Jen&Jen's Fencing Short Documentary Treatment

In class we watched the documentary "Baraka"and student-made short documentaries. This led Mr. Bigue to have us do our own short documentaries as a final project. Being a fencer, I really wanted to do one on fencing because it's something not a lot of people really understand. It also seemed like a lot of work, so I teamed up with the fabulous Jenevieve Rantisi to come up with the following pre-production.

Purpose: The purpose of this documentary is to inform people about the true life of a fencer and what fencing really is.

Contacts: Peninsula Fencing Academy: Jay Choi (fencing coach) and John Stayner (fencer)

Interview Questions:

1. What is fencing really?
   
2. What kind of protective gear do you have?
3. What does it take to mentally and physically prepare for a tournament?
4. How has fencing become such a major part of your life? How big of a part does it play?
   
5. Does it stress you out?
   
6. If so, why do you continue?
   
7. How do you cope with that stress?
8. How does your coach influence you and what do the coaches try to do for the students?
   
9. What goes through your head as you're fencing a bout? After a bout?
   
10. How does victory mean to you?
11. How does it feel to win? To lose?

General Flow:
We are introduced to the head coach talking about what fencing really is. He is at the fencing club on a break from coaching. As they talk, there is a typical class in session. Then there is a private lesson going on. As the coaches talk about protective gear, all of the gear is shown laid out, and then there is fast-motion of a fencer putting it all on.

Now John is introduced introduced. As we learn about the major role fencing plays in his life, we see him enter the club one evening. He is warming up for class by jogging and stretching. We see the clock. Then there is a graphic match of the clock at the time he leaves a couple hours later. Any appropriate broll will be added.

We hear Jay's perspective of what he tries to do for his students, and from John about Jay's influence on him. During this time we see him having a private lesson on the fencing strip while the coach is explaining how to do something. The fencer then does the action.

Next, John talks about how they deal with stress (insert b-roll). He answers talks about why he continues to do what he does (insert b-roll). John tells about his particular case where he got injured, but will continue to fence in the upcoming tournament anyway (insert b-roll).

Now we catch a plane all the way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where a national tournament is going to be held. We are introduced to the rather huge venue, where all of the fencers are preparing. At this time, we hear about how John mentally and physically prepares, as we see him warm up before his event.

At last, the fencers are ready to fence, and we see them all dressed up before their bouts begin. We hear from John what it's like to be on the strip, what's going through his head, and what it feels like after a bout. Through the mask, we see his expression on the fencing strip. The two opponents are fencing in slow-motion, but as one of the fencers hits, it cuts back to regular motion. We see a couple of more touches in regular motion.

After the fencing, we see John dressing down as we hear what it means to win or lose to him and how it feels. We zoom out from the fencer and pan to see the entire venue, while the coach says, "And that's what fencing really is." Fin.