Week 6 Update

We were originally planning a trip to Wallace, NC for this past Friday, but Emma's aunt was feeling under the weather, so we are rescheduling that trip for Saturday, March 5th, depending on my work schedule. Yesterday, my group and I took a trip to Wrightsville Beach and gathered some shots of the ocean and surrounding area to potentially use as b-roll when individuals discuss why they choose to live in Wilmington specifically. We have the Carolina/Kure Beach couple set up to interview this coming Friday, February 26th and will be getting both footage of them doing things around the house and shots of the house and its proximity to the beach. I sent emails to the gerontology professors to confirm the dates for their interviews. I'm still waiting to hear back, but hopefully things will remain as planned with Dr. Anne Glass on Monday, March 29th and Dr. Andrew Zeldin on Friday, February 4th. Erin Rhyne, the Life Enrichment Director at Carolina Bay is available to interview on Friday, March 11th. We will most likely be speaking with 1 or 2 residents that day, as well. We will also be sitting in on an activity/class/event at Carolina Bay in the coming weeks, to capture how the residents interact with one another on a social level, and also to have as overlaid footage when they talk about what they enjoy about living at the retirement community. I am still waiting on approval from the regional director at Lake Shore Commons. I'm planning on hearing word on that sometime this week.

Week 5 Update

This past week, I have been in contact with both Lake Shore Commons and Carolina Bay at Autumn Hall in order to set up possible interviews. Lake Shore is interested in being part of the project, but because they are owned by a corporation, they need to wait on approval for filming from the higher up people. The Life Enrichment Director at Carolina Bay has been proactive in discussing the film interest with Joseph L. Soto, the Executive Director, and the marketing team. The man who is in charge of all video and press for Carolina Bay was working in Charlotte this past week, so there is a slight delay on permission to film interviews and what not. Our group is planning a trip to Wallace, NC this Friday to visit Emma's aunt, Kathy Lord, who is a widower currently living in River Landing. River Landing is a community of many retired personnel but also families as well. It is a relaxing place without the amenities of a true retirement community or a home. We hope to knock out her interview and get a lot of b-roll of the area in and around where she resides. I contacted Cathy Hobson, the retiree living with her husband in Carolina Beach and she is willing to help in any way she can, so hopefully either this week or next, we can get the couple's interviews in. Aside from upcoming filming, Anthony, James, and I went to Carolina Bay this past weekend and gathered some initial exterior b-roll and edited the footage along with footage that Anthony shot on his Sony HDR-FX1 of Doug Zieschang, a retired musician, who currently runs a bed & breakfast. 

Week 4 Update

This past week, I have been reaching out to the two gerontology professors and have set up confirmed dates to film their interviews. On Friday, Anthony and I went to a few prospective retirement communities to see if there was any interest for the film project. We spoke to people at Lake Shore Commons, including Erica Sadler, the enrichment coordinator, and Al Isselin, the ambassador who headlines the extracurricular events and trips the residents attend. We also went to the recently opened Carolina Bay at Autumn Hall and the people were more than happy to be a part of the film. I have begun contacting Erica and Erin Rhyne, the Carolina Bay enrichment coordinator, in order to set up dates to film interviews. Both coordinators have residents in mind that would be willing to answer questions on camera. The communities also have detailed schedules of events for the month, including cultural events, group classes, trips, etc, giving us opportunities to get a lot go B-roll footage. I have also been working on my portion of the Week 3 Assignment and have assisted Emma in putting together our detailed schedule from pre- to post-production. This coming Friday, we plan to work with James' Canon to gather some initial B-roll footage, taking note of the clarity/quality of the image. We plan to experiment with a few different types of cameras in order to find what will work best for the expert interviews. Our first two interviews are scheduled for February 29th with Dr. Anne Glass and March 4th with Dr. Andrew Zeldin.

Week 3 Update

This past week, I have began contacting experts for potential interviews to supplement the film. I personally contacted two gerontology professors from UNC Wilmington, Dr. Andrew Zeldin, who specializes in geriatric care management. Andrew is dedicated to older adults and their families and believes that educating young adults on aging issues will benefit the local community and society as a whole. Dr. Anne Glass is a leading researcher in the new field of senior co-housing and other elder self-directed intentional communities. She is especially interested in the potential for older adults to provide mutual support to each other. She is also interested in exploring the ways that communities can facilitate this process and be more age-friendly. I believe both professors have interesting and experienced backgrounds as it relates to the study of older people and I feel that they will provide helpful and important information for my film. They have also both gotten back to me quickly and are very much happy to take part in this project. I also reached out to a psychology professor on-campus, Dr. Alissa Dark-Freudeman to see if she would be able to provide input into the psychological/behavioral aspect of why older adults make the choices/decisions that they do when it comes to finding a place to live in the retirement stage of life. Later this week, I plan to contact the individual communities to see if there is possible interest in filming there, both from staff members and residents themselves. I also plan to contact the couple in Carolina Beach that have chosen to live out their retirement right on the water as home-owners.