Reflecting (questions 1 and 2)

I decided to do a "director's cut" style interview video for my first and second reflection questions in the making of Unpacking. I asked my partner, Foutch, who was also an assistant cinematographer for Days 2 and 3 of filming, to assist me in the production.

The two questions I sought to answer during the making of this installment of my CCR were questions 1 and 2. To begin with question 1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

From my script:

"Unpacking utilizes aspects of the teen drama and coming-of-age film genres, to represent the marginalized intersection between racial minorities, homeless youth, and queer teens in America. The themes of identity, authority vs. autonomy, and alienation, as well as a heavy focus on music to convey emotion, were features of the teen dramas I studied in my research for this production- films like Lady Bird by Greta Gerwig, The Half of It by Alice Wu. A lot of teen dramas are about this kind of- finding yourself- and conflicts between teenagers and their parents because of a critical split in ideology. That disparity between young and old- it's so often highlighted by other barriers in the real world, like socioeconomic status, cultural status, racial status, and being a displaced minority trying to fit into a household really fits into that teenage question of- what is my place in the world?"

Then, question 2: "How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"

"Unpacking, as an amateur indie film, will be distributed primarily virtually. I chose YouTube as my primary method of distribution, because of its low cost, high accessibility, and compatibility with any marketing or advertisement done in the online sphere like Instagram or TikTok posts. Also, since my production appeals to teenagers, I decided to use a platform that the vast majority of teenagers are highly active on. In fact, about three-quarters of teenagers like us use YouTube every day. But I also plan to distribute to audiences who are highly invested in the drama genre and the indie film scene at film festivals like the Miami film festival and my school's own film festival. So- don't worry. There's plenty of ways to see Unpacking on any size of screen, almost anywhere in the world."

The end is nigh! Soon... soon...

Yours (for now),

Clover Fields