Documenting the home stretch.

One week of editing was all that stood between me and being done with this documentary. I realized during this project that I really don't have a huge desire to tackle another documentary. I can't imagine tackling a documentary feature film. Tons and tons of work. Seems like it would be a labor of love... Now if it was something I was completely passionate about, I bet I could work on it. (I know I am completely contradicting myself right now). The other issues regarding docs are that they don't garner a huge audience, typically don't make money, and take a couple of years to make. A concert doc. would be pretty cool... I should start contacting artists that are coming into town.

With editing completed and a few lectures thrown in for good measure (paper chase, markers, sub-clips) I entered the Thunderdome that is group critique. This go round was led by Jeremiah Birnbaum, who is the other co-founder of the school. I do believe this was my first official class with him. He is super laid back and very welcoming.... I just wish my project was better being that this is his first exposure to my work. Speaking of which, we watched it and all the complaints I had myself were shared by others. Not enough B-Roll and main interview out-of-focus.

Lesson learned. Now time to move on to the CHALLENGE FILM!!!!

Back in the saddle again!

The first week of December brought us one night of lecture and then production starts on our first documentary. Our class was setting up and shooting B-Roll footage on our doc. The class was led by Stephen. We took a table and put a bunch of personal artifacts on it trying to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible. We then lit the table, set up the camera, and then set up a monitor. The new piece of equipment we used for this lesson was the slider. The slider is essentially a 2-3 foot bar that you set the camera on and it acts like a dolly. This is what it looks like. Very cool little tool. Makes your shots a little more dynamic.

Before we jumped headfirst into production the school organized a Mixer/Lecture on Thursday the 4th. The speaker was James Savoca, filmmaker and instructor at school, and he discussed making indie films and financing. According to Christopher, SFSDF Marketing Director, the Mixer was a huge success. There was turnout of over 100 people and I think they were expecting between 30-50. The above pic was from the lecture. It was great to make some contacts which is incredibly vital to the industry. It was also cool to have some of my friends come out and see what I've been up to. I am in the process of creating a Film Society/lecture series out at school where we will bring in Bay Area Filmmakers, let them screen their project, and then have a Q & A where we discuss the specifics of their career and getting the movie made. The group is called the Friends of Alfred Film Society and I presented it at the Mixer. We are trying to have our first meeting in Jan. or Feb. '09!

With production underway I ran camera for Adi and Nitin and then did lighting for Ephantus. Docs are interesting and a lot of times you are at the mercy of the set or the subject. We filmed on location and that was a first for us. It actually all worked out well. My documentary subject is Sue Pemberton. She is a friend who does whale and seal rescue up and down the coast and then is involved in the animal's rehabat the Marine Mammal Center. The center is closed to the public but we were allowed to film there. We sat down with her and did a one hour interview and then got some great B-Roll of her working with the animals in their tanks. it was great being that close and filming the animals.

My other B-Roll I captured was animals in their natural environment and then pics that Sue gave me. The pics are "graduation" photos of the animals that are successfully rehabbed and then released in to the wild. My day filming the animals at the beach was one of my favorite days so far. Jen and I loaded up the car and drove down the coast. We captured most of our footage at Moss Beach during low tide. They have a lot of Harbor Seals there. I did most of the shooting using a Figg Rig and a tri-pod. Driving up and down the coast, stopping at beaches, filming, eating and drinking good food.... it was indeed a good day.

The last day before Winter Break was classroom work with William. We had a test! Crazy... It was actually a little weird being tested. i know this is school, but in the months since school started we have yet to have a test. Viva La Art School! haha. Our test was a one-on-one with William where he tried to stump us using Final Cut Pro commands... I did pretty well.

Now I am off for a few weeks! Happy Holidays!!

Truth on film.

With our first project in the can we moved on to our next assignment. Documentaries. While I love watching them, I am not overly interested in making one. I do have the desire to make a concert doc. That would be wicked cool. 

Monday night's class was unique in the fact that this was maybe the first lecture we had regarding film history. We covered the history of documentaries starting with the Lumiere Brothers in 1904. Other documentarians that we discussed were: Robert Flaherty, Dziga Vertov, Leni Riefenstahl, The Maysles Brothers, Fred Wiseman, Barbara Kopple, Ken Burns, Michale Moore, Ross McElwee, & Mark Kitchell. Along with specific filmmakers we also covered Direct Cinema vs Cinema Verite, Post Modern Docs, and Reality TV. Being a huge movie nerd I enjoyed this lecture quite a bit. I could easily sit and discuss film for hours. Post lecture we watched Errol Morris' The Thin Blue Line and followed that with a discussion of the film. Another first for us. 

Intro to Doc. Filmmaking was covered on Tuesday of this week. We covered both audio and video and where to place your subject and should they look at camera or off camera etc. Also covered was B-Roll. B-roll is defined as supplemental or alternate footage inter cut with the main shot in an interview or a documentary. A-roll consists of your subject talking and B-roll is video or the subject that your interviewee is discussing, to put it simply. 

The Documentary Treatment was our next discussion on Tuesday night. This is similar to writing a screenplay for a fictional movie. It is your outline of what you wish to cover . Your treatment, style, and intended audience. We have to prepare and turn a treatment in for approval in this project. This is the guidelines for our documentary:

-Portrait or a family member or friend. 

-One 10-hour shooting day. 

-Interview one person and shoot no more than a 60-minute tape. 

-Include B-roll. 

-Can be on location or at school. 

-Length= 5-7 minutes. 

Wednesday the 18th was a writing/development lab devoted to preparation of our doc. treatment. 

Thursday brought us some fresh blood! A new instructor was introduced to us. His name is Darcell Walker and he spent a few hours with us covering audio. This was only our second in-depth audio lecture and it was incredibly informative and helpful. Darcel has a ton of experience in sound and is still currently working in the field. We spent a lot of time with learning lavaliers and portable sound mixers. Post lecture we took the camera and sound kits and recorded three scenes in three different locations while using both boom mics and lavs and adjusted for room sounds. It was a great exercise and showed us that we could capture great audio. 

The last lecture of the week was the Documentary Camera on Saturday. This was a rather intense day where we covered an array of items including: lenses (wide-angle, polarizing filters, promist filters), jib-arms, fig-rigs, and the slider. It's always a blast to get your hands on new "toys" that we will have at our disposal. I especially liked the fig-rig. This is is steering wheel-shaped camera mount which is named after it creator, director Mike Figgis. It is a handheld camera stabilizer that allows the operator a lot more freedom in moving the camera around the set. Stephen led this lecture and once again ran us through some much needed 3-point lighting exercises. 

Lots of ground covered this week...