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Opportunity for Documentary Directors
August 31, 2011
As you may know, I teach a popular weekend seminar for the San Francisco Film Society called “Directing the Character Driven Documentary”. What you may not know is this information-packed seminar is available as a home study course. I’m offering a special promotion if you are interested in buying the online version of the seminar. Why the promo? Because after teaching this class two weekends ago, I’m reminded how valuable the content is for documentary filmmakers who are trying to figure out how to tell their story. I watched my students strengthen and frequently transform their film concepts. You might…
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What’s So Bleeping Funny?!
August 22, 2011
We filmmakers aren’t strangers to the concept of using humor as “comic relief”. Editing a funny scene after a particularly difficult scene allows the viewer a moment of respite, to regain their bearings. For example, In Rick Trank’s documentary “I Have Never Forgotten You”, about the life and legacy of the famed Nazi hunter and humanitarian Simon Wiesenthal, Rick provided much needed comic relief by using Simon’s quirkiness as well as his fondness for joke-telling to relieve the trauma of scenes about the Holocaust. Many other celebrated documentary filmmakers, including Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock, have mastered the art of…
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Getting Motivated to Write Documentary Narration
August 10, 2011
I’m going to share two strategies for writing documentary narration, but first I want to announce two exciting educational opportunities for documentary filmmakers. First, learn important strategies for crafting a great documentary by downloading (for free) my recent radio interview with Paula Guenon on LA Talk Radio at: http://www.latalkradio.com/Paula.php Second, I’ll be teaching my popular weekend seminar at the San Francisco Film Society on August 13 and 14. Get in-depth instruction on how to craft your film with this popular two-day course, “Structuring the Character-Driven Documentary”. Register at: http://www.sffs.org/classes-and-workshops/upcoming-classes-and-workshops.aspx If you’re not in the Bay Area, you can get the…
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Leveraging the Big Bash Climax
August 2, 2011
Recently I was hired by a husband and wife team to join a big documentary crew in a Calcutta. Our task was to capture on camera what could be the film’s climax scene, though I feared that the happy occasion might fall flat as a riveting climax. Specifically, we were to cover the unveiling of a new private school on the day in which students from one of the poorest city’s on earth would receive their first books and pens. Presumably, it was a happy scene, but I knew from experience that the tremendous time and resources (three camera crews)…
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Editing the Character-Driven Documentary
July 16, 2011
I just returned from a big shoot in Haiti. In fact, my vacation in Alaska got interrupted by a call to help the crew conduct interviews in a way that will ensure a well-structured film. If you haven’t seen my recent two-part series about conducting documentary interviews, go to my blog at: https://newdocediting.com/2011/06/how-to-conduct-documentary-interviews-part-1/ It’s good to be back, and I’m excited to share two developments. First, if you need an editor or will be soon, please let me know. We have two very talented editors who will be finishing projects this month. When you hire a New Doc Editing editor,…
Read More...Declaring Your Documentary’s Central Thesis
July 6, 2011
In celebration of my 50th birthday, I’m taking a cruise to Alaska. During my vacation, I want to share with you one of my most popular and useful blog postings from 2010. Many filmmakers wrote in to say how valuable they found this structural technique. Have you ever watched a documentary that meandered so much you wondered if the filmmaker was on her own little acid trip? Most of the topic-based documentaries that are showcased at the big festivals, screened theatrically and/or broadcast on television (“Supersize Me”, “Religulous” and “Who Killed The Electric Car?”) don’t suffer from a meandering structure.…
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How to Conduct Documentary Interviews, Part 2
June 29, 2011
I’m excited to share my own special interviewing technique, which will provide you with succinct answers that you can use in post-production to structure your film. This blog is part 2 of my series on conducting extraordinary interviews with your characters and experts. After you conduct ninety percent of your interview using techniques designed to get full-bodied answers (see last week’s blog at https://newdocediting.com/2011/06/how-to-conduct-documentary-interviews-part-1), it’s time to switch gears. You’ve already gotten the meaty, thoughtful answers you need to make sense of your film’s story or material. Now you want to elicit powerful one-liners that you can use to set…
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How to Conduct Documentary Interviews, Part 1
June 22, 2011
Last month one of my story consulting clients flew across the country so I could interview her for her personal documentary. We knew we would use parts of the interview as the film’s chief storytelling voice, so eliciting answers we could use as narration in post-production was particularly important. Preparing for the interview, I employed two effective techniques that I want to share with you here. The first, which I’ll share this week, comes from PBS producer Jon Else, a co-producer for the award-winning “Eyes on the Prize” series. The second is my own invention, having helped hundreds of filmmakers…
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Talented Editor Available
June 15, 2011
If you’re approaching post-production and looking for an editor, consider hiring one of the best editors in the business! He just finished cutting a documentary that premiered at the prestigious Hot Docs Film Festival, and we’re looking for the next right project. When you work with us, you get an editor who is well-versed in my storytelling expertise, as well as one hour per week of free story consulting from me. You get two minds for the price of one! Although this editor is based in New York, we frequently edit documentaries virtually, meaning you can live anywhere in the…
Read More...Cut Your Documentary Until It Bleeds
June 8, 2011
I recently heard a PBS producer use the phrase “cut until it bleeds” to refer to the often painful post-production process. If you’re editing a documentary, chances are you’ve already begun cutting out some treasured sound bites and scenes. Good for you. In my opinion, ninety percent of documentaries that make it to a film festival could use another 10-15 percent of the footage cut out. That’s why I was so pleased when our story-consulting client Robert James showed me his completed short, “Library of Dust”. At 14 minutes, this compelling documentary short manages to intercut at least five storylines…
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