What is a documentary film? Well, essentially it is a film that is supposed to document reality. There is a wide variety of documentary films. There are hundreds of historical documentaries, and there have been some very beloved political documentaries as of late. Although in my personal thought you will find many of the late political documentaries have a bias agenda.

For example, Al Gore released an highly beloved documentary called "An Inconvenient Truth" which was about global warming. While many still say that global warming is not absolute truth and that we are merely in a cycle of a small turn in the worlds climate, this documentary states it as thought it is a fact rather than a theory. It provides only the evidence that supports the theory. While the documentary is rather interesting, it obviously has a very bias agenda.

Other beloved political documentaries are Michael Moore's films, "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Sicko". Fahrenheit 9/11 was probably one of the most controversial films of the last decade. It contains outlandish comments about the Bush supervision and even referring to the media as "cheerleaders" for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Many habitancy supported it, but those that disliked it found it primary to make a rebuttal documentary of their own entitled "FahrenHype 9/11". The documentary is devoted to try to prove many statements that were made in the Fahrenheit 9/11 documentary as false.

Sicko made its own wave of controversy. It made comments about how poor the American government's healthcare system for real was. I do not believe it made as much of an impact simply because most habitancy are aware that our potential of healthcare is much better than most other countries, it is just the cost that is killing everyone. Michael Moore takes it to someone else level stating that even some third world countries have better healthcare. I think most everybody knows this is simply untrue. You can simply take a look at the rampant diseases in those areas to rule the truth on the matter.

On 2:10 PM | 0 comments

Documentary films, as the name implies, are films produced with the intention of being an audio-visual documentation of a thought or event.

A documentary film is intended to be much more like a piece of journalism than a piece of entertainment or expressive art. There is typically a voice-over narrative going on throughout a documentary film with the narrator describing what's being seen in a businesslike way without any dramatic reading.

Documentary films are often made to more deeply contemplate a current events or history subject that has remained shrouded in mystery, been controversial, or in the thought of the film maker misunderstood or underexposed. Documentaries have also been made simply to narrative an event of personal interest to the film maker.

Biographies, sports and music events, a compilation film of collected footage from government sources, and so on and so forth all may be subjects for a documentary film. Documentary film makers are typically the writers, directors, and producers. Often they may act as cameramen as well.

Documentary films are most often made for Tv but in more modern times there have been more of them made as direct-to-video, made-for-video, straight-to-video, or straight-to-Dvd formats in which they were never first played on Tv or in the theaters but were simply distributed for home-viewing.

Some major motion pictures when released in Dvd format also come with bonus Dvds that act as documentary films of the production of the movie. Documentaries also often feature re-enactments of events that could not or were not originally documented on film such as historical events from the year 1776. There have also been "mockumentaries" made, in which a piece of comedy fiction is made but is done up in the same dry and uncomplicated format of an actual documentary. "This Is Spinal Tap" and "The Gods Must Be Crazy" are two of the most successful mockumentaries ever made.

To put together a potential documentary film, the filmmaker first begins by doing research, even if he knows the subject matter well already. The Main point of a documentary film is to relay facts and data from all angles.

Quality documentaries commonly consist of interviews at some point. This is a technique for lending authoritativeness to the film's producer by getting habitancy to speak from first-hand knowledge about the subject matter or an aspect of it. A documentary film also has to be well organized in an entertaining and logical format. Unlike with many fictional movie stories, a documentary should never deliberately confuse, mislead, or leave something mysterious. Many perspectives or opinions can be extremely sufficient at giving a documentary film depth.

On 12:22 PM | 0 comments

How to Make a Documentary - 10 simple Steps to Transform Your Documentary Idea Into a fulfilled, Film

Learning how to make a documentary can be tons of fun and does not want a filmmaking degree. You plainly need a burning desire to tell your story and a willingness to outline out each step of the process.

Here are 10 easy-to-follow steps for manufacture a documentary

Pinpoint a documentary idea -- The key here to choose a topic you are truly passionate about. Create an outline -- Map out the basic buildings and topics that you want to consist of in your documentary. You also want to think about the storytelling style -- News/Pbs Frontline-type style? Half documentary/Half movie with reenactments? Talking heads? Personal point of view? Observational? Gather your audio visuals - Start gathering existing footage and other audio visuals on your topic - this can be old home movies, photos, audio recordings, national archives, music, etc. Then rule what new footage is needed to tell your story and start shooting. This can be interviews with experts, capturing an event such as a horse show or football game, shooting footage of one of your characters - for example if you are focusing on a famed artist in your community, you'll want to get footage of that artist painting. Produce/Edit a Trailer - Once you've gathered 3-5 hours of "raw footage", start piecing together a mini-version of your documentary, also called a "trailer". A trailer is typically 3-8 minutes and captures the essence of your documentary. This is a great tool to build buzz and help raise money for your documentary. Shoot remaining footage - Continue gathering interviews and other footage to cover all the areas you listed in your documentary outline. Catalog and make -- If you are producing an hour-long documentary, you could potentially have dozens, even hundreds, of hours of footage that you will need to pull from during the editing process. Make sure all your interviews have been transcribed and that you know exactly where all your footage is located. There is nothing worse than being "in the groove" editing and having to stop and look straight through all the footage to find a exact shot. Write a script - Even if you don't plan to have a narrator, you should have a script to lay out the basic order of your sequences, how you plan to start and quit your film, plus any interview quotes. Edit your documentary -- If you've never edited video before, you may want to start off with some simple free video editing software such as Apple's "iMovie", although something a bit more sophisticated such as Final Cut Express will give you more flexibility. Start your documentary off with something intriguing, unusual or controversial to catch the attention of the audience. And know how the documentary will end to help rule your editing choices prominent up to the conclusion. Upload to the internet or burn to a Dvd -- Make sure you own the copyright to all things in your documentary before posting on the web or manufacture copies. That goes for music (even ambient music playing in the background), archive footage and photos. Promote, Distribute and Showcase -- This is the final step in the process where you might submit your documentary to film festivals, pitch it to Pbs or other television broadcasters, upload to Amazon UnBox to sell copies of your documentary, have a premiere showing, create a communal relations campaign colse to the issue of your documentary and of course send out free Dvds and thank-you's to all who helped you.:)

So that is my quick, top 10 list for how to make a documentary.

On 11:05 PM | 0 comments

How To Pitch Your Documentary Idea and Write an effective Documentary Proposal To Get Funding

So you have a overwhelming documentary idea and you just need some cash to get it going. Where do you go? How do you find funds?

One of the first things you'll need to do is write a Documentary Proposal. A proposal not only helps explain the scheme to possible funders and supporters, it's a great practice to get You the filmmaker thinking through all the details. Basically, a Documentary Proposal is your film's company plan.

Here are the key elements you'll need to comprise in a documentary proposal: synopsis, scheme overview, treatment, style/tone of project, output schedule, interview subjects, crew bios, advisors/experts, partnerships, target audience, budget, fundraising plan and distribution strategy.

There is often a lot of overlap when describing the synopsis, scheme report and treatment. There is no right or wrong answer. One way to think about it is to say that the synopsis is a short 1-2 paragraph summary of your project. The summary is a longer synopsis that goes into more information about the project, possibly 1-2 pages in length. And the treatment is more like a script, describing exact scenes and quotes. A treatment is often difficult to write at the beginning of a scheme since the nature of a documentary is that it can't be "written" until after it's been shot, so I would say together with a treatment in your proposal is elective unless specifically requested.

An efficient documentary proposal will respond the following questions:
Why this documentary, why now? Why is this documentary dissimilar from any other film ever made? Why are You the one to make this documentary? What gives you and your team the credibility to be trusted with donated money (experience, partnerships, advisory board, fiscal sponsor, letters of support, etc) What unique entrance or connections do you have for production the film?

The big picture goal for a documentary pitch or documentary proposal is to build Credibility. You do that by putting together a well-written proposal, having an experienced team (if not you, that can be crew, advisors or partners), having a compelling film concept, a well-thought out plan and a realistic budget.

Once you have your proposal together, now it's time to start production your pitch. If you are a new filmmaker, my best guidance is to avoid the big foundations and grants and go after the "low hanging fruit." Find people who are already passionate about the field matter of your film and see what connections they have. Basically, you want to go through the "back door" to find your funding. Maybe a friend's uncle is the Ceo of a local million dollar company. Or possibly your favorite college professor is friends with the executor of a small family foundation. Leave no rock left unturned.

The last thing you want to do is say, hey, who's the richest guy in town and let's go after him. Does the guy already have a proven interest in the field of your film or in art/film projects? Do you know man with a personal association to the guy who can pitch the scheme on your behalf? If no, then don't waste your time or theirs.

Find natural connections to people who are already pre-sold on the theme of your documentary scheme and send them your proposal. They already know the field matter of the film is important, now all you have to do is convince them that You know how to get the job done.

On 11:02 PM | 0 comments