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Making Documentaries

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Maria Leonida
Maria Leonida

A short guide on crucial questions one should think of and answer while preparing and researching a documentary.

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+A short documentary crash course. Maria Leonida maria@karposontheweb.org www.karposontheweb.org
+ What is it? Documentary can be a ? multi-modal ? strong ? informative ? expressive medium and
+ Think of ALL possible ingredients ? still images (photographs) ? moving ? sounds, ? titles, ? and image (video) music, speech effects MAINLY story, characters, rhythm
+ What makes a documentary creative? ? YOUR point of view! ? what is your personal opinion? ? what story can you tell better than others? ? what would you like the audience to think, learn and feel?
+ Step 1. How to start? ? Be able to answer ¡°what, were, who and why¡±
+ Research ? What is your theme? ? What story will you say? ? Which are locations? Who are characters? the ? Answer these questions as SPECIFIC and PERSONALY as possible for the area or issue you are studying. ? 1 sentence for each question! the ? Exercise 1
+ Step 2. Do documentaries have a cast? ? Watch and listen carefully to your subjects
+ ¡°Casting¡± ? Are the subjects charming or interesting? Will you remember them when you go back home? Exercise 2 ? ? Did you learn something from them? What? ? How are they connected to your story? Make a logbook of your characters, answering the previous questions.
+ Step 3. Do locations matter? ? Look at your locations: they ¡°speak¡± too!
+ ¡°Scanning¡± sites for shooting o Look carefully and find interesting points of view. o Think of the time of the day that they look more interesting. o Find details that reveal your theme, e.g. a footpath sign could mean ? broken trunks of trees could mean ? Exercise 3 ? Find 5 important details that ¡°tell their own story¡± which CAN become a still image with your camera. people are involved in this form of tourism/ recreation misuse, or building process or¡­
+ Step 4. Does action matter? ? What part of the action helps me understand better the issues I want to show?
+ ¡°Breaking down¡± activities ? ? Think of the action happening in front of you (e.g., people walking, cars parking¡­) What exactly doing?Why? are ? they Is it important for you? ? Exercise 4 E.g if you see: ? Think HOW you can shoot the actions involved I your theme. (point of view, distance, combination of shots) students listeningthen ask? is it regular? who does it? people walking in groups ? are they tourists, university students, is it normal or exceptional?
+ Step 5. The role of sound ? Sound is a language by itself: it may communicate fear, joy, tension, anxiety and many other feelings.
+ Close your eyes and think ? What sounds do your locations have? Write them down ? Which have a dramaturgical power? ? Which can be juxtaposed to the images and actions you have observed?
+ Step 6. How to structure our story? ? What connections can we make among the elements we have?
+ Develop in at least 3-4 scenes ? Put all your facts, events and characters in an imaginary line. ? Think of an introduction, a development and a subversion.
+ There are many ways to build a documentary story¡­ ? ? ? find the one that suits your subject and style, but¡­ keep the connections among scenes develop each scene enough to be self contained
+ Technical tips ? Use tripods or somewhere to keep the camera stable when you can ? Use external mikes for better quality of sound ? Use headphones to control the kind of sound recorded ? Make tests both for image and sound ? Unload your material at the end of a shooting day and keep a backup. ? Name the digital folders according to location, scene and date
+ So¡­go ahead and try! CU soon Maria

More Related Content

Making Documentaries

  • 1. +A short documentary crash course. Maria Leonida maria@karposontheweb.org www.karposontheweb.org
  • 2. + What is it? Documentary can be a ? multi-modal ? strong ? informative ? expressive medium and
  • 3. + Think of ALL possible ingredients ? still images (photographs) ? moving ? sounds, ? titles, ? and image (video) music, speech effects MAINLY story, characters, rhythm
  • 4. + What makes a documentary creative? ? YOUR point of view! ? what is your personal opinion? ? what story can you tell better than others? ? what would you like the audience to think, learn and feel?
  • 5. + Step 1. How to start? ? Be able to answer ¡°what, were, who and why¡±
  • 6. + Research ? What is your theme? ? What story will you say? ? Which are locations? Who are characters? the ? Answer these questions as SPECIFIC and PERSONALY as possible for the area or issue you are studying. ? 1 sentence for each question! the ? Exercise 1
  • 7. + Step 2. Do documentaries have a cast? ? Watch and listen carefully to your subjects
  • 8. + ¡°Casting¡± ? Are the subjects charming or interesting? Will you remember them when you go back home? Exercise 2 ? ? Did you learn something from them? What? ? How are they connected to your story? Make a logbook of your characters, answering the previous questions.
  • 9. + Step 3. Do locations matter? ? Look at your locations: they ¡°speak¡± too!
  • 10. + ¡°Scanning¡± sites for shooting o Look carefully and find interesting points of view. o Think of the time of the day that they look more interesting. o Find details that reveal your theme, e.g. a footpath sign could mean ? broken trunks of trees could mean ? Exercise 3 ? Find 5 important details that ¡°tell their own story¡± which CAN become a still image with your camera. people are involved in this form of tourism/ recreation misuse, or building process or¡­
  • 11. + Step 4. Does action matter? ? What part of the action helps me understand better the issues I want to show?
  • 12. + ¡°Breaking down¡± activities ? ? Think of the action happening in front of you (e.g., people walking, cars parking¡­) What exactly doing?Why? are ? they Is it important for you? ? Exercise 4 E.g if you see: ? Think HOW you can shoot the actions involved I your theme. (point of view, distance, combination of shots) students listeningthen ask? is it regular? who does it? people walking in groups ? are they tourists, university students, is it normal or exceptional?
  • 13. + Step 5. The role of sound ? Sound is a language by itself: it may communicate fear, joy, tension, anxiety and many other feelings.
  • 14. + Close your eyes and think ? What sounds do your locations have? Write them down ? Which have a dramaturgical power? ? Which can be juxtaposed to the images and actions you have observed?
  • 15. + Step 6. How to structure our story? ? What connections can we make among the elements we have?
  • 16. + Develop in at least 3-4 scenes ? Put all your facts, events and characters in an imaginary line. ? Think of an introduction, a development and a subversion.
  • 17. + There are many ways to build a documentary story¡­ ? ? ? find the one that suits your subject and style, but¡­ keep the connections among scenes develop each scene enough to be self contained
  • 18. + Technical tips ? Use tripods or somewhere to keep the camera stable when you can ? Use external mikes for better quality of sound ? Use headphones to control the kind of sound recorded ? Make tests both for image and sound ? Unload your material at the end of a shooting day and keep a backup. ? Name the digital folders according to location, scene and date
  • 19. + So¡­go ahead and try! CU soon Maria