Face 2 Face (film)
Encyclopedia
Face 2 Face is a documentary-styled film directed by Katherine Brooks
Katherine Brooks
Katherine Brooks is an American film writer and director. Brooks dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and ran away from her hometown to Hollywood, with dreams to pursue a career in television and film-making....

 (Loving Annabelle
Loving Annabelle
Loving Annabelle is a 2006 film directed by Katherine Brooks. Based on Mädchen in Uniform, it tells the story of a boarding school student who falls in love with her teacher. It was filmed at Marymount High School in Los Angeles.-Plot:...

, The Osbournes
The Osbournes
The Osbournes is an American reality television program featuring the domestic life of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and his family. The series premiered on MTV on March 5, 2002, and in its first season, was cited as the most-viewed series ever on MTV...

) who will journey around the US during the summer of 2011 for three months, to meet 50 of her Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 friends she met online. These 50 people were chosen when Brooks posted a status update on her Facebook page that asked who was willing to spend a day with her and she would come to them and film the whole process. At the end of the project, 6 out of the 50 profound stories will be chosen and edited into a 100 minutes feature-film styled documentary that will be submited to Sundance
Sundance
Sundance Resort is a ski resort located northeast of Provo, Utah, spanning over on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Snow skiing began on the site in 1944...

. Additional profits from the project will be donated to the Trevor Project.

Theme

It has evolved to reach the hearts of hundreds and to make people think and realize how much time is being spent on Facebook and Twitter when compared to the time spent with our friends and family. This is the main motive Katherine will be exploring with the people she’ll be spending a day with and by the time this project comes to an end, we all hope to find the answer to the question: “How much has technology helped us or harmed us with strengthening our relationships with the people we love”. Questions such as "Are we really friends? Do you really know me? Can I trust you? Are machines taking over? Are we losing our ability to connect with each other? Do other people feel alone in the world like me?" was being by Brooks as she noticed the amount of time people spent on their phones and computers, even when they are with someone else at a cafe.

Beginning

In an interview given to Daily Brink during the Newport Beach Film Festival, Brooks explains how the idea for the project was born. Brooks said:

After receiving responses from more than 150 friends, the first 50 people were randomly chosen and then video journals about who is part of the project and which cities she was to travel were posted on Facebook and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

. The next step was to raise enough money to make the project more adventurous, exciting, and successful.

Kickstarter

The Kickstarter campaign lasted for over a month. From the generous donations and contributions by Brooks's friends, family, and sponsors, a total of more than $80,000 was funded successfully. The moment the campaigning began, the porject raised more than $10,000 in just a week. During the campaigning, various kinds of rewards were announced and these rewards were chosen by the contributors according to the amount given. Rewards included a shout-out video, signed NOH8 photo-shoot pictures, spending a day with Brooks or a co-producer credit in the film. Also, text and video journals were posted to keep all the members updated on the progression and changes in the project.

Within three weeks of the campaigning, the project was successfully funded to its target goal of $50,000. But the contributions kept going on until the last hour of the period given. During this time, different forms of planning on how the film will be shot were declared. Some included hosting a first-ever 24 hours live documentary show, traveling around the country in an RV with the Face 2 Face designs on it, beanie hats with tiny cameras fitted inside, and so on. These proposals were posted as video journals by Katherine Brooks. But these were abandoned due to the staggering expense.

Filming

The filming of the project began on the first week of June. The first of the 50 friends Brooks met was in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...

. After two weeks of driving around the east coast, Brooks has traveled to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, and Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. She will also be traveling around Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The completion of the shooting for Face 2 Face will be marked when she heads back to her home in New Orleans.

After being on the road for two weeks and meeting 12 of her 50 Facebook friends, Brooks has been sharing her experiences about the journey by posting pictures of what she did in a day and at the end of two or three days, make a 5 minutes video highlighting the most significant events that took place. Brooks makes sure that everyone who is part of the project is not left out and also ensures that they will be known about the latest happenings in whatever city she is in through the use of Facebook.

This way, all of the followers of this film are being given the opportunity to be a part of something that started as a one person's wish to feel connected and also get a hug to a project that has brought countless of people into a one big family of hope, love and support.

Impact

The amount of word about the movie has been a huge viral hit throughout Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

. People are writing and sharing stories about how they found love and support through people they have met from the project. These mutual Friends have formed a group called the "Kat Pack". Brooks talked about the "Kat Pack" in interviews given to various radio shows such as LA Talk Radio with Sheena Metal, HayHouse Radio, and Talk Radio Europe.

Also, a Face 2 Face forum has been developed by the team where followers are able to share personal stories, secrets, jokes and are also able to give advices, support, and love to the people who need it. Through this blog, many people are coming out with adventures that they would have never shared intimately with anyone in their life. This project has shown how deeply connected everyone can be, even though the medium to show is used through technology.

Press

Ever since the idea for Face 2 Face was born, press releases and publicity for the project has been tremendous, even during the pre-production stage. Brooks has given various interviews to newspapers and journals, such as USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

, Examiner
Examiner
The Examiner was a weekly paper founded by Leigh and John Hunt in 1808. For the first fifty years it was a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles, but from 1865 it repeatedly changed hands and political allegiance, resulting in a rapid decline in readership and loss of...

, The Saratogian
The Saratogian
The Saratogian is a broadsheet-style daily newspaper published in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. The paper has been published regularly since 1855. It covers all of Saratoga County, New York and specifically the city of Saratoga Springs....

, and Daily Brink. Apart from these online blogs, articles about the movie appeared in The Salem News
The Salem News
The Salem News is a six-day afternoon daily newspaper serving southern Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. Although the paper is historically connected with the city of Salem, its offices are in nearby Beverly, Massachusetts...

, Shewired, and so on. Brooks has also appeared on radio talk shows, where she exclusively talked about the journey of Face 2 Face and the importance of it to her life and the "Kat Pack". Shows include LA Talk Radio, CBS Sky Radio with Zoe Moon, Wakin' Up with the Wolf, and Talk Radio Europe.

In an interview given to the Saratogian, a local newspaper in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...

, Brooks described her feelings and experiences after a week of traveling around the east coast. This interview was given during her visit to one of the Facebook Friends. In the article she says there are different types of friendships one makes in their lifetime. There are friends whom you will spend time to just have a coffee, some you keep in touch through the various social networking sites, and others you add in your speed dial. Through this journey, Brooks recounts, she had added every friend she has met in her speed dial.

In an another interview, Brooks explains her feelings for today's vast technological changes and her feelings on how it impacts our lives. She states:


In every interview given by Brooks, she clearly states that the purpose of the movie is to show people how important it really is to take some time off from the virtual world and instead, spending time with the people that matter to us the most in life. Friendships and relationships created online can not be fully trusted as you can be vulnerable to various faults and can cause harm to oneself and to others too. Also, the human body is like a machine that desires to be touched once in a while to experience the feeling of being loved.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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