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 →
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 →
A lot of people get confused about the difference between MiniDV and DVCAM, so we’ll break down the differences between them (and large format DV tapes) in this article.Read More →
This tip was provided by a journalism student: when calling up subjects or potential interviewees, always assume that they won’t be available between the hours of 11AM and 2PM to account for differing lunch schedules.Read More →
Have you ever put off getting b-roll and cutaways by telling yourself or your crew “we’ll just get these later…” You won’t!Read More →
Documentary films often have the rather vague goal of “social change.” That could mean any number of things depending on who you ask, but here are five tangible examples of doc-makers doing awesome stuff which definitely had an impact…Read More →
Interviewees don’t have to be present when you’re setting up lighting and camera equipment. In fact, it’s often better if they’re out of the room so you can concentrate and don’t have to bother with small-talk.Read More →
Film in general is unexplored; it has been around for less than 150 years. Now if we look at documentary film making it still hasn’t even taken hold in the mainstream in an art form that is less than 150 years old. How exciting!Read More →
When making festival submission screeners, don’t forget to write the title, your name, phone number and email address on the DVD itself, so it’ll be super easy for them to contact you.Read More →