Anyone here ever make a documentary [short] just to do it?
 

care to give some suggestions on how to do that/where to start? I'm camera ready, we've got some scene cards going.


It's with/about a close person to me who has Parkinson's disease.

Many years ago I was involved in making a short documentary about a local guy who was a successful chef who gave it up to start running a soup kitchen for the homeless. He was a very interesting, inspiring guy.

The movie ended up being about 20 minutes longs. I basically wanted to to show why he had decided to do this with his life then show what exactly he was doing and a little about his personal life.

I think it turned out pretty good, although when we were done there were some questions I wished I had asked and a few shots I wish we had gotten.

My advice would be to talk to a lot of people from the person's life. A person's friends, family, co-workers etc can give you a lot of insight in to who the person really is.

As far as where to start, I would say do it like you would a regular movie. Get an outline of the story you want to to tell then start coming up with ideas of the scenes/shots you will need to tell that story. Once you have a basic outline of how you want to tell his story and some ideas on what you will need to do that then start putting together lists of people you want to talk to and ideas for questions you want to ask them.

Since you already have the gear, know the topic and the person it's based on, the next step is to write out the basic storyline, or "outline", you want the doco to follow, including main points you want to cover, people you want to interview, locations, and any "aha moment" ideas you might have.

You want to plan out who's going to assist you, if anyone, and see what their availability is.

Based on that hard work you'll want to budget everything out, even if it's $300, just put it on paper so it's not just a floating number in your head.

After that's done you'll want to storyboard your shots, even if it's just writing them down shot for shot. Then schedule your shoots, even if it's just an opening shot. Be sure to keep in mind you really want some WOW moments if possible and dynamic scenarios, like interviewing someone in a provocative setting ( i.e. Alzheimers sufferer interviewed at the grade school, or college they went to )

That should get you started :thumbsup

I would go to your local collage and see if you can find some film students to help out.

Me with my music label made a short movie video just for fun so check it out:



also for some of the others made videos check here:

Videos « Vox Pop Arts

the music is also ours

and tell me what you think :thumbsup

Side question - is there any money to be made in small time documentaries? :)

I still watch that one about Paul Markham once a week. So good.

since you already have the subject and all the necessary tools needed, i will give you 10 points on how to go about your documentary.

1. keep the camera steady. if possible, use a tripod. don’t constantly zoom in & out or pan right to left.

2. for every scene or event you’re shooting, make sure to get different angles so that you’ll have choices in the editing process.

3. when you’re shooting an interview or a speech, make sure to notice what's in the background. you can either move the camera to get the best angle, move the subject in front of a good background or create a new background. ask yourself, does this background "support" this story visually?" is it a good backdrop for what is being discussed?

4. before heading out for a shoot, think about whether the story could lend itself to a time-lapse shot.

5. always make sure your subjects are well lit

6. anticipate action – this is one of those lessons that almost cannot be taught. It’s a skill that develops instinctively the more you shoot. Once you miss a few “money shots”, you’ll learn to start paying attention. a simple example of this is a baseball game. If you want to capture a player hitting the ball, you will need to anticipate that moment and begin recording a few seconds or minutes before. once you realize the ball has been pitched, it’s too late. you've missed the moment.

7. this is where artistic expression and style come into play, but in general, utilize the standard framing styles and rule of thirds in photography.

8. many amateur videographers or budget filmmakers don’t have the luxury of having an audio tech to hold a boom mic for them. often the case in budget film making, you are relying on the mic on top of your camera for sound. if that is the case, you will need to always be conscious of where that mic is relative to the sound you are trying to capture. if someone is talking, you will need to have the camera very close to that person, otherwise it will be annoying for the viewer to strain to hear what they are saying.

9. an image loses quality when you zoom. an image also tends to be shakier, especially on a hand-held shot, when zoomed in. so whenever possible, take your two legs and walk up to whatever it is you want a close-up of. it will look much cleaner and more professional.

10. a common tendency for amateurs is to shoot anything and everything. Since they don’t know what they’re doing, they err on the side of overshooting. in general, i have found that for every hour of professional footage, i end up using about a minute in the final production.

GOODLUCK :thumbsup

Not particularly. These days there are more options than there used to be. You can put it online and do pay per view or hope it gets enough views that you can get paid from YouTube. There may also be some small online distribution companies that might help you make a little more from it, but it is pretty hard to sell a short film of any kind (doc or fiction).

Free Paul markham!

Watch youtube. For camera tricks.

I'm the middle of shooting one now, about aquaponics.

hey, nice feedback and suggestions, thanks.

we're brainstorming some ideas, thinking of doing a timelapse day in the life of someone with serious Parkinsons but making it more tongue-in-cheek showing in a funny way all the daily struggles.

my friend is the actor playing santa in this old commercial, he's had abunch of bit parts in stuff and likes being in front of the cam.

Source: Top 10 Videography Tips