Documentary Filmmaking Can be Easy and Fun
As a filmmaker I've spoken to people who have spent years making a documentary. In some cases they've won awards. In others they've struggled to get anyone to view their footage even once. I've seen some folks spend hundreds of dollars to get their project finished. I've watched others spend tens of thousands. Few documentary films are profitable, and those that are tend to be the cheaper sort. This set of steps reviews exactly what you need to make a profitable documentary film in a matter of weeks or months.
#1 Have something to say, and know exactly who you want to say it to. Don't start your documentary unless you know exactly what you want to say. Don't shoot it until you know exactly the kind of people who will actively want to buy it, or know someone who will buy lots of copies to give away free to people.
#2 Get a good digital camera and microphone. Plan to spend $600 - $1000 for a good digital camera that shoots to mini DV tapes or directly on to DVD, a high quality lapel mike, and maybe a couple of small, bright photographer's lights that you can clip on to objects in an environment. You can live without the lights, but you can't live without a good digital camera (it should use a firewire connection to connect to computers) and a great microphone. Spend some time with your camera and mike making home movies. Read a couple of books or web pages about how to position and light a model for an interview.
#3 Get a Macintosh. Really. You can edit your film on a PC, but its a painful process unless you are a PC pro, and the software you need is expensive. Buy a $1500-$2000 Mac and you have all the software and hardware you need to do a documentary. Make sure the Mac can burn DVDs. I recommend that you get a fast $150 200K firewire hard disk for more editing and archive space as well. You'll be using IMovie and IDVD to make your film.
#4 Get people to talk to and things to look at. Get signed releases. Most folks are quite happy to be interviewed for a documentary. Pick up the phone, call them, go talk to them. Make sure you have written down exactly what you want to ask. if you want to look at objects or locations, you need permission and maybe a production license. Take along releases (you can find sample releases on the internet) for folks to sign. As added insurance ask them, on camera, if its OK if you use them in your documentary and its promotional advertising. Make sure you use the microphone when you are recording interviews. Nothing on earth will ruin your life faster than bad sound.
#5 Edit the documentary. The cool thing about a firewire camera and a Mac is that you can simply plug the camera into the Mac using the right cable, start I movie, and capture the video right off the camera. Import all the clips you need into IMovie. Use IMovie to edit them. If you have more money to spend, you can edit your film using Final Cut. Its a state of the art Mac-Based editing tool which is frequently used to cut feature films. Almost anyone can cut together footage using IMovie. Final Cut requires some reading to master. The product comes with some great tutorials. When editing the documentary, concentrate on what you want to say and what is interesting. Simple, straightforward, human, down to earth works for most topics. Burn the finished documentary to a DVD and let your friends watch it. Fix any flaws they find.
#6 Publish the documentary. You can get it published through www.createspace.com (which will get it into Amazon), www.lulu.com and www.kunaki.com (which will let you upload the DVD rather than mail it in). You can look for a more traditional distributor, but most distributors aren't fond of documentaries. If your documentary sells very, very well through lulu.com or createspace.com, a distributor is likely to be more interested in it.
#7 Tell people about your film and where to buy it. Step #1 is pretty important. You really do need to know who will want to buy your film. If you are a parent of an autistic child, you'll know where folks like you will look for DVDs about autism. You can do press releases through services like prweb.com, post information about your project on forums and web 2.0 sites like www.digg.com. You may find www.youtube.com works great for displaying your previews.
If you are passionate about something, a documentary can be a great way to turn that passion into something profitable. It can also be a way to effectively communicate your concerns, your plans and your beliefs. The clearest, most accurate, most human documentaries are usually the most compelling. Great interviews, interesting locations, insightful commentary are what capture the heart and mind.
#1 Have something to say, and know exactly who you want to say it to. Don't start your documentary unless you know exactly what you want to say. Don't shoot it until you know exactly the kind of people who will actively want to buy it, or know someone who will buy lots of copies to give away free to people.
#2 Get a good digital camera and microphone. Plan to spend $600 - $1000 for a good digital camera that shoots to mini DV tapes or directly on to DVD, a high quality lapel mike, and maybe a couple of small, bright photographer's lights that you can clip on to objects in an environment. You can live without the lights, but you can't live without a good digital camera (it should use a firewire connection to connect to computers) and a great microphone. Spend some time with your camera and mike making home movies. Read a couple of books or web pages about how to position and light a model for an interview.
#3 Get a Macintosh. Really. You can edit your film on a PC, but its a painful process unless you are a PC pro, and the software you need is expensive. Buy a $1500-$2000 Mac and you have all the software and hardware you need to do a documentary. Make sure the Mac can burn DVDs. I recommend that you get a fast $150 200K firewire hard disk for more editing and archive space as well. You'll be using IMovie and IDVD to make your film.
#4 Get people to talk to and things to look at. Get signed releases. Most folks are quite happy to be interviewed for a documentary. Pick up the phone, call them, go talk to them. Make sure you have written down exactly what you want to ask. if you want to look at objects or locations, you need permission and maybe a production license. Take along releases (you can find sample releases on the internet) for folks to sign. As added insurance ask them, on camera, if its OK if you use them in your documentary and its promotional advertising. Make sure you use the microphone when you are recording interviews. Nothing on earth will ruin your life faster than bad sound.
#5 Edit the documentary. The cool thing about a firewire camera and a Mac is that you can simply plug the camera into the Mac using the right cable, start I movie, and capture the video right off the camera. Import all the clips you need into IMovie. Use IMovie to edit them. If you have more money to spend, you can edit your film using Final Cut. Its a state of the art Mac-Based editing tool which is frequently used to cut feature films. Almost anyone can cut together footage using IMovie. Final Cut requires some reading to master. The product comes with some great tutorials. When editing the documentary, concentrate on what you want to say and what is interesting. Simple, straightforward, human, down to earth works for most topics. Burn the finished documentary to a DVD and let your friends watch it. Fix any flaws they find.
#6 Publish the documentary. You can get it published through www.createspace.com (which will get it into Amazon), www.lulu.com and www.kunaki.com (which will let you upload the DVD rather than mail it in). You can look for a more traditional distributor, but most distributors aren't fond of documentaries. If your documentary sells very, very well through lulu.com or createspace.com, a distributor is likely to be more interested in it.
#7 Tell people about your film and where to buy it. Step #1 is pretty important. You really do need to know who will want to buy your film. If you are a parent of an autistic child, you'll know where folks like you will look for DVDs about autism. You can do press releases through services like prweb.com, post information about your project on forums and web 2.0 sites like www.digg.com. You may find www.youtube.com works great for displaying your previews.
If you are passionate about something, a documentary can be a great way to turn that passion into something profitable. It can also be a way to effectively communicate your concerns, your plans and your beliefs. The clearest, most accurate, most human documentaries are usually the most compelling. Great interviews, interesting locations, insightful commentary are what capture the heart and mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment