Yesterday, many of our classmates gathered at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville for a tech check of our documentary. Over the past few weeks, we’ve made tremendous progress. Now, we’ve come together to review our work and finalize details. We met at the theater at 10 a.m. on Wednesday to watch the current cut of Harmony of the Azores. Scattered throughout the theater with notebooks and pens in hand, we took notes from different vantage points to capture a range of perspectives.
Tech checks are a crucial part of the filmmaking process. They allow us to evaluate sound quality, color grading, and whether our chosen shots flow cohesively on the big screen. Watching a film on a large theater screen is a completely different experience from viewing it in Premiere Pro on a computer. Small details that might go unnoticed on a monitor become much more apparent in a theater setting, which is exactly why conducting our tech check at the Jacob Burns Film Center was essential.
Seeing our documentary on the big screen for the first time was a moment of shared excitement and pride. Watching our hard work unfold in a theater setting was emotional and deeply rewarding. After the screening, we captured the moment by taking a group photo together in the theater.
After the screening, we returned to campus to compile our observations into a shared Google Doc. We organized the feedback by sections: Opening, Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3. Doing so ensures clarity and efficiency moving forward. While organization is crucial in all phases of production, it’s especially vital in post-production, particularly with our approaching deadline. Jacob Burns Film Center has asked for the final cut of our documentary by 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 1st. This gives us a turnaround of less than 48 hours.
By 11:45 a.m., we were all back in the editing room to begin the final stages of the editing process. As Professor Lou took the lead on the edits, we watched closely, going through each bullet point on our list to make sure every note was addressed and checked off. We highlighted anything related to color grading and sound in yellow, since those adjustments were made at the end. To stay organized, we created a separate page in our shared Google Doc specifically for the yellow-highlighted suggestions.
Harmony of the Azores is premiering in the US on Monday, May 5th at 7:00 p.m. at the Jacob Burns Film Center, and we’d love for you to join us. We’re thrilled to share the story of the viola da terra with the world and can’t wait for you to experience it on the big screen.
For more information, (including ticket prices/how to purchase) go to: https://burnsfilmcenter.org/booking/harmony-of-the-azores/ Students can use code PACEDOCS25 for a free ticket.