Crafting Tradition: Inside the Making of the New PaceDocs Documentary

Building this year’s story for the documentary has been a months-long process. From research in MCA 601: Industry Theory and Practice to witnessing the coopers’ (cask and barrel-makers for the uninitiated) work first-hand, the crew has been writing the story in a captivating and accurate way.

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The post-production process has required the brainpower of the entire crew. As most of the interviews conducted in Spain were in the native language, it was up to our Spanish-speaking students, Fiona Torres Moino, Dennis Bogdanowizc, and Lorenzo Osorio, to translate and verify what each person said accurately.

“I spent hours working with the editors translating the interviews from Spanish to English,” said Assistant Director Fiona. “It was arduous for me because of the Andalusian accent of the interviewees. But in the end, when we got to see the rough cut, it all made so much sense and the story is looking amazing.”

Watching the story come together, reworking it, and then seeing how much better the final product was through the collaboration of the story team was really gratifying.

The story team worked alongside the translating students to identify the key points in the story—tradition, family, and the future. The script became a puzzle that took countless hours and reviews to fall into place. The transcripts were scoured, and the best soundbites were extracted to accompany our plot. Under the direction of Professor Maria Luskay, EdD, we all pitched and wrote voiceover segments to accompany our story, which are to be voiced by Professor Andres Villagra.

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Rachel Hutchings, head of social media and active on the story team, stated “Watching the story come together, reworking it, and then seeing how much better the final product was through the collaboration of the story team was really gratifying. I’m really proud of the way we crafted the narrative and I think it will affect our audience the same way getting an up-close look at the cooper tradition in Spain affected us.”

The editing team has been working hard, working in tandem with the scriptwriters to make sure everything looks and flows as intended. Their job to balance the audio and visual aspects of the documentary is crucial in conveying the feel and direction of the story. The editors have been working on all things visual since January; lower thirds, graphics, openings, and more, and are finally able to place them in the project.

All in all, every student has been wearing multiple hats and working hard to make sure the documentary is produced perfectly, from start to finish. Our pace is stellar, moving into the final weeks before our premiere on May 2.

Stay tuned on all of our socials to get more behind-the-scenes scoop on post-production insanity!

Read more blog posts from this year's PaceDoc's crew.