The Problem
This project started with a simple question: why is it that people who played in high school bands don’t continue this hobby into adulthood? While around 21% of students participate in bands, only a miniscule 8% of that number make the transition to community bands outside of school.
As a member of a community band myself, I wanted to know the answers to these questions.
Research
Through conducting interviews with current and former band members and looking through existing research on the subject, I found three main reasons why interested parties did not continue playing music (excluding those who simply weren’t interested):
1. They were unaware that community bands existed
2. They had false assumptions about community bands
3. They had no time to participate
These reflected my own experiences post-High School, before I was convinced to give community bands a shot. So—what design product could address these concerns, encouraging former musicians to pick up an instrument again?
The Documentary
The way forward was clear: it would be most effective to show the target audience what community bands were and what they were like. That was a story best told by band members themselves, woven together into a larger narrative that had two purposes: fill the information gap, and motivate action and reflective thoughts.
The Community Band Project was a film; it had to be. I went through the time-based communication stream of YSDN, but I had never made anything so long-format before. This was going to be interesting.
Shooting
After I decided on a decent audio/video setup that was portable enough for one five-foot tall woman to carry on a train around the GTA, I was able to set up interviews with four community bands and one choir. While I had initially hoped to speak to six or seven, five turned out to be enough to fill up the film and my schedule.
Shooting for this project was a bit of a stressful learning experience: but it was also amazing. Almost every single person I put in front of the camera had a ton of interesting things to say, and I could see a larger story beginning to emerge.
I also visited each of the bands during one of their practices to collect B-roll footage, and in the end, collected about 130 gigabytes worth of it.
Creating The Film
At first, beginning to edit the footage seemed like an insurmountable task. Where to even start?
The original cut of the film looked quite different from the final, as it was a way to work out the messaging of the film and see how the interview segments would tie together into a larger story. The film began with brief “profiles” of each band, followed by a more general discussion on experiences of community music.
Designing the Film
The visual style of the film did not need to be flashy or distracting: my goal was to compliment the stories told on-screen and to visually tie everything together. While I struggled with many different approaches, I settled on a nostalgic, homegrown, small-venue aesthetic to provide the look and feel.
Working off of my mood board, I created a style frame for the film. Titles, supers, and branding would be based on this style frame.
The Response
The film is live and available to watch through Facebook and Vimeo, and as sharing increases I have received quite a few messages from people who recalled their high school band experiences because of it—even searching through closets to look for old instruments. I learned so much putting this project together, and next time, I know I can make something even better.
