Introducing...
I've got to say, I'm a little surprised at how fast I've been able to make sense of my footage in the editing suite -- I think I am finally seeing the value in transcribing one's footage, if only to force yourself to reckon with the content that you could potentially use.
I am, however, struggling with how to integrate the pop culture clips I've spent so long compiling. I'm afraid they distract from the overall scope of the piece -- how am I going to connect gender equality with pop culture representations? I mean, in some ways it could be very interesting. In the three sources I am most familiar with (Sister Act, The Sound of Music, & The Flying Nun), they all center around the main premise that a new woman enters their community and is somehow inherently "different" from the traditional order and shakes things up. Everyone resists the newcomer at first, but in the end, everyone learns to be more understanding and grows from the experience. The Sound of Music is also interesting in that she leaves to get married -- a common cause of women leaving the church around the time the film was made.
So, at any rate, I am torturing myself trying to bang out an intro and it's really not coming together as smoothly as the rest of the project. I do think I am, however, going to use footage of Sister Peg introducing me to the Dominican community prior to my filming their event. I generally wouldn't make this decision except for some new thinking I've been doing on reflexity and how perhaps it is better to expose one's relationship with the subject more than just oneself. At any rate, it would be a tiny step in that direction. Mostly, I am interested in the footage because she is introducing the project to them as "basically, a documentary about nuns, is that right, Laura?" and the community laughs. I think there is something so telling in that laughter -- the lightness in which these women take their lives -- that would be nearly impossible to show another way.