At the end of last week I began interviewing the students and filming the daily activities at Semillero for their web video. From piñatas to songs to drawing to sports I think the film footage will give a comprehensive glimpse at the creative activities that Semillero facilitates. The kids, though all of the sudden a bit camera shy due to the unfamiliar questions that required some reflective thinking, did well answering the different questions I prepared like, "What do you do at Semillero?", "What is your favorite part about Semillero?", "Why is Semillero important?" After a few interviews with the younger students I realized that I should probably stick to interviews with the most sociable students there, since the little ones gave very short answers due to their camera fright. So I've compiled a list of the most outgoing and talkative students, who are also on the older end of the age spectrum (8-13) who's interviews I think will be richest to work with to encapsulate Semillero in a ~3 minute introductory video.
The bigger interviews will be with Marta and Jorge, whenever they can be pulled away from their duties. Jorge is usually busy running around from student to student getting supplies and helping with homework, while Marta is often in and out of Semillero working on administrative duties like the logistics of their relocation and the other projects she is managing simultaneously. So I will feel very accomplished once I have gotten some time with them because, although we intended to have completed those interviews last week, unforeseen distractions squandered our already limited moments of planned free time. One example? Jorge having to console Luis after one of the kids said a provocative joke about his mom. So, yes, it seems "Your Mom" jokes have suffused all cultures of the globe, including Santa Ana, Guatemala, thus making it a little more difficult to complete my interviews.
But I anticipate by the end of this week I will have (fingers crossed) completed most my interviews and have a clearer idea of what extra footage I will need. And then I will be able to sit down and edit it all together on my own free time, thus allowing me to resume my English classes after this short hiatus for the video.
So, here is a brief interview I had with Laisa who was very eager to share her thoughts. Seeing as that Semillero is already very small you will see that we had trouble finding a secluded, quiet area to conduct the interviews, so what did we do? We did the interviews in any space empty at the moment-- the kitchen, the hallway, the classroom. So, the sound is flawed, more so in other clips than this one. But, as I learned, nothing gets done unless we just work with what we got! So check em out. And sorry if you don't speak Spanish-- there will be subtitles in the final cut!
