Suggestions

• Shoot our own B-roll of nature
• Add music (help flow of film)
• Add breathing space between dialogue (B-roll in between)
• Text animation: find font that fits Shane’s character
• Don’t overlap text in Shane’s animation
• Use same font on Lower Thirds
• Dharma: what is it? Video or Text explaining Dharma.

Other Notes

• Subtitles?
• Audio adjustment, some words loud for Enrique
• Addiction Intro: Music? Better Quality Clips
• Experiment with Photos, Animate Stills, Ken Burns Pan and Scan

Suggestions

• Move clip with Shane talking about his class and what mindfulness meditation (move closer to beginning)
• Take out narration of expand upon it
• Explain what mindfulness is in a clear way
• Include more footage of Noah Levine teaching group about mindfulness or supporting facts from research
• More B-roll and shorten Interview (trim them up more)
• Work on story structure

Other Notes

• Text asking questions?
• Subtitles?
• Animation of person meditating with thought bubbles (visual explanation for mindfulness)

Intro:

In the first minute of the documentary we will be showing you archival footage that represents addiction:  people using drugs, drinking alcohol, people fighting, family members arguing, and the consequences of being under the influence. During this introduction the audience will be hearing people laughing, talking, clinking glasses, puffing smoke, etc., followed by chaotic sounds, such as shouting, car crashes, sirens, crying, etc. A group member will then be narrating some information about addiction and mindfulness meditation. After that, the title sequence will appear showing the title of our film.

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Conclusion:

An interviewee will summarize mindfulness meditation, last thoughts. Some ideas of photos are: emotionally happy people, hugging each other, sitting at meditation groups, laughing, titles of articles that promote mindfulness, motion graphics of a changing background with people in the foreground, and an emphasis of words that represent mindfulness. We will be adding peaceful music over the footage to give the viewers a sense what meditation is about. We will end the film by summarizing the film followed by an ending title sequence.

The core concept is to promote mindfulness meditation and its effectiveness in helping addicts in recovery maintain sobriety.

In our film we will interview those who have practiced mindfulness meditation and ask them how it has benefited them in recovery. We will also ask them about the difference between AA’s 12 steps and mindfulness meditation, how meditation enhances AA’s 12 step program, and do they think the practice of mindfulness can work by itself in the process of recovery? This includes the teachers of mindfulness.

We will also cover the process of mindfulness meditation and how people usually experience it, the connection between their mind and their bodies. Also we’ll explain how once it’s learned, it can be useful in situations where there are cravings, or intense emotions, which then can be handled better.

Briefly, we will also mention some local resources for those interested in mindfulness meditation groups, there are groups focused on AA’s 12 steps and mindfulness, recovery and meditation without AA, and also meditation groups that are primarily focused on mindfulness, not recovery, but do help people deal with negative thoughts, emotions, and cravings.