Maria Trailer
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria - a Category 5 hurricane - struck the East coast of the island of Puerto Rico, and within 24 hours, engulfed the entirety of the island. The whole island was in a blackout, and it was not until 4-6 months later that the island started getting power back. It’s been over a year later, and while most of the island has recovered, there are certain areas that are still feeling the effects of Maria. Despite these events, one thing that is for certain is that the people of Puerto Rico are resilient and made the most of the situation. Hurricane Maria brought the island together, and united as one to rebuild Puerto Rico.
For 10 days, I traveled to Puerto Rico to gather footage for this interactive documentary about hurricane Maria. Before I traveled, I researched multiple tour companies to help me travel around the island and sought out people to interview. This topic hits home with me because my stepfather’s family was affected by the hurricane, and they ended up evacuating to Houston (where I am from) one week after Maria hit. My stepfather’s youngest brother and his family ended up moving permanently to Houston for a better life for their kids, but his second oldest brother’s family and his parents moved back to Puerto Rico about four months since it hit. This was my first major project I steered on my own without a real production team, but I had the love and support of my family who assisted me in any way they could.
Some of the b-roll shots were provided by the San Juan, Puerto Rico local TV and radio station, WIPR-TV.
Watch this trailer to get an overview about the project Maria, and what happened when the hurricane hit the island.
ROLES: Director, producer, videographer, video editor, interviewer, researcher, and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: Sony Mirrorless Camera a6000; iPad Pro 10 with the application FiLMiC Pro; H5 ZOOM recorder.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro; Adobe After Effects; Adobe Illustrator for Lower Thirds.
Go on an adventure!
An Interactive Map & Documentary of Puerto Rico and about Hurricane Maria
Travel around the island of Puerto Rico with your tour guide, Sonia, to learn more about how Hurricane Maria affected different people in different parts of the island, to meet the locals, and to learn why you should visit the The Island of Enchantment. Within the island, there are buttons where you can watch mini-documentaries to learn about the different perspectives of the locals who were affected by hurricane Maria and how we can help rebuild the island.
Designing the Map
ROLES: Illustrator, animator, and designer.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Illustrator and CEROS.
Individual videos from the interactive documentary “Maria”
Below are the individual videos from the interactive documentary that were embedded into the interactive map…
Zulay y Su Casita de Madera (Zulay and Her Little Wood House)
Zulay Figuroa has a mountain home in Utuado, Puerto Rico, which is in the mountainous region of the island. Originally from Venezuela, Hurricane Maria was her first hurricane she has experienced. The day after the hurricane, it took her eight hours to travel back up the mountain to see her home. In her mind, because her house was made out of wood, she thought it was going to be completely destroyed. But miraculously, when she got to her plot of land, she was surprised to see her house still standing. Unfortunately, Utuado was not prioritized in delivering supplies, and many houses were destroyed by the winds and the floods. Zulay believes the hurricane opened up people’s eyes to how the government did not help, but rather the people who supported each other during this time.
ROLES: Director, producer interviewer, videographer, video editor, and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: Sony Mirrorless Camera a6000; iPad Pro 10 with application FiLMiC Pro.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere; Adobe Illustrator (to design lower thirds).
The Perez Family: An Overview of Maria
Alberto Perez, Isamar Berrios, and Gustavo Perez evacuated to Houston one week after Hurricane Maria hit the island. During their interview they describe their experience with Maria, from when they first found out, to what they saw during the Hurricane, and the aftermath, stating that the whole island “looked like a war zone.” They moved to Houston to stay with my family for about four months, but had to return to the island because their jobs demanded they come back. Looking back, they wished they could have stayed in Houston to be closer to family.
ROLES: Director, producer interviewer, videographer, video editor, and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: Sony Mirrorless Camera a6000; iPad Pro 10 with application FiLMiC Pro; H5 ZOOM Recorder.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere; Adobe Illustrator (to design lower thirds).
The Perez Family: Moving For a Better Life
The other part of the Perez family - Amahia, Diego, Esteban, Rosa and Eduardo - also evacuated to Houston after Hurricane Maria, but they ended moving to Houston permanently. Ultimately, what lead their decision to move to Houston for good was Rosa used to own a beauty salon in Puerto Rico, but it lost power and she could not operate her business for a long period of time. Also, the schools were not going to open back up again for a while, so Rosa and Eduardo decided to put their kids in school in Houston to help them keep up with their education. While they have adjusted to life in Houston, they are still emotional with what happened and miss everything about Puerto Rico.
ROLES: Director, producer interviewer, videographer, video editor, and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: iPad Pro 10 with application FiLMiC Pro.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere; Adobe Illustrator (to design lower thirds).
Ada Monzon: A Meteorologist and Your Friend (phone interview)
Ada Monzon is one of the lead Meteorologists at WIPR-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She covered the path of Hurricane Maria and before that Hurricane Irma and ultimately saved thousands of lives using social media such as Facebook Lives to warn the public. While she was a professional when it came to covering the hurricane, there were moments she herself got emotional and related to the people who she was talking to. She could not believe she had to say that winds of 200 mph were about to hit the island. To this day, Ada Monzon is the most respected Meteorologist in this hemisphere and the people appreciated the work she did covering the path of Hurricane Maria. Follow Ada Monzon on Twitter at: @adamonzon.
I had the opportunity to interview Ada Monzon over the phone. Her words were powerful and emotional, and you can tell the love she has for the people of the island.
Photos and videos of the hurricane approaching the island and right after the destruction were provided by people I met on the island, WIPR-TV, and paid content from Shutterstock, and Pond5.
ROLES: Director, producer, interviewer, audio recorder and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: H5 ZOOM Recorder.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Audition and Adobe Premiere Pro.
Samuel Lind: La Naturaleza es la Maestra (Nature is the Teacher)
Samuel Lind is an artist in Loiza, Puerto Rico. His Afro-Heritage culture and the island are the inspiration for most of his work. Also, the idea of humans and nature becoming one with each other. During the time of Hurricane Maria, Samuel needed to find a way to express himself during that emotional time. He expressed his emotions through art, and the subject of his paintings were on the hurricane and the destruction of nature. But he has learned from this experience that, “La naturaleza es la maestra,” or “The nature is the teacher.” This experience taught how natural disasters teaches people about themselves, and in this case, he learned that we as humans can dominate nature. We can overcome any natural disasters. Learn more about Samuel and his philosophy on life and nature through his expression of his art.
ROLES: Director, producer, interviewer, videographer, video editor and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: iPad Pro 10 with application FiLMiC Pro.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere Pro; Adobe Audition; Adobe Illustrator (for the lower thirds).
Samuel Gonzales: La Ayuda de Fondos Unidos (The Help of United Way)
Samuel Gonzales is President of Fondos Unidos (United Way), which is one of the many United Way organizations in the Americas. They focus on the health, education and financial stability of people on the island, and their focus is mainly on the youth. Samuel’s home in Dorado, Puerto Rico was damaged, but his concern was for the rest of the island. With the help of other United Way organizations in the states and other big corporations like Wolverine and Home Depot, they received donations such as solar panels, generators, food and water, and shoes. In addition, they were able to help rebuild several city parks around San Juan, Puerto Rico that were destroyed from the hurricane. Samuel’s passion for Fondos Unidos and his people are evident when he talks.
ROLES: Director, producer interviewer, videographer, video editor, and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: Sony Mirrorless Camera a6000; iPad Pro 10 with application FiLMiC Pro; H5 ZOOM Recorder.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere; Adobe Illustrator (to design lower thirds).
Basilio y Blachy: Surviving in El Yunque
Basilio and Blachy have a farm and private property at the foot of El Yunque, the National Rainforest. Over the past year, they have opened up their property for tourists to enter a private part of El Yunque that leads to a waterfall and pool. What they learned from Hurricane Maria was how the community came together and were united to help each other out. The community helped clean their farm, and in return, they cooked food for the community, even though they did not have power.
ROLES: Director, producer interviewer, videographer, video editor, and audio editor.
EQUIPMENT: Sony Mirrorless Camera a6000; iPad Pro 10 with application FiLMiC Pro; H5 ZOOM Recorder.
SOFTWARE: Adobe Premiere; Adobe Illustrator (to design lower thirds).
The Process
Preliminary Sketches for interactive map
Preliminary High Fidelity Screens
