Beautiful artistry on both sides of the camera

The title of this blog post is a quote from 33hirtz who commented on Danny Cooke's Vimeo page. I couldn't say it better myself...and I think you'll agree if you take a few minutes to watch several of the fine documentaries by this master cinematographer and story-teller. Cooke has an eye for composition and lighting, and his editing is superb. I'm pretty sure that he's shooting with a DSLR and he makes good use of selective focus. Note also his soundtracks and clever title sequences.

• Take a look at his documentary about glass blowing: OurGlass of Cockington
• Or this one about a artist who works in etched glass and gold leaf: David A Smith - Sign Artist
• Here's one about a salvage diver: Ray: A Life Underwater

Thanks to Tim Sparks for sending the links and for tipping me off to a great talent.

Morgan Spurlock on making documentaries

"I really believe that if you're going to spend two-plus years of your life, that's your reality. If you're going to make a documentary movie, that's your baby. You're married to that movie forever and you‛d better love that kid, you'd better think that's the most beautiful kid you could have ever made, because you are married to that kid for years to come.

"If you're going to spend two-plus years producing, editing, getting the film out into the marketplace, then I think you have a responsibility to that movie to see it through.

"If people want to talk about it, if people want to use it as a conversation piece, if it can somehow help drive a national conversation, an international conversation, if it can lead to some sort of reform or change, whatever it may be -- I don't know why else you would make a film if you didn't want it to be part of a conversation." ~ Morgan Spurlock, director of Supersize Me

More here!

Choosing a documentary topic

The challenge facing you this week is to find two great story ideas that have the potential to become a half-hour documentary project. This is not an easy task, and I would dare say that the success of the final project will be greatly affected by your choice of topic/subject. Choosing a subject is not something to be taken lightly. That said, the initial treatment will undoubtedly go through revision as it is turned into a proposal, then a shooting script and finally into an editing script.
So how does one go about selecting a story/topic/subject? I've blogged about it previously by suggesting some things to avoid. Your textbook author Rabiger has some excellent advice in the first couple of chapters (especially chapter 3). To that I would add just a few thoughts.

1. There are a thousand stories right in front of each of us--the trick is to see them with fresh eyes. Sometimes we're too close to see them clearly...kind of like a smudge on our eyeglasses that everyone else can see even though we can't.
2. Some stories come with built-in controversy (e.g., anything with political or religious overtones) and others will require that you dig a bit deeper to find the drama.
3. Remember your audience and work hard to give them reasons to care about your topic, the characters in your film, and the outcome. Are the main characters likable, or at least interesting?
4. Do the research necessary to write an effective treatment. You'll need to do more research to turn that treatment into a proposal, and still more to generate the shooting script. Research may involve library research, but more likely it will involve interviews with people close to the story/topic. Leave no stone unturned in your quest to uncover the truth. Research may yield evidence that convinces you that there is no story after all, or that the documentary cannot be made (given the available budget/schedule)...but better to find this out now than later.

As always, feel free to ask if you have any questions or if you want to bounce an idea off of me.

Life Changing

Documentaries can be powerful. Sometimes the phrase "life-changing" is used to describe the power of a documentary that packs a punch that lasts just a little longer than a large tub of theater popcorn. But for the West Memphis Three "life-changing" may be precisely the words best used to describe an HBO documentary series by directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. This week's release of the West Memphis Three from prison--and in one case from death-row--is being hailed as a triumph for justice and credit is being given to the HBO documentaries for shedding light on the case. In addition to the documentaries, attention from Hollywood celebrities and rock stars such as Johnny Depp, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and Dixie Chick Natalie Maines is also being credited for the sustained media attention that has kept the story front and center.

I have no idea if the West Memphis Three are guilty as charged. Teenagers at the time, Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were convicted and sentenced to prison for the horrific murders of three Boy Scouts in 1993. But shortly thereafter the 1996 Emmy-winning documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills brought new attention to the trial and questioned the legitimacy of the prosecution's case.  In 2000 the directors followed with Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. The third installment, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival and air on HBO. The final film in the series is being edited and the new ending will reflect the release of the three.

This is not the first time that a documentary has led to a judicial reversal. The Thin Blue Line, a 1988 "non-fiction" film by Errol Morris, had a similar effect on the life of Randall Adams. Adam has been convicted and sentenced to die for the murder of a Dallas police officer in  1976. One year after the film's release the conviction was overturned and Adams was released.

Life-changing documentary stories are not always this dramatic. Some documentaries change many lives in very small ways, but the cumulative effect may be even more impressive though not as visible. But in the end every documentary should act as a change agent on some level. Anything less would be a waste of precious time and resources.
 

50 Documentaries to See Before You Die

Hopefully you've got some time (before you die), but just in case you may want to tune into the remaining three episodes of the 5-part series from Current TV, airing each Tuesday in August. Host Morgan Spurlock (best known for Supersize Me, but also director of the new doc The Greatest Movie Ever Sold) reveals the top 50 documentaries made since 1985 and interviews directors and other key players. The show's website contains numerous clips from the series.

Crowd-Funding your Doc

Recently I responded with a donation to a fundraising project on Kickstarter. The project was an independent film based on the book Blue Like Jazz. It was the first time I'd heard about this relatively new fund raising platform but I was immediately taken with its potential to help budding filmmakers connect with potential donors. If you've got a great idea for a film, documentary or otherwise, and need some startup cash to get you to the next level, Kickstarter may be just the thing you need.
A search for "documentary" returns more than 300 projects currently underway or recently funded by Kickstarter. Go ahead and visit the link above to see some of the projects, and to screen short promotional clips. You'll notice that varying levels of participation earn increasing levels of rewards for "investors" who  commit to contributing funds if the goal is reached by a predetermined deadline. This protects contributors and creators from unnecessary risk.
Independent filmmaker Nathaniel Hansen has a Vimeo channel where you can see his Kickstarter promo clip, and several teasers for his upcoming documentary The Elders.
The DocumentaryTech website has some interesting thoughts about raising funds in this age of social media. Another great article, from a UK perspective, can be found here. Also, Distribution U, "a one-day crash course on the new rules of crowd funding, audience building, and distribution" is being held this month in NY and LA. Tickets and more info is available at their website.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, I got a T-shirt, poster, a call from the director, and a few other items related to the film, including an Associate Producer credit, for my contribution. I think I'll add that AP credit to my résumé now!

Race to Space will be Televised

If you are interested in space travel, or thinking about spending a cool $200K to make the trip yourself, you may want to watch the Nat Geo listing for upcoming docs about the Virgin Galactic project. See the NYT for more info.

Frederick Wiseman awarded Lifetime Achievement Award

The National Academy for Television Arts & Sciences awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award to Frederick Wiseman, one of the great pioneers of direct cinema and director of such notable films as Titlcut Follies, High School, Aspen, and Primate. Frederick Wiseman has produced, directed and edited 38 films on a wide range of topics. With shooting ratios that have exceeded 100:1, Wiseman gained entrance into institutions and organizations that, at first, merely tolerated his presence. But the longer he stayed, his hosts grew to see him as one of their own...thus providing an opportunity for Wiseman to film life as it happened. Wiseman has described his films as “biased, prejudiced, condensed, but fair.” Wiseman did not tolerate narration, interviews, or reenactments. Because of this his films can feel rather raw and unpolished, but that is also their beauty.
According to the National Academy for Television Arts & Sciences,

While Wiseman’s documentaries are based on completely un-staged events and contain no interviews or voiceover narration, they are less an objective portrait of reality than an accurate portrayal of the filmmaker’s interpretation of the subject, tempered by a deeply held obligation to be fair to the people who pass before his camera. Wiseman typically does little research before shooting, describing the shooting as the research and the finished film as a report on what he has learned. In between lies up to a year of rigorous and painstaking editing, resulting in documentaries that are equal to the best fiction films.

 Wiseman's first film, Titicut Follies, is about a hospital for the criminally insane. Banned for decades by a Massachusetts court citing concerns about patients' privacy and dignity, the film was finally allowed a national airing on PBS in the early 1990s.
According to Wiseman's website, his latest project, Boxing Gym, is scheduled for release later this month.

More new docs on the docket

In addition to Waiting for Superman coming to theaters, Ken Burns' returns to baseball on PBS tomorrow and Wed with The Tenth Inning, this time focusing on the steroid abuse scandal. His original PBS documentary series about baseball was the highest rated documentary in PBS' history. You can watch a clip including an interview with Ken Burns on Hulu.

A new HBO documentary, Teenage Paparazzo, begins airing tonight. You can see a clip here.

'Waiting for Superman' out this Friday

A new documentary from the director of An Inconvenient Truth is opening in limited release this Friday. Waiting for Superman explores another slowly unfolding tragedy...public education. I haven't seen the film, but I hear that it will kick-start the conversation about how our public schools are failing the next generation. After I've had a chance to see the film I'll weigh-in with my thoughts.
See the preview here.

I'm Still Here exposed as a Mockumentary

Frauds and fakes are usually not rewarded when they try to pass themselves off as journalists or documentarians. However, the documentary tradition does have a soft spot for spoofs, often referred to as mockumentaries. This is Spinal Tap is a classic and others include Best in Show and Borat. One of the all-time great hoaxes was Orsen Wells' radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds...a Halloween joke that caused panic and mass hysteria which led to congressional hearings.
When Joaquin Pheonix appeared on The Late Show in 2009 confused fans and viewers wondered if he had lost touch with reality. As it turns out, he was simply acting in character as the subject of the mocumentary film, I'm Still Here. According to the New York Times, the director of I'm Still Here called Phoenix' performance the best of his career.

“It’s a terrific performance, it’s the performance of his career,” Mr. Affleck said. He was speaking of Mr. Phoenix’s two-year portrayal of himself — on screen and off — as a bearded, drug-addled aspiring rap star, who, as Mr. Affleck tells it, put his professional life on the line to star in a bit of “gonzo filmmaking” modeled on the reality-bending journalism of Hunter S. Thompson.

 Time will tell if this really is the "performance of his career." But his appearance on Late Night for next Wednesday (the 22nd) may be telling and it could be interesting hearing his explanation of things.

Review of I'm Still Here.

Producing in HD? Get the FAQ!

If you're planning to shoot and edit in high definition, you want to make sure that you're on the right track from day one. There are pre-production decisions that will affect production and post-production workflows, and by then it is too late to make changes. You can find a useful resource by [ITVS] at their website. It is the HD FAQ and you can find it at http://www.itvs.org/funding/resources/hd-faq

Eyeborg: Direct Cinema to the Extreme

What's a documentarian who lost his eye to do? Well, how about a prosthetic eye that doubles as a video camera! Rob Spence of Toronto is planning to use his video eye to shoot a documentary about, what else, the global spread of surveillance cameras. Imagine being interviewed by someone who does not appear to have a video camera, and then be told that the camera was his EYE?! It brings a whole new dimension to ethical debates about hidden cameras.

The idea of cyborgs (half human, half machine) has been around in sci-fi for some time, and the Six Million Dollar Man had augmented vision...but now it appears that reality is catching up to fantasy.

Read more at his blog, or watch the videos on his Vimeo channel. If you're not too squeamish, the Eye In and Out video is classic!

Documentary Top 10 Lists

David Tamés, at Kino-Eye.com, posted a Top Ten list of documentaries at his website. As with all Top Ten lists, this one contains titles that are personal favorites, and others that have been critically acclaimed by documentary fans far and wide. It made me think about my Top Ten list, so I decided to take a stab at it. Here, in no particular order, are ten documentaries that I think are must-see.

1. Nanook of the North (Flaherty)
   
2. Harlan County USA (Kopple)
   
3. The Fog of War (Morris)
   
4. The "Up" Series (Apted)
   
5. Roger & Me (Moore)
   
6. Grizzly Man (Hertzog)
   
7. The Thin Blue Line (Morris)
   
8. Salesman (Maysles)
   
9. The Civil War (Burns)
   
10. Country Boys (Sutherland)
    

Backing Up: Better Safe than Sorry

Students of documentary will recognize the name Robert Flaherty...director of Nanook of the North. This amazing documentary suffered a serious setback just as it neared completion of the post-production phase. According to legend, Flaherty dropped a lit cigarette in the editing room, igniting the highly-flammable film stock that covered the floor...destroying his film in the process. At the time, Flaherty had no copy of the original film, forcing him to return to northern Canada to re-shoot his epic film about the Inuit culture. The lesson for all of us is that the post-production phase of a documentary project is full of twists and turns...some that cause minor set-backs and others that are more serious. But with a few precautions you can avoid catastrophic failure. I'm talking about organization, storage, and redundancy of your most important digital assets.

First and foremost, protect your camera originals. Tapes should be write-protected, labeled carefully, and stored in a safe place (clean with controlled humidity and temperature). Second, once a tape has been captured/digitized, the security of those digital files depends on the integrity of your storage system. There are various levels of redundancy (RAID 1, RAID 5, etc.) that can be implemented at various levels of expense. A relatively inexpensive solution is to occasionally (e.g., at the end of each edit session) backup your files to a second external HD. Obviously the bigger and more important the project, and the more changes to your EDL, the more frequently this step should be implemented. Notice that digitized video files do not need to be copied more than once...only those files that change as you edit. The most important file is the project file, followed by titles, imported graphics, etc. If you record audio VO narration, save that to CD and treat just like a source tape. Label it carefully and file it in a safe place. If you loose all of your digital assets, but still have your project file (which contains the EDL), you should be able to redigitize the footage from your source tapes and be back in business with little down time.

I have external storage that you are welcome to use to backup your digital video files if you have not done so. The project files are quite a bit smaller, and you have several options for backing up those files such as the network storage, USB flash drive, CD-R, etc.

You've put in a lot of hours of hard work...don't let it slip through your fingers.

Documentary post-production, workflow, and asset management

Well, we're approaching the time when we transition from production to post-production. If you're like most documentarians, you begin by reviewing what you had hoped to accomplish by this point in time. The real shock comes when you begin to compare your pre-production plan to the footage that you actually have "in the can." Once you've recovered from that, your next step is to make a new plan that involves turning what we've got into something that resembles a documentary. This process is not for the weak or easily discouraged.

If you're fortunate, you find moments of brilliance and unblinking truth in the audio and video that you gathered. Hopefully you've captured people and events in ways that are both authentic and fascinating. Your task, as editors, is to separate the good from the bad, the mundane from the extraordinary, and the distortions from the truth. There are trade-off involved. Keeping a 2-minute action sequence may require deleting that interview sequence that seemed to hold great promise. Going in one direction means that you can't pursue another path. You'll have to weigh the evidence and make judgments that keep the big picture...the story...always in focus.

As suggested by Rabiger, one of the first things that you should do, as a group, is to sit down for a marathon screening session. It may take 4-8 hours...maybe more if there is much discussion afterward. But try to do this as soon as possible after shooting is complete. With everyone present, watch the raw footage with a critical eye and a pad and pencil. Each group member should take careful notes (but don't pause the tape...it will take forever if you do). Then, after each tape or at the end, review your notes as a group. What did you see that you didn't see during shooting? What is still missing, Can you edit around the missing footage? Which characters emerged as the strongest or weakest? Has your "story" held up in the process, or does it need to be modified?

Another important step is to begin to digitize and organize your footage. The digitizing step is one more opportunity for you to become familiar with your footage. Take notes as to the source (tape number) where the footage is coming from. Make note of particularly useful b-roll or cut-aways that will be important. If audio is particularly strong or weak, make note of how it might be used or whether it may need to be "fixed" or "sweetened" in post. All non-linear editing programs (FCP, Avid, Premiere) allow for footage to be organized in bins. Use bins to collect footage that goes together. You might put clips that will be used in a particular segment in its own bin. Or perhaps you will put each interview into its own bin, and b-roll in another. Use a system that makes sense to you, and your editing assistant(s). Be methodical and careful. The more organized you are the more efficient you will be in editing. By the way, your tapes should be record-protected and stored in a safe, clean, cool place after digitizing. They are your backup, and may be needed later if redigitizing is required.

After the group screening, the editing script/outline should be written. Don't skimp here. Spend some time as a group deciding on segments to be included, the intended length of each, and their order. Only after you've done this should you begin to actually cut things together to see if they will work as imagined. If you will be using VO narration, write the first draft now. You may need to rewrite later, but writing narration now--(and even recording a rough take)--will help you with the timing and allow you to edit sequences with placeholder VO where needed.

Don't think you need to start editing at the beginning working towards the closing credits. You'll probably be much more effective if you start with one of the segments in the middle...perhaps the most important or the easiest one first. You might find that you can have 2 or 3 editors working simultaneously, each on his/her own section, then bringing them together to see how they flow. Take advantage of the multiple timelines/sequences in your editing program to build each segment in its own timeline. Also, duplicating the timeline allows you to try out different approaches to the same segment without destroying a previous version. Many long-form editors save their work and start over the next day with a newly dated version of the previous timeline. This way they have a record of their progress and they can easily "revert" if a particular editing session turns out to be a dead-end.

Everyone in the group should be actively involved in the post-production process. There's plenty to do, and no one person should have to do it all. One member of the team can be creating titles and graphics, another can be recording or selecting music, while others can be working on the project website, setting up the focus group screening, writing press releases, and creating the DVD menus.

Well, that should give you plenty to think about. This is where it really gets interesting!

34X25X36

Check out this short doc (6 min, plus 1 minutes of credits) on YouTube. This film premiered at the 2008 SXSW conference and received critical acclaim (and 1.2M hits on YouTube).

Time to shoot!

Production...this is what many people consider the best part of the documentary life cycle. This is where you get to exercise your creative talents for shooting as you gather the audio and images that will tell your story. For some, pre-production is too much time in the office, and post-production is too much time locked up in an edit bay...but production is the in-between part where you get to be out and about, on location and getting your hands dirty. Your task over the next five weeks will be to get people to open up to you...on-camera and on-mic...and when they do, you've got to capture the essence of the moment in the best image and sound quality possible. This is no small task. Following are some thoughts about location production that may be helpful over the course of the next five weeks.

• Being comfortable with both your gear and your crew-mates will be of utmost importance. And the only way to become comfortable is by getting out there and doing it. Start with less critical shoots and build up to the ones that will only give you one shot to get it right.
• Make sure you know who is responsible for what when you're on location. Don't expect each other to read your mind...talk it out before you get to the shooting location. Work efficiently and as a team...that will give you credibility with your interviewees and shooting subjects. The opposite...confusion and bickering...will do just the opposite and undermine your project. You many need to have a heated discussion about your project...just don't do it in public.
  
• Try to have as many team members on the shoot as you can. Since you only have 3-4 crew members max, you'll never have too many hands while setting up or striking. During an intimate interview you might clear the room of all but two of you, but most of the time all three or four of you will be essential. If you're shooting with University gear, I expect at least two crew members on every shoot. This is for your personal protection as well as the safety and security of the gear.
• Become a lean, mean, documenting machine! Keep your eyes and ears open and never pass up an opportunity to get something in the can when you can. If you think, "we'll get that shot when we come back next week" you'll miss out on all kinds of opportunities. If the shot or soundbite presents itself, get it! For the Bishop Castle team, the peak of fall color is right now and will only last another week or so...less if a weather event comes through. The castle grounds will never look prettier than they do now so don't miss the opportunity. Swing State '08...this Friday will probably be the last time this fall that a Presidential candidate will be in Southern Colorado. Both teams: maximize your opportunities and minimize your liabilities!
• Know your story and shoot to the script outline. Yes, there needs to be room for serendipity and yes, your story will evolve as you go...but don't overlook the need to plan and follow the plan. Shoot with a purpose or you'll feel the pain when you get into the post-production phase.

And the last point I'll make today is to have fun. Yes, I know that may sound unrealistic with all the pressure and expectations that you may be feeling. But this really is an opportunity for you and your crew-mates to be creative and inventive and productive. Enjoy the moment and enjoy each other's company as you form relationships that may extend well pass this class and even into your professional life after school.

Avoiding Condescending Smugness!

It's a temptation that all documentary directors face sooner or later...the feeling of superiority that accompanies insight possessed by you, but not shared by the subject of your film. As you research your topic and interview experts and witnesses, you will begin to amass knowledge and expertise that may, if not checked, lead to feelings of self-importance. Resist this feeling at all cost. Remind yourself that without the aid and cooperation of your participants, you have no story to tell and no business trying to pretend that you do. But your humility must be sincere...false humility can be detected from across the room and is just as deadly as arrogance. Many documentary directors have slipped over the line and have taken cheap shots at the expense of the people appearing in their films...and while they might get a few laughs, the long-term effect works against them.

Another factor that can lead to this same feeling of superiority is the power imbalance that comes from your position behind the camera. As the one asking the questions and deciding who ends up on the cutting room floor and on the screen, you hold amazing power. Don't let it go to your head. Again, without the trust and confidence of your participants, you've got "nuttin!" So keep your ego in check and don't forget to treat your interviewees and participants with the courtesy and respect that they deserve. No one ever looks big when they make other people look small.

Steal from the best!

Okay, don't STEAL...but definitely learn from and apply techniques that the best documentaries use to tell their stories. Now that you have a topic and are well into the preproduction phase, take some time to review some of the best documentaries in the same genre/style/approach as the one that you're trying to make. Watch and watch again documentaries that cover similar territory or take a similar approach. As we discussed in class, watch with careful attention to everything from the broad scope, e.g. story development and the dramatic arc, to the specific details, e.g. how long the director holds a reaction shot. Learn from the best and try to replicate the things that make them successful.

For the Bishop Castle team, find documentaries that tell the stories of a quirky individuals e.g., Fast, Cheap and Out of Control and Gates of Heaven by Errol Morris, or Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog. Also consider docs about people who find themselves up against insurmountable odds, e.g., Hoop Dreams, a story about two teens' struggle to become pro basketball players, or Burden of Dreams by Les Blank, or Hearts of Darkness, the story of Francis Ford Coppola's struggle to make Apocalypse Now. A quick search of YouTube for Bishop Castle will yield numerous amateur videos and interviews with Jim. Also, listen to the NPR radio documentary short Jim Bishop: Castle Builder.

For the Swing Vote team, check out any number of great political docs such as Primary by Robert Drew and War Room by Hegedus and Pennebaker. By the way, a new doc, The Return of the War Room (by Actual Reality Pictures) will premiere on the Sundance channel next month (Oct 13th). I haven't seen the recently released Swing Vote, starring Kevin Costner, but it may be worth a look to see if this fiction film effectively raises any issues that may be worth exploring in your doc. Also, a search of IMDb indicates there is a 2008 doc by the name of Swing State, but that's about all I know about it.