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Make Purposeful Progress on Your Documentary
October 11, 2011
Film director Katie Teague approached me several months ago with a common problem that many directors face. She had shot most of her principal photography for her documentary about the faltering U.S. economy, but she didn’t know how to organize her footage in a way that best conveyed her vision. In “Money and Life,” she wanted to alert viewers to the deeper meaning behind our financial crises. Like many filmmakers, Katie could have spent several months in post-production rearranging her soundbites and essentially going in circles. But Katie is a thoughtful filmmaker, so she made two purposeful moves. First, she…
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Rise Above the Details of Your Documentary
October 5, 2011
Have you lost sight of your film’s vision? One of the biggest challenges to clear directorial vision, particularly after you’ve begun shooting, is getting bogged down in the day-to-day tasks and shot-by-shot minutia of your film. So today I’m offering two resources that will help you rise above your film’s details. First, whether you’re about to begin organizing your footage or can benefit from cleaning up your current messy bin organization, check out my free video tutorial on “Organizing Your Footage”. This 34-minute complementary video reveals our industry’s best practices, derived from top editors. I’ll show you how to organize…
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Free Critique of Your Documentary Footage
October 3, 2011
Have you wondered what first impressions your documentary-in-progress is sending to prospective funders and eventually viewers? If you’re curious about what others might really think, I invite you to let a world-class professional story editor be your film’s image consultant. For the next few weeks, I’m offering 20 documentary filmmakers a complimentary mini-story consulting session. Send me up to five minutes of your footage, and I will critique what’s working, what’s not, and how to improve your film. If you are interested in this offer, I suggest you send me one of the following: Your trailer or Kickstarter/IndieGoGo campaign (your…
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Lock In Your Documentary Structure
September 28, 2011
I hope you’re having a good week! First, a quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day to receive early-bird pricing for our next Inner Circle, which begins October 15th. Learn more at: https://newdocediting.com/land/innercircle/ Now onto the main question…how decisive are you feeling about your documentary’s structure? Without a clear vision, your film is unlikely to get funded. And even if you manage to screen a completed documentary, viewers will squirm and then surrender in confusion if they can’t discern where you’re going–or at least have confidence that you know where you’re going! Here are four steps for locking in…
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Improving Your Signature Film Style
September 19, 2011
What separates great documentaries from mediocre ones? A good story, certainly, or at least a well-designed structure. But equally important, since film is a visual medium, your documentary’s signature style, or “look”, can make or break its appeal. If you’re like most filmmakers, you’ve probably already adopted some standard stylistic choices including interviews, vérité footage, and possibly title cards. But how can you improve upon a signature style that will not only make your film stand out for funders, but reinforce your film’s message for viewers? In my Inner Circle, I recently worked with a filmmaker to brainstorm an animation…
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Invite Your Viewers to Read the Screen
September 12, 2011
Today’s editing tip is a simple one, of which far too many filmmakers and editors are unaware, leaving viewers like me befuddled. But first, two quick announcements. I’m beginning a new Inner Circle on October 15th, one month from today. If you’re interested in finding out more about this transformative six-month mastermind program, limited to five qualified filmmakers, e-mail me or click here for early bird pricing registration. You’ll save $400 if you register soon: https://newdocediting.com/land/innercircle/ Second, if your documentary features strong characters, join our free tele-seminar “Editing Character Transformation in Your Documentary” on September 20, 2011, 5-5:30 pm PST.…
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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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