In regards to your pictures, I'd like to know what specifically is going to make these things interesting and how exactly you are going to get them. For example, you talk about getting situations that are irritating for waiters towards the customers, but I'd like to know how you plan to execute this and such. Just some explanation as to how and why I guess.
35 questions - lots of grammatical errors in this.
The second question is redundant or, at least it's worded in such a way that leaves me uninterested.
Question number four is the same as number one, just with different words.
all of your "yours" are spelled "you're"
All and all, these questions should provoke some interesting stories, but you should go through and make sure you aren't just repeating some as fillers. Make sure they're all original, and fix them grammatically. If you come into an interview with these questions and stumble over them because you are missing words or have typos it could throw off your subject.
Vimeo video
Why didn't you record the image as well?
I think it would have been beneficial to see the person and their reactions as your final product is going to have talking heads incorporated.
The problem with this first girl, is your goal in this documentary is to show the waitress as the good guy, but her voice and tone kind of pull me out. Her tone makes me not like her.
Example, the second girl's voice is much more genuine and I actually care about what she's saying.
I think you've got some good stuff here, but in order to really show us and convey your points, first off, you need to record the video too. I also think this could benefit from playing around with the editing. Taking these two talking heads and cutting between them as well as some still photographs. This would help in the boredom factor. Like all people do, they tend to drift off into tangents, and parts of their stories are boring and make me want to stop listening.
I'm wondering if you'll be focusing at all on good customers? As much as I hate working with the public (lol) I assume there are actually some nice people out there. I know you have one question about 'someone that surprised you". But it's only one question. But if that's not your focus I understand, it would just be kind of nice for this to not become a documentary about how horrible people can be. I totally know how it is to work in customer service and how easy it is to become cynical but I'd hate for this whole film to be so horribly negative.
As far as the questions, I have to agree with Chris that some are a little repetitive. Like the first two. And I'm a little worried that you're trying to cover too much ground. You have bad customers, co-worker relationships, boss relationships, life as a server, life outside of being a server, working for a corporate owned business (?), etc. Since this is supposed to be a short film I think it would be better to narrow it a bit more. I do like the question about stereotypes. I have a feeling your interviewees will be a little uncomfortable answering it but it's a very legitimate question.
I liked Molly's interview. At first I didn't think it was so bad, but then that lady turned out to be satan, so it got better. Obviously in the film that interview would need a little editing since her storytelling is a bit long winded, but stories like that will really help your film!
Good job on getting your ideas together. It's coming together nicely so far!
I agree with Sandra in that some editing would help Molly with her interview. It sounds a little dragged and was annoying me for some reason, but that can easily be fixed with cutting out the awkward moments and placing more visually appealing elements in. Here are some other questions you might want to ask...
What is more stressful day or nights? Have you ever been let go and why? Has a customer ever complained to the manager about you? Have you ever been stiffed? How many tables can you handle at a time? Does your restaurant have secret shoppers? Have you ever done anything you shouldn't have done to the customers food or drink?
hahahaha oh my gosh lauren, i was laughing so hard at that second interview. there is some really great stuff in there! it almost makes me think that you could pull this off with B roll of the restaurant and these servers telling their stories.. forget the hidden camera stuff!
that is something really horrible, and im surprised that old lady didnt get punched. if that were me, i would have thrown her jacket in the trash. haha. anyway, i like how you put your B roll stills together, it seems very organized and it seems like you have a solid thought of what you want.
I really like the way you set up your questions and getting the interviewees to tell a story; that might be something i would like to borrow for some of my questions. As of right now, have you decided if you are going to film real customers? do re-enactments? or none of the above. Just curious as to what you have planned next.
The questions as a whole are good. You have good coverage of the server world. I was confused with some of the wording on a few however. Question 2- I don't understand this one, did you mean "Did you just decide to be a waiter one day?" because that question would be negated based on question 1. Question 4 is the same at 1. Question 12- wording is confusing.Also similar to question 13. Question 21 and 24 are similar. Maybe you can combine them by asking to "describe restaurant/table etiquette for customers"
You might want more of a balance between your positive and negative questions. You seem to have a lot of question that ask them to explain the bad customer, what about the good customer?
The pictures are cool. You have those first few pictures about them getting ready and driving to work, but none of your questions ask about that time of the day. Are you going to have music playing during these visuals then?
Did you not have video of the two interviews? Sound was good though. I thought something was wrong with my Vimeo account.
You should want to show the attraction to the server position (why people become servers) and the consequences involved, but make sure you cover both.
This is awesome! Your second interview with Molly was hilarious. It's a sad story, but it's funny. I think it was Woody Allen who said comedy is tragedy plus time and that story is comedy.
I really like how it starts out. Showing the servers get ready and how they start their day. Reminds me of Pretty Woman. It'll give some background info of them, which is good so we connect with your interviewees.
I like showing different shots of waiters getting orders from guests. Did they do that at the beginning of waiting? I haven't seen that film in so long. But it also shows the waiter's personality.
I love the intercutting of the hectic kitchen and dinning area scenes. That was done at the beginning of My Best Friend's Wedding. It's a very good scene.
The blurred vision is an interesting idea. Also, showing the annoying things people do is great. I feel like this doc is an opportunity to show customers what the other side is like. What it's like to be serving them. What their actions reflect upon them. Does that make sense?
Are you planning on asking the customers how they decided how much to pay? It would be funny if you asked a couple that and the man says "My wife told me how much to tip." This is me just typing and thinking now lol.
I like your questions. I like Lucas added some good ones as well. The one I wanted to add went with #23. A follow up question could be "Have there been times when you didn't want a table because of a certain stereotype you had, but actually that particular table changed your mind?"
I agreed with Sandra that you might be covering too much ground, but I think once your have you angle figured out then you'll be able to really zone in what which questions are usable and which aren't.
All in all, this is really great work! Keep it up!
Overall this looks good and you seem to have your direction in terms of where you want to take the doc set. After going through your deliverable, though, I'm wondering if it will ultimately hold an audience's interests enough - you should get some decent stories out of the questions you have, but the question is will there be enough and will they all be unique enough to stand apart from one another? Depending on your interviewee, you may have to get more specific with your questions to really get not only a good response but to get the audience on their side if that is your goal. With that, be sure you really take a hard look at your questions - as a lot of people here have already pointed out several of them are redundant and that of course won't help when it comes to filming.
The interviews, why no video? I'm pretty much with Chris on this one. The first interviewee more or less came of as an upset server with an attitude and quite frankly that isn't going to help your case. I've had to deal with people just as ridiculous at my own job but I had no sympathy for her at all - if you can't get people who work in a similar field on your subject's side, who will you then? Second interview is much better, she explains her story with minimal attitude despite how shitty of a situation it was.
Now, if a lot of interviewees seem to be that upset about their stories as the first one was, maybe you should let it be that way - then find some customers who can talk about being upset with their servers, intercut those and just let it be a doc about the constant "battle" between server and customer. That however is a significant change from what I think you're planning to do with your doc, so take that idea with a grain of salt of course.
i love this idea but i agree with the general consensus that you may want to focus on some positive stories as well, and since it is a short doc i think you should also narrow down the topics you are covering. maybe stick to just customer/server relations. I have a feeling that if you simply have interviews inter-cut with stock footage that it may get boring to watch. I think i will be completely enthralled with what they are saying but the visuals will not keep my attention. Definitely keep the "rules about what a customer shouldn't do" i would put it towards the end as a good summery point. trust me it needs to be done, if anything as a public service. I work at a shitty mexican food restaurant called chevy's and i would love to see such a list. Let me know if you need any stories or experiences...iv got tons! good job
I like the idea of showing the restaurants before they open. These people do all work at different restaurants, right? And, you may have already done this, but just a suggestion, the different restaurants that the people work at should be of different qualities if possible - a fancy restaurant, a chain restaurant, a diner, and I don't know if you'd be interested in this, but possibly a fast food restaurant or a counter pick up place.
I don't think that putting in 'tips customers should know' will go over well with your audience - people might be offended that the documentary is assuming they're bad customers and is lecturing them.
Question 2 - I don't think anyone grows up wanting to be a waiter, so with this question it's like you're fishing for a certain answer you know the interviewee will give, and if they all have the same answer it's not really interesting for the audience is it?
Question 8 - Word it so it's more of a comparison betwee.n other industries and the service industry.
Question 9 - Maybe not 'difficulties of going to school,' but difficulties of balancing other commitments and what those commitments are.
Questions 17 and 25 are too similar. Same with 20 and 28.
The end of the second interview is good, but remember when you're interviewing people to explain to them that they need to cut out the 'um's and 'but's and all that jazz because you need to get to the point with voice over in a doc or the audience will lose focus.
In regards to your pictures, I'd like to know what specifically is going to make these things interesting and how exactly you are going to get them. For example, you talk about getting situations that are irritating for waiters towards the customers, but I'd like to know how you plan to execute this and such. Just some explanation as to how and why I guess.
ReplyDelete35 questions - lots of grammatical errors in this.
The second question is redundant or, at least it's worded in such a way that leaves me uninterested.
Question number four is the same as number one, just with different words.
all of your "yours" are spelled "you're"
All and all, these questions should provoke some interesting stories, but you should go through and make sure you aren't just repeating some as fillers. Make sure they're all original, and fix them grammatically. If you come into an interview with these questions and stumble over them because you are missing words or have typos it could throw off your subject.
Vimeo video
Why didn't you record the image as well?
I think it would have been beneficial to see the person and their reactions as your final product is going to have talking heads incorporated.
The problem with this first girl, is your goal in this documentary is to show the waitress as the good guy, but her voice and tone kind of pull me out. Her tone makes me not like her.
Example, the second girl's voice is much more genuine and I actually care about what she's saying.
I think you've got some good stuff here, but in order to really show us and convey your points, first off, you need to record the video too. I also think this could benefit from playing around with the editing. Taking these two talking heads and cutting between them as well as some still photographs. This would help in the boredom factor. Like all people do, they tend to drift off into tangents, and parts of their stories are boring and make me want to stop listening.
I'm wondering if you'll be focusing at all on good customers? As much as I hate working with the public (lol) I assume there are actually some nice people out there. I know you have one question about 'someone that surprised you". But it's only one question. But if that's not your focus I understand, it would just be kind of nice for this to not become a documentary about how horrible people can be. I totally know how it is to work in customer service and how easy it is to become cynical but I'd hate for this whole film to be so horribly negative.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the questions, I have to agree with Chris that some are a little repetitive. Like the first two. And I'm a little worried that you're trying to cover too much ground. You have bad customers, co-worker relationships, boss relationships, life as a server, life outside of being a server, working for a corporate owned business (?), etc. Since this is supposed to be a short film I think it would be better to narrow it a bit more. I do like the question about stereotypes. I have a feeling your interviewees will be a little uncomfortable answering it but it's a very legitimate question.
I liked Molly's interview. At first I didn't think it was so bad, but then that lady turned out to be satan, so it got better. Obviously in the film that interview would need a little editing since her storytelling is a bit long winded, but stories like that will really help your film!
Good job on getting your ideas together. It's coming together nicely so far!
I agree with Sandra in that some editing would help Molly with her interview. It sounds a little dragged and was annoying me for some reason, but that can easily be fixed with cutting out the awkward moments and placing more visually appealing elements in.
ReplyDeleteHere are some other questions you might want to ask...
What is more stressful day or nights?
Have you ever been let go and why?
Has a customer ever complained to the manager about you?
Have you ever been stiffed?
How many tables can you handle at a time?
Does your restaurant have secret shoppers?
Have you ever done anything you shouldn't have done to the customers food or drink?
hahahaha oh my gosh lauren, i was laughing so hard at that second interview. there is some really great stuff in there! it almost makes me think that you could pull this off with B roll of the restaurant and these servers telling their stories.. forget the hidden camera stuff!
ReplyDeletethat is something really horrible, and im surprised that old lady didnt get punched. if that were me, i would have thrown her jacket in the trash. haha. anyway, i like how you put your B roll stills together, it seems very organized and it seems like you have a solid thought of what you want.
I really like the way you set up your questions and getting the interviewees to tell a story; that might be something i would like to borrow for some of my questions. As of right now, have you decided if you are going to film real customers? do re-enactments? or none of the above. Just curious as to what you have planned next.
The questions as a whole are good. You have good coverage of the server world. I was confused with some of the wording on a few however.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2- I don't understand this one, did you mean "Did you just decide to be a waiter one day?" because that question would be negated based on question 1.
Question 4 is the same at 1.
Question 12- wording is confusing.Also similar to question 13.
Question 21 and 24 are similar. Maybe you can combine them by asking to "describe restaurant/table etiquette for customers"
You might want more of a balance between your positive and negative questions. You seem to have a lot of question that ask them to explain the bad customer, what about the good customer?
The pictures are cool. You have those first few pictures about them getting ready and driving to work, but none of your questions ask about that time of the day. Are you going to have music playing during these visuals then?
Did you not have video of the two interviews? Sound was good though. I thought something was wrong with my Vimeo account.
You should want to show the attraction to the server position (why people become servers) and the consequences involved, but make sure you cover both.
This is awesome! Your second interview with Molly was hilarious. It's a sad story, but it's funny. I think it was Woody Allen who said comedy is tragedy plus time and that story is comedy.
ReplyDeleteI really like how it starts out. Showing the servers get ready and how they start their day. Reminds me of Pretty Woman. It'll give some background info of them, which is good so we connect with your interviewees.
I like showing different shots of waiters getting orders from guests. Did they do that at the beginning of waiting? I haven't seen that film in so long. But it also shows the waiter's personality.
I love the intercutting of the hectic kitchen and dinning area scenes. That was done at the beginning of My Best Friend's Wedding. It's a very good scene.
The blurred vision is an interesting idea. Also, showing the annoying things people do is great. I feel like this doc is an opportunity to show customers what the other side is like. What it's like to be serving them. What their actions reflect upon them. Does that make sense?
Are you planning on asking the customers how they decided how much to pay? It would be funny if you asked a couple that and the man says "My wife told me how much to tip." This is me just typing and thinking now lol.
I like your questions. I like Lucas added some good ones as well. The one I wanted to add went with #23. A follow up question could be "Have there been times when you didn't want a table because of a certain stereotype you had, but actually that particular table changed your mind?"
I agreed with Sandra that you might be covering too much ground, but I think once your have you angle figured out then you'll be able to really zone in what which questions are usable and which aren't.
All in all, this is really great work! Keep it up!
Overall this looks good and you seem to have your direction in terms of where you want to take the doc set. After going through your deliverable, though, I'm wondering if it will ultimately hold an audience's interests enough - you should get some decent stories out of the questions you have, but the question is will there be enough and will they all be unique enough to stand apart from one another? Depending on your interviewee, you may have to get more specific with your questions to really get not only a good response but to get the audience on their side if that is your goal. With that, be sure you really take a hard look at your questions - as a lot of people here have already pointed out several of them are redundant and that of course won't help when it comes to filming.
ReplyDeleteThe interviews, why no video? I'm pretty much with Chris on this one. The first interviewee more or less came of as an upset server with an attitude and quite frankly that isn't going to help your case. I've had to deal with people just as ridiculous at my own job but I had no sympathy for her at all - if you can't get people who work in a similar field on your subject's side, who will you then? Second interview is much better, she explains her story with minimal attitude despite how shitty of a situation it was.
Now, if a lot of interviewees seem to be that upset about their stories as the first one was, maybe you should let it be that way - then find some customers who can talk about being upset with their servers, intercut those and just let it be a doc about the constant "battle" between server and customer. That however is a significant change from what I think you're planning to do with your doc, so take that idea with a grain of salt of course.
i love this idea but i agree with the general consensus that you may want to focus on some positive stories as well, and since it is a short doc i think you should also narrow down the topics you are covering. maybe stick to just customer/server relations. I have a feeling that if you simply have interviews inter-cut with stock footage that it may get boring to watch. I think i will be completely enthralled with what they are saying but the visuals will not keep my attention. Definitely keep the "rules about what a customer shouldn't do" i would put it towards the end as a good summery point. trust me it needs to be done, if anything as a public service. I work at a shitty mexican food restaurant called chevy's and i would love to see such a list. Let me know if you need any stories or experiences...iv got tons! good job
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of showing the restaurants before they open. These people do all work at different restaurants, right? And, you may have already done this, but just a suggestion, the different restaurants that the people work at should be of different qualities if possible - a fancy restaurant, a chain restaurant, a diner, and I don't know if you'd be interested in this, but possibly a fast food restaurant or a counter pick up place.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that putting in 'tips customers should know' will go over well with your audience - people might be offended that the documentary is assuming they're bad customers and is lecturing them.
Question 2 - I don't think anyone grows up wanting to be a waiter, so with this question it's like you're fishing for a certain answer you know the interviewee will give, and if they all have the same answer it's not really interesting for the audience is it?
Question 8 - Word it so it's more of a comparison betwee.n other industries and the service industry.
Question 9 - Maybe not 'difficulties of going to school,' but difficulties of balancing other commitments and what those commitments are.
Questions 17 and 25 are too similar. Same with 20 and 28.
The end of the second interview is good, but remember when you're interviewing people to explain to them that they need to cut out the 'um's and 'but's and all that jazz because you need to get to the point with voice over in a doc or the audience will lose focus.
thanks for all the feed back. helps a lot. i have a way to go and am excited about it. Thank you :)
ReplyDelete