|
6 Ways to Open your Documentary Film
Greetings!
Hope
you
find
this
helpful
in
both
planning
and
editing
your
documentary.
Look
forward
to
seeing
you
here
in
San
Francisco
for
one
of
our
workshops.
Aron
Ranen
Instructor
DVworkshops
Contact:
info@dvworkshops.com
(415)
820-9622
Up
Coming
Workshops
4
Day
DV
Crash
Course
October
11-14
10am-7pm
$495
or....
Oct
11
One
Day
Camera/Lighting
$95
Oct
11 &
12
Camera/Lighting
only
$295
Oct
13 &
14
Final
Cut
Pro
Class
only
$295
- Two Days of Hands-on Final Cut Pro training
- The Grammar of Film Editing
- Professional Lighting
- Camera & Audio
- Five Elements of Documentary
- Location Shooting & Critique
- Documentary & Corporate Communication styles are explored and demonstrated.
Info
Request
form,
more
details
.please
click
here
6-Day
Documentary
/ DV
Journalist
workshop
February
16-21,
2009
$995
- A hands-on class in which each participant works on their own documentary here in San Francisco.
|
|
SIX
DOCUMENTARY
OPENINGS
from
DVworkshops.com
class
material
|
1.
COLD
OPEN
- The film opens right in the middle of full scale action. This can be a television news report, your subject in the middle of a altercation, an arrest, a birth, a wedding, a sales call, a radio talk show..a dramatic moment from your footage, perhaps the best stuff you have.
- Many fiction movies open with dramatic cold openings..grab your attention... then work backwards in the story telling. You can use this in documentary.
- When you are watching your footage, DO NOT get stuck in the LOGIC mode..be open to the ENTERTAINMENT MODE. Don't bury your best stuff at the end of your film..just because it doesn't make "logical sense" to put it up front..TRY IT.... YOU CAN DO IT!
- It is easy to "back story" out of a cold opening, you simply entertain your audience with your story question...How did this character/subject end up in this situation?...During this movie you will show us... and we will watch...to see the answer to your story question.
(
Moving
this
scene
from
the
middle
of
the
film
to
the
open
helped
set
up
my
story
question)
In
Summary.
A
cold
opens
acts
as
an
attention
grabber
and
It
offers
you
an
opportunity
to
put
your
best
material
up
front.
|
2.
SOUND-UPS
- "Sound-ups" are quick interview clips, from a number of different people... at the top of your film....Some editors like to intersperse images/music between these interview segments.
- For Example. Your documentary has five main subjects..you grab an on-camera Interview clip from each person, than edit them one after another....some editors may place images/sound between them to allow "breathing room" between each person's statement.
- Many editors don't even show the faces of these quick sound bites, they just layer the interview clip's audio under other images (scenic images, an event unfolding etc..).
In
Summary,
Sound-Ups
are
a
great
way
to
introduce
your
story
AND
the
characters
in
your
documentary..use
this
if
you
have
great
on-camera
personalities,
and/or
amazing
verbal
content.
|
3.
VISUAL
MONTAGE
open
- In class I joke about this...calling it the DIRTY RIVER OPENING...because you can take a helicopter shot of a dirty river...throw music and titles over it...and people love it.
- Never underestimate the power of the image...if your film has stunning visuals, or deep emotional shots... opening with music, and visuals will set your mood and story question expectations.
- Footage slowed down can be very effective in these openings...dissolving your text over this....XYZ Productions presents....A film by....Directed by......all over nice Slo-Mo images.
In Summary, Displaying your graphics & titles over images and music works 99% of the time..but try other stuff too.
|
4.
SLOW
REVEAL
- Don't want to give away your movie at the beginning?
- ..you can seduce people into your story question. Like an outstretched hand gesturing for the viewer to come forward....you begin with slow fade up from black.. reveal a glimpse of an image, fade to black again.. than slowly fade up to another detail... without showing the big picture..than you reveal the full scene.. and you have successfully drawn the viewer in... with out using a hammer approach.
- For example you can begin with details from a fashion show...heels on the carpet...a spray of hair relaxer....nervous hands in a close up...then close up of a hand on the sound board as it pumps up the volume and you reveal the models coming out on the catwalk.
- FOR EXAMPLE In the documentary MAYA LIN: A STRONG CLEAR VISION , which examines the architect of tithe Vietnam memorial. The director Freida Lee Mock creates a emotional open with slow mo close ups of people crying.. flowers in hands....men on crutches. people hugging, a finger on the memorial...than it reveals the wide shot of the memorial itself
In
Summary,
The
slow
reveal
is a
way
to
seduce
your
viewer
into
your
documentary
instead
of
using
a
hammer
approach....BUT
REMEMBER
BOTH
WORK..
it
all
depends
on
how
you
want
to
treat
the
documentary
material.
|
5.
Quote
at
the
beginning
- Using simple white text on black background is an elegant way to begin a documentary. A famous or obscure quote can immediately set the stage for your documentary , and it gets the viewer involved RIGHT AWAY...which is a good thing...
- What makes this effective is the viewer hears their own inner voice as they are reading it.
- You can combine this opening with the four above and it works well with all of them. Think about it...is there a quote you think sets up your movie's Story Question.
In
Summary,
using
a
witty,
thoughtful
or
emotional
quote
can
help
involve
the
viewer
from
the
first
seconds
of
your
film,
and
help
establish
the
story
question.
|
6.
CABLE
TV
DOCUMENTARY
open
- Jammed packed with cliches, these mindless dribbles of script keep giving documentary as an art form a bad name. Scripted in florescent lit office buildings in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, these underpaid documentary producer / writers struggle just not to offend anyone... and keep logic on their side...4 people may review their work, and anything original is generally shunned.
- Narration often begins 1 and a half seconds into the program (after title sequence). In a matter of fact way it DESCRIBES EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SEEING ON THE SCREEN...we call it hear/see documentary writing. It is often combined with Sound-ups.
- When scripting these the narration is on the left side of the page, and the producer notes the corresponding images on the right...Than crews are hired to shoot footage and interviews to fit the script. Archivists play a large role in helping acquire footage to fit the needs of these scripts.
In
Summary,
cable
TV
is a
beast
that
devours
programs.
Los
Angeles
production
companies
churn
this
material
out..it
is
easier/cost
effective
to
match
visuals
to a
script
than
to
find
a
story
after
months
or
years
of
shooting.
|
Summary
- Cold Open
- Sound-Ups
- Visual Montage
- Slow Reveal
- Quote
- Cable TV Open
|
|
| |
|
|
About Us