Professor Lorna Johnson Frizell, alongside alumni Genevieve Faust, and senior Communication Studies major (RTF specialization) Aaron Wilson Watson presented their process in creating their documentary, “7 Square Miles” on October 12, 2018.
“7 Square Miles” is focuses on the local Trenton community and follows the police and people living there. The documentary discusses crime, the justice system, and work to help improve their home.
When describing her process in creating documentaries, Professor Johnson Frizell emphasizes the focus on the people. The role of a filmmaker is to create stories, she claims, and that films should bring your into the everyday lives of characters, to make the audience care about them and their struggles. The challenge of the filmmaker is building a world the audience wants to be in.
“7 Square Miles” has around 25-30 characters, but the main characters are Alexis, a police officer, and Abdul, an ex-convict. The two are close friends, and the film hints at how they met without explicitly stating how their relationship first formed. Their different backgrounds add an extra layer of interest into the film, drawing the audience in further.
Professor Johnson Frizell describes the filmmaking process — from collecting footage to organizing and then putting it all together. Editing the film fell under the responsibility of Genevieve Faust, an alumni from TCNJ and the Communication Studies department who has worked on several projects, many of which have been featured at the Sundance Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival.
Faust had the responsibility or watching through all the footage with the understanding of the vision that Professor Johnson Frizell had for the film. She spoke on her process — viewing the clips in the eyes of the audience and screening based on the characters and their dynamics. She said specifically she wanted to focus on the love these characters had for Trenton and its people.
Following the screening of the clips, Faust described her day to day. She and Professor Johnson Frizell would talk each week, making sure the film was progressing smoothly. Faust began organizing the footage and putting it together. She said she treated the film like a puzzle, and need to look at each scene, break it down, and see where it would fit in the grand scheme.
By July 2018, the rough cut was completed and the team screened, critiqued, and went back to editing.
Aaron Wilson Watson, senior RTF student here, joined the team and helped collect footage. He talked about his experience being in the field and what that meant to him. He spoke on how meaningful the experience was to enter people’s homes and get a peek into the intimate aspects of their lives, all the good and the bad moments. To him, the experience of working on this documentary taught him how films could evoke such strong empathy and feelings in others.
All in all, “7 Square Miles” is a story about love — a love for the people of Trenton and Trenton itself. All members of the team creating this documentary trace the heart of the film back to the characters, and it is through the characters they hope to shine a light on Trenton and its people.