Topic: In the past few years, gourmet cupcakes have become quite the popular phenomenon in many large cities. In Georgetown, people wait in a line for cupcakes from the bakery, Georgetown Cupcakes, for periods of time that seem silly for such a mundane treat. What makes these cupcakes so great and what makes people obsess over them? Is it a fad? If so, when will it fade?
Relevance: This craze is occurring currently and is a reflection of popular culture. The project will examine the timeline of the obsession.
Audience: D.C. residents, specifically those from Georgetown, will likely identify with the product the most due to its narrow focus on the specific store. However, the store serves as a microcosm for a larger trend that is happening nationally. The people who are aware of the trend the most are probably young professionals because this type of person is likely to follow and participate in trends.
Photography Subjects: Mainly, the subjects will be patrons of the cupcake shop and those who work there. Since the line is long at all times, a variety of pictures from different perspectives will be possible.
Previous Coverage: I have no previous coverage of this topic.
Elements of Finished Project: I foresee strong photographs and audio being generated from the project. I want the audio interviews of patrons to be layered with photos of the line and audio of employees to be layered with photos of the cupcakes. I will work with the idea of video to find a place for it in the project.
Location: Georgetown Cupcakes
Cost: Metro fare to get to the shop (and extra money for cupcakes)
Word Reporter Needed: No
Types of Media Included: Audio, Video, Photo
This topic sounds delicious. I approve!
ReplyDeleteAlexis,
ReplyDeleteI like your headline here. It frames the topic in an interesting light.
Can you say more about who you plan to interview/depict. You say people standing in line, which makes sense. Do you also plan to interview the owner or the staff selling the cupcakes? Will you focus on a single afternoon or morning or do you plan to visit multiple times? Either way would work -- if you do a single period of time (say during a peak time one day) that could give a kind structure to the piece -- capturing before, during, and after the rush of patrons. Or you could go at different times and use that to highlight how frequently the place is busy. I encourage you to think through that in advance and have a plan of attack based on how you think you might structure the final piece.
You should probably also call ahead to make sure that the store is ok with you doing the piece. I'm guessing they will be, but best to make sure.
This does seem like it would work as either an audio slideshow or as a video... we'll be learning about both slideshows and video in the coming weeks and you can decide after you've had a bit of the video slice.
-Jeff