Our very own Linda Garcia-Merchant is screening her feature documentary, Las Mujeres De La Caucus Chicana on Wednesday, November 12 at 6-8 PM at Loyola College’s Sullivan Student Center, Glavin Auditorium 6239 N Sheridan Road (Granville exit on RedLine is closer than Loyola Stop) Please show your support by attendingRead More →
Sometimes the best research comes not from a book or news article but instead from an off-camera background interview.Read More →
Since Larry Charles and Bill Maher’s new “documentary” about religion is so shamelessly polemical, I think it’s fitting for my review to match its pitiless contempt. Make no mistake, Religulous is an ill-conceived, poorly crafted film through and through. There are scenes when the film lives up to its promiseRead More →
Are you a doc center alum or do you know one? Shoot us an email with what you’re up to these days (vivadocumentary@gmail.com) and we’ll post it the next time we do one of these posts…Read More →
In interview situations, don’t be afraid to ask your subject repetitive or overlapping questions, as having multiple choices can be helpful later on when you edit. Warn them that you’ll do so first though.Read More →
The “Super Size Me” doc-maker talks about his latest feature film.Read More →
Recently, Juanita Brown, one of the filmmakers behind “Traces of the Trade” came into Columbia’s Documentary III class to talk about her film. With her, she brought Tom DeWolf, one of the subjects featured in the documentary.Read More →
Mario Contreras writes, “Every once in a while I subject myself to stuff that I know I’ll hate in the interest of seeing what other people find entertaining…” This time he chose the new anti-Michael Moore spoof “An American Carol.”Read More →
Never seat a subject in an swivel chair during an interview. They’ll be moving around the whole time and you’ll never maintain their facial axis.Read More →
When it comes to labeling your camera originals, the key is having a consistent format. How do award-winning local nonfiction production houses like Chicago’s own Towers Productions label their tapes? Towers has a huge on-site archive, and they’ve got thousands of tapes to keep track of, so you better believe they’ve got a coherent labeling system.Read More →