Democracy: A Black American Horror Story
when
June 2017 - Jan 2018
who
Boyce Watkins Films
what
Film Editing • Motion Graphics
about
The film "Democracy: A Black American Horror Story" analyzes every area from politics to economics, to produce a groundbreaking dissection of black America, American politics and the future of the African American community. The root problem for every documentary film is how to get its main message to reach the audience more easily. That is why coming up with а unique design concept for the film was an important part of this project. Having a visual theme that well connects to the content of the film, makes the viewers better engaged and more open towards understanding its message.
The entire film envolves around the idea that American democracy nowadays is nothing like what it was meant to be. So a great way to visualize this concept is by going back to the roots and using the original US Constitution as a central piece of the design. Additional elements like the wooden table and the feather help to better illustrate the 18th century period, making the scene look more authentic.
The Constitution is a symbol of freedom, justice and liberty which are the essense of Democracy. This is why having blood stains on the paper, not only portrays the idea of horror (as the film title suggests) but also represents the ruining of Democracy. The main logotype has the colors of the American flag which well matches the theme of the film. The serif typeface has a ripped texture that further indicates the idea of Democracy being torn and damaged.
Editing the trailer was the final part of this project. The wide variety of topics being discussed throughout the film made the process rather difficult, considering the short time duration of the trailer. Separating these different topics into three categories - past, present and future, was a good solution to the problem. This conditional dividing of the trailer made the edit flow smoothly and was an effective way to present the most essential parts of the film.
From the editing process to creating all motion graphics, working on a full-length documentary film requires a lot of time, energy and commitment. Such huge projects involve a lot of cooperation and creative skills. The film "Democracy: A Black American Horror Story" is available for streaming on Vimeo On Demand.