Group Discussion on Teams

New Ideas

            Today in class, classmates were divided up into groups of four to discuss ideas towards the progression of our project. It seemed that I was the only person that had a topic in mind and this really helped because my classmates were able to help inspire me and gave me some great ideas. 

            From the discussion, I was able to gather 3 new ideas. The first thought was that I should include a segment on how to make matcha. This would help inform the viewers on the rigorous, yet crucial process that takes place in the creation of the tea. Secondly, I was told to focus the large majority of my interview with the grandma or store owner. By doing so, I could achieve a more traditional perspective s the Japanese lineage is more recent since it was the great grandmother that moved to the United States. Lastly, they suggested that I should include the different variations of drink styles matcha tea comes in such as Boba tea, hot tea, iced matcha, etc.. Not only would this understand my audience's understanding of how widespread the tea is, but it would also show how the tea has evolved into mainstream drinks in restaurants despite its old age.

 

New Partner

 The More the Merrier

2 > 1

        Despite me thinking I was going to do this project myself, a fellow classmate asked if she could join me on my matcha journey. At first, I was a bit skeptical but then I thought to myself how much better it would be to get another head on the project with different ideas and perspectives. I later replied to her request with a hopeful yes and am excited for the journey ahead. I've seen some of her work and she seems like the ideal candidate for a partner in the documentary. All that is left is to ask Mrs. Stoklosa whether she can join or not since she was absent last class while everyone chose whether they would be working alone or in groups

         Along with this, she loves matcha and knows multiple people that make it by hand with a matcha whisk and I feel that it would be a nice touch to the project. I definitely think that this will be crucial footage since we don't have the resources to go to Japan, the only place where the tea is grown. Hopefully, everything turns out fine in regards to creating high quality footage that reflects the story we want to tell.  

           

Ideas Flowing like Tea

     

   I've been drinking tea for as long as I can remember. A huge aspect of drinks that countless cultures indulge in is tea. A large reason for this is how long it has been around is due to its ancient trading history throughout Asia, reaching Europe, Africa, and even the Americas! This type of drink holds an infamous title for most well known drink besides water and it is for a good reason. Due to the mass distribution of tea starting as far back as in the 16th century, different types of tea were began to be made. Black and green tea were one of the first of their kind in terms of casual tea and then this progressed to jasmine, Thai, chai, English breakfast, and matcha. 

        Matcha tea has boomed in popularity throughout the western world and is now most commonly brewed cold, despite it's normal temperature being served hot in Japanese culture. As things become more and more mainstream, people often forget that there is a lot of history and meaning behind these items. As I have noticed myself consuming more and more tea, I often forget about the history behind tea and its roots and just consume it mindlessly. This is why for my documentary I had the idea to film a documentary about teas and for the particular segment of the episode I will be filming... Matcha will be front and center.

Documentary

        Documentaries are films that capture a slice of life. This can range from something as simple to documenting the life of an earthworm to capturing the use/effects of a nuclear bomb. These films have a main goal in mind which is to inform and educate us about a subject

        An impressive aspect of documentaries are how long they've been around. The first documentary was filmed in 1922 called "Nanook of the North" filmed by filmmaker Robert Flaherty. This story follows an actual character in a foreign land. Countless other documentaries followed, ensuring that the film style would stick. What followed was docuseries, a documentary that is telecast into a series of programs. Many streaming platforms now include mainly docuseries with occsional movie documentaries. Docuseries often require the 

        Some documentaries that have caught a lot of media attention are that have been films such as "Free Solo" and docuseries like "Night Stalker: The Hunt For A Serial Killer". My main goal throughout this documentary is to cultivate my audience instead of merely informing them.