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Documentary Editing Tip #9: Biographical Arc
January 19, 2015
First up: If you’re directing a character-driven documentary, you’ll want to take our new seminar: Structuring the Three Act Documentary, which begins in less than a week! In 2012, I began directing a documentary about an 82-year-old visionary and was immediately confronted with a daunting question: how do you define a narrative arc over the life span of an individual? Today’s Documentary Editing Tip reveals the answer. I created a short video to reveal techniques employed in biographies ranging from William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe to Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightening: http://youtu.be/Z3FGZTyLfg8 If you can’t make it to…
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Last Day for Early Bird Registration
January 14, 2015
Today is the last day to register at the early bird price for our new seminar: Structuring the Three Act Documentary. Save $100 by registering within the next 24 hours at: Structuring the Three Act Documentary.
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Documentary Editing Tip #8: Transformation
January 12, 2015
I am thrilled that the Sundance Film Festival has selected to screen The Russian Woodpecker, the new documentary directed by our story consulting client Chad Gracia. Chad’s film is highly dramatic, a great case study for constructing a strong narrative drive. If you’re working to create a highly watchable film, you’ll want to check out our new seminar: Structuring the Three Act Documentary. More at the end of this email. Today’s Editing Tip will help you to depict a character’s transformation–by using what screenwriters call the Protagonist’s Statement of Transformation. It’s similar to the Protagonist’s Statement of Desire (see our…
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Documentary Editing Tip #7: Protagonist Desire
January 8, 2015
Over the holidays I watched a number of impressive, Academy-nominated documentaries that incorporate a three-act structure. My next several “Editing Tips” newsletters will showcase examples from these films, as well as invite you to join our upcoming seminar: Structuring the Three Act Documentary. Does your documentary lack a strong narrative drive? Today’s editing tip is called the Protagonist’s Statement of Desire…it’s a great technique for focusing your viewer’s attention on the narrative arc. The Protagonist’s Statement of Desire is generally a sentence or two in which the protagonist simply says what they want. This succinct declaration of the protagonist’s quest…
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New Documentary Storytelling Seminar
January 5, 2015
I hope your holidays were restorative. I want to help you ground whatever New Year’s resolutions you’ve made about your documentary by offering a new storytelling seminar. Beginning January 26th, Structuring the Three Act Documentary will give you the theoretical grounding that helped several of my clients last year win awards, including two Emmy nominations. You will want to take this three-week virtual seminar if you are currently shooting a character-driven documentary. You will learn how to creatively direct scenes, such as an inciting incident or third-act climax, that will shape a powerful narrative arc. You’ll also want to take…
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Where Filmmakers Should Spend Their Money
November 1, 2014
I hope you’re having a good weekend. First off, I’m offering the one remaining spot in our upcoming Inner Circle for $2600 (rather than $3979). You will receive two story consultations rather then three. Email me immediately if you are interested because this final, discounted spot will go quickly: Karen@kareneverett.com I am offering this option because I understand how many filmmakers are caught in the Catch-22 situation of needing money to create trailers and needing a trailer to generate funding. After two decades in the independent documentary world, I’ve come to believe that the #1 place to spend your money…
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Editing Tip #6: Narration for Biographies
October 31, 2014
Are you editing a biography? If so, consider a cutting-edge narration technique that helped The Most Dangerous Man in America get nominated for an Academy Award. This film about Daniel Ellsberg, the man who exposed the Pentagon Papers, conveys terrific dramatic appeal because Ellsberg narrates the documentary himself. Directors Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith scripted the first-person narration and then asked Ellsberg to record it. The results are breathtakingly intimate and dramatic. What do you do if your film’s subject is dead? That was the challenge facing the directors of Awake: The Life of Yogananda, an unconventional and gripping biography…
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Inner Circle Early Bird Deadline
October 28, 2014
Tomorrow is the deadline for registering for the upcoming Inner Circle. I’m excited to help six filmmakers! Save by registering today at: New Doc Inner Circle 8.0
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Tribeca Seeks Character-Driven Documentaries
October 27, 2014
The Tribeca Film Institute’s Documentary Fund has a unique call that may be a good fit for many of you. They are seeking “exceptional character-driven…projects that sit outside of the social issue landscape.” To help you prepare for their Nov. 5th deadline, I am giving away the first two modules of my popular seminar “Editing the Character-Driven Documentary” (normally $197). Whether or not you are applying to Tribeca, or even making a character-driven documentary, your film will benefit from learning: 1) how to craft a powerful film open, and 2) how to sustain dramatic tension during Act Two. You can…
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Editing Tip #5: Intercutting Story Arcs
October 25, 2014
I made a mistake in editing my PBS documentary I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of Marlon Riggs. I told the story of this controversial black gay filmmaker chronologically. Story-wise, it worked. But stylistically, the first half of the film plodded along with talking heads, archival footage, and photographs. Visually, it was lifeless. The second half, which followed Marlon’s contemporary quest, powered along with observational footage of my protagonist creating soul-searching art at a furious pace, to outstrip the toll AIDS was taking on his life. For my next biography, about an 85-year old woman who believes the future…
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