The Mentoring Room - Ask the Working Pros

Hi everyone? I am shooting a documentary in The Amazon jungle in
Brazil and i would like to get some feedback on some accessories i am
adding to my gear. I already shot 40 hours using the DVx 100, an ME
64 and 66 Sunheyzer mics, a 3221 manfroto tripod with a 501 head. I
had some problems with the tripod and heads and would like to try
something else this time. I also would like to get an additional
shotgun mic (different from the ones above)and one weireless. I am
recording the sound on camera without a mixer. In addition, this time
i would like to add a small light on top of the camera for some
especial situations. Does anyone have any advice to give me about
these accessories? Of course i need to stay on the low budget
category. Does anyone knows about the new Sony wireless mic? And is
there someone who is a DVX100 fan? Please lets talk!

Thank you all and feel free to ask about my experience in shooting in
the Amazon.

Tchau,

Eva

eva, you're better off getting this info in the community (i know
you've joined), which is geared to discussions among professionals.
the forum is better for one or two specific questions and is geared
more to doc neophytes.

Hi, people. I'm new here and I have a quick question. I'm working on
DVD authoring (DVD Studio Pro/FCP) a series of lectures for a lab I'm
associated with and I'll probably need about 300 copies of the the
finished product. who do people recommend to print DVDs at that scale?
I'm trying to give a cost estimate per disk.

thanks a bunch!
-aaron

I have a question. where can someone get stockfootage of
Pagan/religious rituals.

did you try www.archive.org?

hi everyone,
massive questions, i know, but can anyone point me toward a good website
or someting that discusses documentary financing methods and the
differences between them. i'm a little confused abour presales versus co-
production financing versus corporate funding, etc. and what's the best for my
film.

try www.marklitwak.com. i'm sure there are also books on the subject
at amazon.com.

Lots of good books available.
Pre-sales: Broadcaster signs an agreement to pay a fee before doc is
finished. Money paid when doc is finished. Guarantees them input and
right to air.
Co-production - Broadcaster, production company - supply money and
help guide production.
Foundations - provide grants to fund all or part of a doc.
Corporations - provide money to fund all or part of a doc.
Corporations pay you to make a doc.

with a pre-sale, part of the license fee is paid on signing a
contract. in fact, could be up to half.

thanks - doug - meant to include word "most" Still recovering from
Reykjavik.

heh heh ;-) (inside joke - you had to be there)

I'm wondering if anyone could tell me what exactly is the role of the executive
producer in a documentary? What are his/her responsibilities?

prestige. money. guidance.

I'm assuming by prestige you mean that the EP lends his/her prestige to the
doc? In terms of money-is the EP generally responisbility for funding the show
or looking for the funding? And guidance, how much is the EP involved in the
content of the show, or does this vary from production to production? Thanks
for your help!

it varies, dana. they could simply lending their name, but usually
they try to raise money. sometimes people buy their way to an exec
producer credit, but that's kind of rare for docs (drat!).

Concerning documentary scripts required for certain european funds
(eg.Berlinale's World Film Fund):
What kind of script are they asking for? they fund creative feature
docs intended for theatrical release,
Should one attempt to write a script the way a fiction film is
written? I'm thinking of films such as "The Story of the Weeping
Camel" or "To Be and To Have".
Thanks for your help!
A.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this and if not I
apologize. I'm trying to get funded for a documentary on a troubled
family and I've put together two trailers in hopes of getting
investors interested in my project. The trailers were shot with a
very consumer camcorder and I've seen and heard better microphones on
the headsets of the employees at MacDonalds.

I was able to get two of the people from the family talking and from
that made the trailers. My question is would some of the experts or
who ever would care to please go have a look and let me know what
they think. It's at www.mvmaker.com first page has two links for
each trailer. I need these to be good enough to attract investors so
any comments are welcomed. You can email me at mvmaker@mvmaker.com
with your comments or post them here.

Thanks in advance JFL

Hello y'all,..
.
I think that it is obvious to most of us that
too many documentaries do not get the
exposure they need and deserve.

I just got back from the United Nations
Asssociation Film Festival where I saw
several
great works which will unfortunately
bearly see the light of day outside of
the festival circuit.

A couple of buddies of mine (who are
computer saavy) and I have been toying
with the idea of creating a website for
the consolidation of documentary trailers.
A searchable catalog of sorts, where
the viewing public can go to get a sneak
peak at what is out there, learn about
the film makers and how to buy and
or rent the work in question.

This site would specialize in
documentaries.

We are trying to guage if this something
that fellow documentary filmmakers would
use?

In order to have the site support itself we
would need to charge something along the
lines of $100 per film per year. Streaming
Quicktime clips would be the main format
used. As a filmmaker and avid documentary
viewer, I know that this something that
I would personally use, but we are trying
to guage how other filmmakers feel about
the project.

Any thoughts?

Gregory

Gregory,

I cannot speak for all documentary filmmakers, only for myself. I am
all for greater exposure for documentaries and the ability to put
trailers online. I am not sure I would pay $100 for this service
though since I doubt that many of the people who are actually in a
position to buy documentary films for television, festivals, or the
educational market find those films through the Internet.

personally, i'd stream a trailer on my own website before i'd pay to
have it on another. unless you proved over time that buyers were
coming to the site and actually following up. it's a nice, idealistic
concept, gregory, but i'm skeptical if it would work.

Thanks for your input Erica and Doug.

So I suppose my question then is, where do people go when they have a
friend say to them,.."Damn,...I just saw this great documentary you've got to
check out"....or when they even just feel like perusing what documentaries are
currently out there.

If not 100 dollars then less?...The site does have to support itself, which I
realize will be directly related to it's marketing and ability to catch the eye of
the small but growing community of documentary fans. It could actually be
used by festivals and filmmakers as a direct link to streaming previews.

I just can't help but think of how a centralized location where film makers can
display a little teaser or two of thier work alongside their resume, web site and
a "where to find" link could be a great service to documentary makers as well
as their viewers and funders. Am I kidding myself? Is there some sort of
disadvantage to having one's work up alongside those of others?

Help me out here.

usually the film's website. there are also places like doc-u-rama,
mediarights.org, and the distributors.

Greg I guess the bottom line is.....can the site assure exposure to
the people that count. Think of it like this......The filmmakers that
will benefit the most from a site like the one you mentioned are
those who have a limited budget and a hundred bucks to some can mean
the difference between making the rent and getting kicked to the curb.

I for one would pay the money only if I was convinced that my film
would get the right exposure and a fair shot. The idea is admirable
and has been done with other sites, and some of those are no longer
around. For a $100 you can obtain your own site and brand identity
which may seem more professional and less desperate to investors.

Imagine sending a potential investor to a large site with hundreds of
doc clips all begging to be seen. Would be kinda hard to pump that
investor up for your project if they get the impression that "what
chance do we have if all these people can't get their's
made/finished/distributed."

The key word/s are exposure, exposure, exposure.

hello nice people!!!
i am writing a script for a documentary about the lack of intimacy
in the western culture and some new directions in that field that
can be helpfull for the viewer.
the problem is that we have matter of fact 2 narrarive in one movie.
one, is a story based narrariva, verite style. the second is a
topical narrative which is basically visual article about the
history of the intimacyless.
questions :
do you have some advices about how can those two different styled
naratives be one next each other.
the second help i need is about refernces on the topical documentary
style.

thanks,
eliran {from israel}

hey eliran, the isssue isn't that you have two different narratives
going, it's that you have two different styles. and it's difficult
for anyone to offer real advice until it's in a rough cut stage. it's
a tough thing to pull off and better if you don't try, but it's
certainly been done before.