Documentary storytelling
Aya Academy
A senior year documentary film for American Youth Academy's 2026 graduation, built from interviews with the graduating class.
Overview
With almost no prep time, I produced a roughly 5:30 senior-year film for American Youth Academy’s 2026 graduation — the piece that played for parents, teachers, and attendees during the ceremony.
The goal was to show what the graduating class actually learned and lived: their skills, their knowledge, their Islam, and their deen. Rather than a montage, I interviewed the seniors themselves and shaped their answers into a story of how Aya Academy helped the class of 2026 grow into confident, grounded young Muslims ready for the next chapter.
I recorded the interviews on-site with controlled lighting and a treated vocal chain, then pieced the story together from what the graduates said. Because of the event’s urgency, I leaned on the school’s previous footage and b-roll instead of capturing my own — letting the students’ voices carry the narrative.
In post I handled the full pipeline myself in DaVinci Resolve: story edit, dialogue cleanup with compression, EQ, and noise reduction, plus color grading to tie the archival and interview material together into one cohesive film.
Work
- Senior year documentary filmmaking
- On-location graduate interviews
- Controlled lighting setup
- Dialogue recording and audio engineering
- Documentary story editing
- Color grading
- Sound post-production
Details
- Role
- Solo filmmaker, editor, and colorist
- Duration
- Approx. 5:30 runtime
- Tools
- Aputure Amaran 60x S, Aputure Light Dome softbox, C-stands, Microphone stands, Shure MV7+, Audio interface and mic preamplifier, DaVinci Resolve
Outcomes
- Delivered an approximately 5:30 senior year film for the 2026 graduation ceremony
- Interviewed the graduating class to show how Aya Academy shaped their knowledge, deen, and confidence
- Wove archival footage and b-roll into a cohesive story under a tight turnaround