Production Memo

I had many different topic areas that I wanted to cover before I finalized my final presentation. But when I went to the deli to pick up a sandwich, like I normally do, I didn't have enough money because the cost of the bagel had gone up. It was right then, that I solidified by choice of final projects on the Rising Prices of Wheat and Flour.

I started to do some research on the topic, because I had heard little blips on the news about rising prices of many different types of foods, but had not ever tuned into the reasons why. After figuring out that it was not just one specific factor as to why prices had gone up, but many, I decided to see how those rising costs were effecting merchants selling products made from them, as well as consumers purchasing them.

I contacted several bagel shops and pizzeria's and wasn't having much success with actually scheduling an interview with any of them. I stopped by a few "mom and pop" places but the owners or anyone in charge were always too busy to comment or just not there.

I hit the gold mine however, when I finally got a return phone call from Barry Levy, the assistant store manager of Bagel Town in West Hempstead. He had said one of the clerks at the front of the store took my message and had forgotten to give it to him, which is why it took him several days to get back to me. But nonetheless we scheduled a quick session in between his breakfast and my class.

After interviewing Mr. Levy, I wanted to get the publics reaction to the soaring prices. I went to A&S Bagels in East Meadow, but was asked by manager to leave the parking lot, because I was scaring customers away. So I went to a few different locations and came across Susan Thomas who was more than happy to tell me all about her thought and opinions on the topic.

Susan Thomas was extremely helpful, and gave me so many sound bytes I could only pick two, out of almost 10 minutes of video.


I contacted 5 different pizzeria's and spoke to two different people. The owner of Napolini Express on Oak Street, as well as Mama C's of East Meadow. I was able to speak with Megan from Mama C's who was only able to talk on the phone for a few minutes before getting pulled into a mid-day rush at the pizzeria but she gave me a good sound byte unlike Napolini who really hadn't felt much change in their pricing.

Once I had all the video and sound bytes I needed, I wanted to add a graphic or photographic element to my presentation, I found a graph which worked but I wish I had more time to develop my own on Excel or Word, but couldn't figure out how to do it correctly and then export it as a JPEG.

All in all the project was fun. I've had a lot of experience working with WMM and JPEG and WMV files, so the programs weren't giving me any trouble. It was just the time to sit down and put it all together that was the issue. But in the end I got it all finished, and I'm happy with the way thigns turned out.