuseries continue to educate themselves and not stay silent in matters of racism and hate. Therefore, I believe all three components of my project portray this message in a straightforward and efficient manner.

Besides being consistent in its message, the brand for Fighting for Change is consistent in its physique, as I made sure to use the same font and brown/white/black color scheme across all components of my project. Moreover, the photographs used in the magazine article and Instagram page all have a brown coloring to correspond with each other. All products also follow a simple, clean-cut aesthetic with minimalistic designs to make it easier for my expansive target audience to read/view the products.

Considering my liberal-leaning target audience and the topic of my docuseries being focused on Black Lives Matter, I realized it was important to showcase a diverse group of people in my project, which I succeeded in doing. In my excerpt I interviewed a white, black, and mixed person, all from different backgrounds. Besides the necessary representation this choice gave me, I felt the diversity in their perspectives contributed a lot to the development of the story.

Evidently, the primary social issue my docuseries represents is racism and discrimination, with my interviewees making several references to the George Floyd protests of 2020 and how it influenced them to start their own protest, which eventually turned into the BLMWeston organization. The focus of my excerpt is on the student-led protest that BLMWeston held last June, representing how the younger generation, or Gen Z, is actively trying to make a difference when it comes to these pressing matters. Furthermore, the interviews showcase how a group of teenagers were able to plan and successfully hold a peaceful protest in their city, with no outside help. Anti-Black Lives Matter sentiments are also depicted in the docuseries, featuring comments of a local conservative group criticizing and insulting the members of BLMWeston for their plan to hold a protest. Lastly, local racism is touched on as well, with some of the interviewees sharing their stories of any racist behavior they have faced while living in Weston.

Overall, working on this project for two months has made me grow a lot as a person and as a filmmaker. The extensive research I did relating to my target audience allowed me to successfully create products to cater specifically to them, and I learned about the importance of consistency when developing a brand. My goal was to adequately represent all these social issues in a powerful way, so I feel accomplished in that sense. I believe all components of my project can stand on their own and still get the same message across, which is definitely the biggest strength of my project.