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Archives for December 2014

Filming Real Life

December 29, 2014 by Jennifer Chastain

The Documentary: Unscripted Reality… well, sort of.

Documentary FilmmakingI suppose it would be safe to say that documentaries have been around for over 100 years. I read something once that said Thomas Edison recorded the death of an elephant in the 1890’s and that this was considered the first “documentary”.. In 1896 the Lumiere brothers caused quite a hubbub when their short film Train Coming into a Station was viewed by audiences who panicked and thought a train was actually coming towards them. I’ve heard this film to be the first official documentary too so it would seem as though even with a bit of historical inaccuracies, “documentaries” have been around for roughly as long as the motion picture camera itself. At least one thing is certain; there is a long held desire to watch on film, real life happening right in front of us as it unfolds, unscripted and unexpectedly authentic.

I love, love, love documentaries. I watch them all the time and anyone in my family can attest the fact that I would rather watch a documentary than a feature film any day of the week. I love the idea of peeking in at someone else’s life story. I want to hear their thoughts and see what they see and I am very interested in seeing them either rise above tragedy or to fall flat on their face-all in real time. I also enjoy learning about something or someone that I would have had no other way of being introduced to if not for the short, sometimes not so well made film I sat down in front of. This seems to also go hand in hand with a lot of documentaries out there in that many of them are not filmed well, shaky camera work and a boring story does not a good film make and it’s easy to face the truth; many of these films are hard not only hard to sit through- they’re just plain, crap.

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Photo from Library of Congress Archive – Sandpoint, Bonner County, Idaho.

The idea of filming real life as it happens, spontaneously and unscripted has been around for as long as I can remember; forget about the history. We are all curious to see what happens, as it happens with no script and no way of knowing what comes next. With personal documentaries that explore a person’s own, real life point of view to the more magazine style shows and bullshit reality TV programs, we are all very curious and very eager to see a personal train wreck as it happens or a triumphant personal achievement edited and fast forwarded over a 6 or 12 week period. While I am certainly no expert, I do have some tips and ideas about interviewing and filming documentary subjects that I have found to make my process go a bit smoother.

Documentary films allow us an extraordinary and unique opportunity to showcase how other people live their lives. Creating an environment where real people will reveal themselves with a camera present is an essential part of the documentarian’s art. I have heard (and tend to agree with) that some prefer to spend a lot of time off camera with their subjects in order to project a kind of “realness” and personal authenticity to the film. Getting people to feel comfortable with you off camera can make the interview feel less like an interrogation and more like an intimate discussion between friends. I have found this to be especially true when filming personal issues in that sharing a cup of coffee or quick meal can create a more genuine and less stiff interview. It also gives your subject the opportunity to learn about you and why you want to tell their story- this too adds to what your subject will reveal and how dramatically it can affect your story.

It’s a good idea to discuss beforehand what’s ok to film and what’s not. What areas are off limits and what is “free range”. I personally think it’s a good idea to have a “Talent and Appearance Release” form signed by anyone you intend to film. For most documentaries it is standard practice to have all subjects sign a release and while there are certain circumstances in which no release is needed, such as public goings- on at an open event- it’s a form I like to keep with me when filming, just in case.

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Photo from Library of Congress Archive – Sandpoint, Bonner County, Idaho.

My production is small; most times it’s just me with a camera and a few lights, but occasionally will include one or two other people. I want it to be low key and relaxed and in an environment that allows my subject to feel comfortable and ready to talk. Some people like the camera in your face where others prefer a more open room style picture. I don’t want to be sneaky but I do want to make the filming process as subtle as possible, with fluid transitions between obvious shooting and not shooting. I prefer to not be heard when interviewing, while others want their questions and comments heard outright. As there are as many styles there are preferences when it comes to what you choose to use and what angle you want to showcase. Doing interviews when the questions won’t be heard creates a unique, somewhat bizarre dynamic that takes a lot of practice to pull off successfully. It’s sometimes difficult to get the person talking, but not talking to you-since you don’t technically exist.

The environment is also crucial. Picking a place to conduct your interview is very important. Not only is lighting and surroundings important, but so is what’s going on in the room. You don’t want to begin filming and have a noisy furnace click on in the middle of an emotional testimonial or a dog incessantly barking in the background when trying to ask an important question. Sometimes though, people are more comfortable being interviewed while doing something familiar like gardening or working on their car. I have had success talking to people when they are doing something that puts them at ease- although drinking is not advised as people can get extremely emotional and/or hostile while intoxicated and your creative judgment can be severely swayed.

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Photo from Library of Congress Archive – Sandpoint, Bonner County, Idaho.

Another approach is to use a neutral background such as a plainly colored wall or a large black cloth, although if you have a lot of different people to interview the same, boring background can become super dull, super fast. I don’t have the capability to but some film makers choose to film in front of a green screen and then super impose a background as they see fit. Artificial backgrounds can be tricky but when appropriate can be really interesting. Some filmmakers choose to film interviews with no camera movements at all, instead opting for a well timed zoom in or out. This can be great for editing, but also difficult as a completed interview with edited zoom ins and outs can look choppy and awkward. I’ve also learned to include extra room at the bottom of the frame when you want to include subtitles. It’s quite upsetting to discover after the fact that to include a typed introduction or location means that half of my subjects face will be covered by text.

When you make a documentary film about real people doing real things and just living their life- without direction is not only challenging but a true art form. It takes great effort and care and extreme attention to detail. Being not sure of what will happen or when or if it will be captured adequately on film can be exciting and nerve racking too. It can take weeks, months, or even years to complete a project because sometimes you have to shoot so much footage, never knowing what will actually make it to the film and what will end up in your trash bin. When what you’re shooting is the research itself, putting a story together that flows smoothly can be tricky. It helps to focus on the individual story lines and often times it’s within the shooting that you discover the story’s natural arc. Some more blatant stories have an obvious arc and have a clear beginning, climax, and end- a film about a beauty pageant for example would have an easier creative timeline. Editing can take even longer, (a topic to be discussed in another article) but the payoff can be huge, especially if you are able to weave together a coherent and emotive story that is complex but relatable.

Ultimately, there are many different ideas and approaches to filming documentaries and I by no means, am attempting to suggest myself to an expert in any of them. I am learning as I go and enjoy the opportunity to share the things I’ve learned with anyone who can appreciate the art form. Making films is a powerful, imaginative, challenging, and immensely rewarding experience that is all-inclusive and absolute. It can reach the entire world and can change lives in amazingly profound ways. Keep watching and learning and don’t give up on a good documentary!

Filed Under: Filmmaking Tagged With: documentary, film style, interview, real life, technique

Yes, The sound in your project is important!

December 23, 2014 by Rob Lindner Leave a Comment

tascam-DR-100-iiGood Day, fellow reader. My name is Rob, and I have a thing for sound…

<RANT ON>

With all the you-tubed, homemade, and student-films made today, with shaky visuals, wind-blown dialogue, and crunchy or imperceptible foley, don’t you think YOUR project deserves the recognition it deserves?  Now, tell the truth, come on… if you are reading this you already know that there really is no substitute for a good sound.

Remember that song that played at the High School Prom that you danced to with all your friends, and you just cut loose?  …or how about that orchestral piece that makes you think of magenta and fuscia sunsets over the lake on a warm summer’s day… Perhaps you are thinking of that hard hitting industro-rock that you work out to, to shut out the world and focus… what ever it is, music is composed of sound, and sound affects our lives, and indeed our mood and perception of events.

Because we are always using our eyes, and because our temporal cortex seems to take up so much of our attention, we forget about the sounds that slyly enter our ears unchecked.  We forget that we really do operate by sound.  We LIVE by sound.  You know the exact sound that your husband’s car makes as he pulls in at the end of the day, and your pulse quickens because he will soon be in your arms. You know by the sound of a Baby’s cry whether it is hungry, cold, or wet. You know that if you hear that drip again, you are going to have to go down to the hardware store and replace that toilet tank seal for sure this time.

Ok, maybe your not that much into sound, but you have to be, trust me! If you want your piece to be believable, to be realistic, then this level of nuance is needed.  Now, with that said, rules are meant to be broken, right?  So, take this all with a grain of salt, but for heaven’s sake, if you are recording any kind of sound at all for your project, make it good!  Use the best you can get (borrow, steal, beg for, etc) if you’re not recording it, and by all means, pay licensing fees to that artist who’s music you absolutely must have in you piece!

<RANT OFF>

zoom-h4nSo, how can you get good sound?  I know that I am preaching to the proverbial choir here for most of you, but consider the options below. Bare in mind that I am only offering suggestions to those of us that are only operating on shoe-string, or ultra low-low budgets. But cinema as an art form cannot be constrained by budgets. If it is, then we lose voices in that artistic community, and perhaps even a void is left.  What fills that void? In this day and age, I shudder to think…

So, if you are going to record dialogue, foley or any sound whatsoever, make sure you have the proper equipment:

  1. A decent digital sound recorder like the Zoom or Tascam recorders are a great place to start. They record and capture to SD cards, easily editable WAV or MP3 files that are accessible on any video editing platform. Click for a great comparison on three of the standards here. As an aside, The H1 from  zoom is quite a bit cheaper than the H4, but has no XLR outputs.
  2. Use a Boom! Yeah, its basically a big stick that has grips on one end and a mic attachment the other end so that you can position your external Mic where it needs to be. You can make this, you don’t need to buy one necessarily.
  3. Use nice microphones.  Being that there are those that have a better knowledge here about mics, I will give a few general suggestions; just don’t go to radio shack for your mic, it’s not a good gamble. Instead try a Shure 57 or 58 for wide vocal capture, or a Rode M3 cartoid Condenser mic as a shotgun. There are also wireless Sennheiser and Shure Lavaliere microphone systems that work great for on-person capturing.
  4. Choose your music and pre-recorded sound effects carefully.  At the recent SFN meeting we all started talking about reasonable music licensing costs (the current financial battle for my project, “Give Up the Ghost”) and the best places to get said music.  Unless you are dead set for specific music sound or foley, and money is no object, check out these great sound resources.

http://ccmixter.org
http://www.jewelbeat.com
http://www.premiumbeat.com
https://www.marmosetmusic.com/
https://www.musicbed.com/
http://www.audionetwork.com/
http://www.pond5.com/

Ultimately, my fellow story-tellers, it is about your art, and the best art that you can create.  The Sandpoint FilmMakers Network exists to bring our collaborative best to the table so that our stories can be told in the best way possible as a thriving and supportive film-making community here in Sandpoint.  Don’t let the complexities of the human psyche get you down; go out and make that art with your friends, and make it a good one!

Filed Under: Filmmaking, Resources

Master Shots 2nd Edition – Book Review

December 20, 2014 by Aric Spence Leave a Comment

Master Shots 2nd EditionI have read a lot of books about filmmaking over the years and while some are better than others, very few give concise actionable examples with diagrams and suggest exactly how and when they should be used. This is where Master Shots 2nd Edition by Christopher Kenworthy stands in a league of its own.

The sub title of the book promises “100 advanced camera techniques to get an expensive look on your low budget movie” and it delivers on its promise. While not all of the chapter titles fit the type of films that I am looking to make (Fight Scenes for example are not my cup of tea), all the techniques discussed in every chapter are relevant to all kinds of story telling and even chapters that I was thinking of skipping proved to be extremely relevant. This book truly does inspire me in ways that few others have done.

The book is structured in such a way that you could grab it while reading through a script and simply note sections that you want to review before shooting certain scenes. The shot suggestions may not be something that a filmmaker would exactly follow, but this book opens up multiple possibilities, many of which may have not been considered. From Entrances and Exits, Dramatic Shift, Revelation & Discoveries to Directing Attention, Dialogue Scenes, Arguments and Conflict, this book has shot techniques for everyone.

Master-Shots-2and3-coversBe warned though, once you have read this book, there are two more books by the same author in the Master Shots series that you will likely want to purchase as well. I plan to do reviews of Master Shots Volume 2: Shooting Great Dialogue Scenes and Master Shots Volume 3: The Director’s Vision in a future post.

Sincere thanks to Christopher Kenworthy for documenting the multitude of techniques he has learned and used over the years into an accessible book that every independent filmmaker should have on their book shelf. If I were asked to rate this book on a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it a solid 5. Highly recommended!

Click any of the book images for more information and pricing.

Filed Under: Filmmaking, Resources

Protected: Sandpoint Filmmakers Network Meeting Summary – December 13, 2014

December 14, 2014 by Aric Spence Leave a Comment

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Filed Under: Meeting Minutes

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