STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Through this project work, I aim to understand my grasping ability
when watching a documentary. I aim to watch the documentary and develop my opinions about it in a report format. I also hope to learn and reflect on the new ideas and thoughts presented in the documentary. I believe that by making this report, the shaping of my future career will be improvised. I am planning to present both positive and negative aspects of the documentary I will be watching for my English ASL Project 2021-22. At the end of my project, I hope I will easily find a way to look back and determine if my project was a success. I wish to aim that my objectives are something I can achieve within the time frame and with the resources I have available for this project.
ACTION PLAN
The following are the steps that will be carried out during the making of this project:
1. Identifying the type of project (type-II: Watching a Documentary)
2. Setting objectives for the project
3. Selecting the documentary
4. Watching and grasping the details presented in the documentary by taking down notes
5. Draft a report of about 800 words listing both negative and positive opinions about the documentary
6. Appraise the reflections and learning earned through watching and reporting on the documentary
7. Add photographic evidence to make the experience enjoyable.
8. Credit the references used while making this project (bibliography).
PARTICULARS
I watched the documentary named “Into The Unknown-Making Disney’s Frozen 2” released on Disney+ on June 26, 2020. It is a documentary series about Disney’s animated film Frozen II, which premiered in November 2019. Its six episodes follow the production
crew and voice actors of Frozen II in the film’s final year of development. It was directed by Megan Harding, who was previously involved with a 2014 documentary on the making of the 2013 film Frozen and released on the streaming service Disney+. The documentary was produced by Lincoln Square Productions. Harding aimed to represent the production process honestly and the crew filmed for 115 days. They frequently flew between New York City, where they worked, and Los Angeles, where the main Frozen II offices were, with some filming at individual staff members’ houses. The series received positive critical reception.
Main Cast:
Production crew
●Chris Buck, director
● Jennifer Lee, screenwriter, and director
● Kristen Anderson-Lopez, songwriter
● Robert “Bobby” Lopez, songwriter
● Peter Del Vecho, producer
● Michael Giaimo, production designer
● Malerie Walters, animator
● David Metzger, song arranger & score orchestrator
Voice actors
● Kristen Bell-Anna
● Idina Menzel-Elsa
● Josh Gad-Olaf
● Jonathan Groff-Kristoff
● Sterling K. Brown-Lieutenant Mattias
● Evan Rachel Wood-Queen Iduna
Link to watch the documentary: https://www.hotstar.com/in/tv/into-the-unknown-making-disney-frozen-ii/1260029348/a-year-to-premiere/1260029388
REPORT
“The creative team of Disney’s Frozen 2 opens their doors to cameras for a 6-part documentary series to reveal what it takes to create the #1 animated film of all time…”
I watched this documentary a long time back, sometime in June 2021. I was (and still am) a very ardent fan of the 3D animated movie Frozen
and its sequel, Frozen 2. So, out of natural curiosity, I decided to watch this documentary made by Disney, which reveals how they made the iconic sequel Frozen 2, right from what they’ve been working on since December 2018 till the release day on November 22, 2019.I found the documentary surprisingly honest and informative, especially for someone like me who is very interested in knowing how animation works and how these beautiful, touching films are made. The directors of both films, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck seem to be geniuses of their generation. I was completely blown away by the methods and ideas they came up with immediately to solve the problems they faced while making the film.
I always thought the animation was the toughest process in making an animated film. But, this documentary revealed how time-consuming and
difficult even deciding the story path of the film can be. Animation only starts after the songs and dialogues are recorded, well after the
script is finalised, story settings are experimented upon, and so on. It changed my whole perspective about how movies are made. The documentary was split into 6 episodes, each spanning about 30-40 minutes. Each episode showed different stages of production, the first
one-shot 11 to 9 months before the release date, and it further progressed to the final release date. The filming of the documentary aged with the film’s final year of production, as they were working on the film for the past 3 years. I liked the parts where they shared snippets of actual meetings, the directors, producers, and the rest of the crew did, discussing the various elements of the story, songs, and animation. I also enjoyed
listening to the experiences of various people from the crew, who expressed their views in the documentary.
The only thing that I didn’t like about this documentary was that it was more of talking and was not showing us what they were doing entirely.
There should have been more screen time for the animation and voice-recording process. The conversations did take us through their experiences and feelings, but it could have been more attractive if there were some longer snippets of the animation process or song recordings to marvel at. This documentary takes each of its viewers into the world of Disney’s animation crew. It also explains several concepts of animation in detail, but in a very simple manner that even a normal person who knows nothing about animation can also understand. The documentary also
takes us on the journey of the development of each song in the movie: how the ideas were thrown in, how it was initially conceived into a rather amateur mixture of voice recording and rough, untidy animation, and then the orchestration happens, which enriches the experience and finally the finished, completely animated 3D version, which breathes life into the song.
The best part of this documentary is that you can feel and understand exactly what the speaker or the visuals are trying to depict. The direction and editing are so good that you forget what you’re doing and get engrossed watching the employees at Disney enjoying doing their work through it’s hectic and stressful. The documentary does not hide the flaws the directors, songwriters, or animators make during the testing process of film-making. The directors also learn from their mistakes and listen closely to the opinions of everyone who wishes to contribute ideas. The documentary takes us through every process which happens during the making of the film: right from pitching in story ideas to making minute final sound effects.
Into The Unknown: Making Disney’s Frozen 2 is a good example of how an enjoyable, yet informative documentary should be. It has funny, inspirational, emotional as well as musical moments which should be enjoyed by anyone who loves to truly enjoy a movie that is made with so
much hard work and expectations.
REFLECTION
This documentary taught me that sometimes, it is important to have to dare to step out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. You have
to try out all the possibilities laid out in front of you before giving up and quitting. There are many values imbibed within this documentary. I like to add this line, which indirectly resonates within the documentary, “It’s not as easy as it looks or sounds like. Every beautiful creation has a set of
people shedding their blood, sweat, and tears for it.” Towards the last few months of production, the documentary revealed that almost everyone was working at least 14 hours a day, to finish making the movie on time and budget. This shows that dedication and hard work can create miracles. And it did. Frozen 2 had the highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time for an animated film and earned $1.450 billion worldwide.
I had been yearning to know and see how they make all those animations come out so beautifully in every Disney 3D animated movie,and thankfully I was able to do just that by watching this beautiful documentary. I understood that animation was not just digitally making things move on screen, but it is rather a beautiful blend of so many ideas, concepts, trials, and errors.
I learned so many new things by watching this documentary and I’m glad I did so. Now, whenever I re-watch Frozen 2, I remember those certain moments that they talked about in the documentary and can connect it to what they explained and showed in great detail. This applies not only to Frozen 2, but every Disney movie I will watch in the future.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_II
2. https://www.hotstar.com/in/tv/into-the-unknown-making-disney-
frozen-ii/1260029348/a-year-to-premiere/1260029388
3. https://medium.com/@ExpertsEssays/how-to-write-a-reaction-p
aper-to-a-documentary-642a4a008faa
4. https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Into_the_Unknown:_Making_Fro
zen_II
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Unknown:_Making_Froze
n_II
6. https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Frozen