Our Blog
Blog
Blog
Three Innovations and Screening Guide
August 14, 2013
Yesterday I spent a glorious morning hiking the hills above the IONS campus (Institute for Noetic Sciences) contemplating how to make my next documentary seminar the best ever. But first…I want to give you this wonderful free guide, “How to Hold a Successful Documentary Screening”, at: https://newdocediting.com/client-resources/documentary_fil_rough_cut_screening Born out of deep soul searching and a love for creativity, here are two reasons why “Structuring the Three Act Documentary” (beginning on August 19th) is the best seminar you can take to craft a compelling documentary. (I’ll share the final innovation in my next email.) First, is your doc such a downer…
Read More...
Early Bird Registration Ends Today
August 8, 2013
Today is the last day to register at the early bird savings price for Structuring the Three Act Documentary. You can save $100 by registering today for this 5-week, information-packed seminar, which begins August 19th: https://newdocediting.com/products/structuring-the-three-act-documentary
Read More...
Structuring the Topic Driven Documentary
August 6, 2013
I hope you had a good weekend. Before I share information on how to structure a topic-driven documentary, please note that the early-bird registration for my new seminar “Structuring the Three-Act Documentary” ends in two days. Our last seminar sold out: https://newdocediting.com/products/structuring-the-three-act-documentary Topic-driven documentaries are often structured around ideas, rather than a character on a quest. Most of Michael Moore’s documentaries are good examples; they feature characters but are structured like an essay. These essay-style films tend to be organized in three “parts”, which I distinguish from the three “acts” of a character-driven film. There are several three-part templates popular…
Read More...
Focus Your Inciting Incident
August 1, 2013
Last week I had the extraordinary opportunity to interview more than 45 thought leaders for my PBS-targeted documentary about Barbara Marx Hubbard. During these interviews, I was reminded of a storytelling principle that will help focus your film’s Inciting Incident. As you may know, this important catalyst event sets off your protagonist’s quest. You can further define that quest through what I call the Protagonist’s Statement of Desire. This is a line or two in which the protagonist (or a related character, or the narrator) states what he or she is wanting. It’s a way of focusing your viewer on…
Read More...
New Documentary Seminar Starts In August
July 23, 2013
I’m pleased to announce a new virtual seminar, Structuring the Three Act Documentary. You’ll want to take this seminar if you are having trouble picturing your film’s structure. This five-week seminar begins August 19th, and you’ll want to register today to get $100 off the price. Note that my last seminar Structuring the Hybrid Documentary sold out, so don’t delay. I’m only accepting 15 participants to provide a quality experience. https://newdocediting.com/products/structuring-the-three-act-documentary
Read More...
How Long Should Your Documentary Be?
July 13, 2013
What’s the ideal length for a feature documentary? I get this question a lot. Frankly, I think the majority of documentaries that screen at small film festivals are about ten percent too long. When the audience begins to glaze over or feel restless, you’ve lost the opportunity to leave your viewer wanting more. So how long should a documentary be? As long as it needs to be. I first heard this truism from my mentor, Academy Award-winning editor Deborah Hoffmann, whose own personal documentary, Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter, was 44 minutes long. This unconventional length, which raised many eyebrows,…
Read More...
Editing an Inciting Sequence
July 8, 2013
One of the key dramatic devices of the Three Act Structure is the “inciting incident”, an event in Act One that kicks off the protagonist’s quest. For example, a medical diagnosis can kick off a desire to be cured (“My Crazy Sexy Cancer”). But with many quests in real life, there often is no sole motivating factor, or incident, but rather a culmination of circumstances. So how do you anchor Act One with an inciting event? One tact is to construct what I call an “inciting sequence“. Rather than relying on one specific event to catapult the protagonist on a…
Read More...
New Documentary Seminar Starting
June 29, 2013
At the request of former students, I’m pleased to announce a spanking new documentary seminar, beginning August 19th, which teaches filmmakers how to craft one of the most effective documentary structures. Is this class for you? If you’re feeling a bit lost directing or editing your film, you are the ideal participant. If you are confused about how to structure your documentary, you may have been tempted to separate your footage into three parts and then call each part an “act“. But without really knowing the unique purpose and specific functions of each act in the classic Three-Act structure, you’ll likely…
Read More...
Shout Out Your Documentary Thesis
June 24, 2013
Meandering structures usually stem from the director having failed to identify and declare the film’s central thesis. The central thesis is generally a simple idea, such as “big food companies don’t want you to know how poorly they treat the environment“. This statement, for example, is the central thesis for the wonderful documentary “Food, Inc.” While you may know what your film’s thesis statement is in your bones, that doesn’t help your viewer if you don’t set up your thesis statement to stand out in neon, to practically shout to your audience, “Listen up! Here’s the big idea!” I want…
Read More...
Birthday Sale on Documentary Consultations
June 17, 2013
In honor of my 52nd birthday, I am giving filmmakers a special offer. You can get one-on-one guidance for half the price for the length of your film project. With my “Lifetime Documentary Story Consulting Package”, we will collaborate over several consultations to determine the best structural and stylistic approach to convey your vision. Learn more here: https://newdocediting.com/services/story-consulting This offer is good for 1 week, so please email me if you are interested. Listen to what director Steve Most, who purchased the Lifetime Package from me and got his film “Fifty Children” on HBO this Spring, has to say: “I…
Read More...