New Documentary

So I'm starting, as a group project, a new documentary. The subject is a Sudanese refugee who is deaf and will focus on his adaptation to learning both the culture and being a part of the deaf community. That second dimension is a challenge as not only did he have to learn American Sign Language, he also had to learn English, as well as the concept of money, etc.
Now the process involved getting proper waivers signed so we can get access to him through a local organization. It is not that they are not being helpful... they are being incredible, providing interpreters, subjects, resources and so on. So we're giving it that time and moving forward as we are able, hoping it will pay off.
I'm hoping along the way to shoot some still images along with the video. It could be an experiment in combining the two well, while our focus for the project will be on the video. That will be a shift for my thinking. I believe that video, audio and still images done well seperately and combined well to tell the story can be powerful multimedia. This is a plan. We'll see how it goes.
Along with that, I came into school thinking I would have all of this time to shoot and do projects. Now I'm realizing and remembering the value in what it was to have a job where that was my day every day. There is not as much time to work on that as I thought, especially with a lot of energy being put into learning new skills. I get out to shoot when I can and carry a camera with me, and know the skills and new knowledge will be an asset when I'm done. I am enjoying going full force in each part of my day. Makes for some long ones, but I try to keep each day full, whether specifically shooting or not. I guess I'm reinvigorated.