Comments for Live the Dream Films

Comment on Producing an Unscripted Documentary by Alan Mendelsohn

Alan Mendelsohn — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:37:12 +0000

When you have transcripts of every interview and you have highlighted the sound bites , clips that are the gems put them in chapter headings which resemble the flow of your documentary. Then take each chapter heading and put the sound bites in an order that makes a narrative sense. If you have verite scenes do the same you should have a separate file for this as well. Then a file for “B” roll for each chapter. Then you will have a narrative arc that the doc will follow. Put all the clips into one first assembly in the edit suite. Screen the footage . Take out obvious duplication. Leave it longer . Then you have a framework for the piece. Then put in the verite scenes in each chapter . I often as a guideline use chapter headings then eliminate them. A chapter heading guides as to what belongs in that chapter Then put in the “B” roll to cover some of the sound bite/interview clips. If you have archive you should have some kind of shot list but with archive allow the editor to screen through it since it is a cut piece he may have to steal shots from various archive to create a montage or sequence.Take out the chapter headings and screen the documentary. If it is clear and has an arc and flow then you have your Rembrandt pencil drawing and it is time to get artistic. These chapters should always relate to the theme or characters you are trying to illuminate. Now that you can see what it looks like you can paint it with all the artistic talent you have. It is a very deconstructionist approach. Some people just like putting it together as they go along and if you are really good you can do that. But the danger is you will lose th thread of the documentary. This allows for clarity , artistic talent and if your first assembly doesn’t do it for you well it is easy to move around. Or decide if your chapters are either in the wrong order or you may need to change drop or add a chapter. Once you have an assembly that has resonance poignancy and clarity you can then make the documentary sing by using whatever production techniques you want to use.

Comment on Using the iPad for Social Filmmaking by BiBi DeAngelo

BiBi DeAngelo — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 20:05:41 +0000

Informative Information… thank you for sharing………

Comment on Interview Techniques for Social Filmmakers by Dr. J

Dr. J — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:40:29 +0000

Creating a moment of silence seems to be a very common characteristic used be in best practice interview techniques. However, your addition of the eye contact would seem to amply the moment, a type of dramatic enablement. Very interesting

Comment on Interview Techniques for Social Filmmakers by boyd hendriks

boyd hendriks — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:26:06 +0000

Very interesting indeed. I use a few additional points myself during interviews. I copied them from negotiation skills, a very fruitfull source.
- apply active listening: smiling, nodding, frowning, and all that in the right timing. It encourages and brings more to the surface
- Within an interview there must be at least one long silence in order to go beyond the pre-tought answers and enter the real depth. Break eye contact during that moment and pretend you need this as well by looking away full of tought. Often the content of an interview doubles afterward.
- Share someting else, like the taste of a glass of wine, good cheese and talk about the experience of that sense. It brings the conversation to a certain depth without touching upon the topic without feeling manupliative.

regards
Boyd

Comment on Free Online Editing for Social Filmmaking – Part 2 by Andreas

Andreas — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:01:24 +0000

Hi,
Thanks for the great benchmark on available editing tools.

To make the information correct there are a few things missing about the JayCut video editor which I think you should add.

Output formats:
FLV (H264) + XViD + MPEG4 including support for IPhones and IPads

Max upload: Unlimited
Max video size: 250MB per file

Perhaps it is useful to mention the ability to export movies directly to YouTube as it is the main hub for video distribution?

Thanks for a great article!

Comment on Free Online Editing for Social Filmmaking by Free Online Editing for Social Filmmaking – Part 2 « Live the Dream Films

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:39:56 +0000

[...] 7, 2010 by Dr. J This is a brief continuation of the “Free Online Editing for Social Filmmaking” post. Several readers have asked questions about the capabilities of Jaycut and how this [...]

Comment on 10+ Essential Tools for Social Filmmaking by retnol

retnol — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:52:05 +0000

thankyou for the information

Comment on Ideas Just Waiting For You! by Dr. J

Dr. J — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:06:33 +0000

Denis – Thanks. We will look into it.

Comment on Ideas Just Waiting For You! by DENIS BOB THOLLEY

DENIS BOB THOLLEY — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:42:04 +0000

disability group in sierra leone west africa is presently looking out for fundinds on skills training programmes

Comment on PopTech Bumper for Maine Coast TV 7 by curtabrams

curtabrams — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:41:23 +0000

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