The Mentoring Room - Ask the Working Pros

Stephanie,
Thanks for taking the time to provide such a detailed and intelligent
response. The "review . . . learn . . . and dump" as you go advice is
really good. I have a spreadsheet form that I fill out after shooting
and I'm going to start logging as I go, as I anticipate shooting a few
hours a month for nine months, and don't want to wake up in september
with thirty hours staring at me! :)

I just had my first experience with the beachtek the other night,
borrowed a few shotgun mikes from the local cable access station (and
stands) and ran them into my beachtek, monitored it all on headphones.
good experience, and when I have a static environment, i think i'll
go with mikes on stands; but for more mobile shooting (or tighter
quarters) i think i'll go with Sennheiser. I really appreciate the
advice! Thanks for being so generous!

quick question on ethics and doc filming--if you've got a good scene
going but your subjects are just a little too far apart (physically)
to both be in your frame, is it ethical/permissible/fair to ask them
to scoot closer to one another to fit into your frame? in this case,
it was a married couple discussing a budget, and i was crammed into
the corner of their dining room, and they were comfortable just
sitting a little closer and pushing their laptop over a little.
anyone have any thoughts on this? thanks in advance.

sure, i've done that. had no great moral scruples, either. but,
shhhhh, don't tell anyone ;-)

thanks, doug, we'll keep it our secret. :)

Hi,

I just switched from using a SONY PD 150 camera with which I was
using only SONY DV cam tapes to a Panasonic DVX100B. B and H said
definitely start using the Panasonic tapes because you don't need DV
cam and they are much cheaper. But my SONY deck has only been used
with SONY DV cam tapes.

My friend and teacher Cynthia Wade said definitely stick with only
SONY DV cam tapes. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I know there are issues with drop outs when mixing tapes. But am
I now locked into the DV cam tapes? I'm about to start a long
project so with tapes and dubs I'll probably shoot minimum 300 tapes
so using the Panasonic mini DVs would represent about a $2700
saving. On the other hand I want to use the best tape and not have
problems with my deck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

D

welcome, deirdre. we go way back, you know. i'm about to register
you into the d-word community. be sure cut and paste this question
there. many more working doc makers will see it there and you'll
definitely get answers. but i've heard over and over you should stick
to the same brand of tape stock and preferably the same as the
camera's manufacturer.

Hi there

Im in the process of coordinating a long distance endurance event in
Africa raising money for HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. I am looking at
approaching documentary production companies to film the event.
However, I am unfamiliar with documentary companies and am looking
for advice on who to approach. In particular i need to approach a
company with expertise in sports, social issues and simultaneously
capture the beauty of Africa.. anyone with suggestions pls help! thanks

Deirdre, do you have the option to dub from your new Panasonic camera
into the editing system? I wouldn't use Panasonic tapes in a Sony
deck. Not sure about using Sony tapes in a Panasonic camera, but I
am sure somebody around here will pipe up about that soon.

Didi, I highly recommend you contact David Jammy or Harriet Gavshon
at Curious Pictures in Johannesburg. They're considered the top doc
producers in SA and are great to work with. Please say hi from me:

http://www.curious.co.za/

Thanks so much Doug, i will do so.

Didi

Ask Don Edkins of Day Zero in Cape Town. He produced "Steps for the
Future", a series of films about life in Southern Africa in the
presence of HIV/AIDS.

http://dayzero.co.za/steps/

Thanks Ben, I will do so as well. Thanks for all the help, really
appreciate it.

Didi

I'm nearing the end of my production of my first documentary. And
I'm looking into clearing some songs to include in the festival
release. I'd like to get a Guster song (smaller band on the Warner
label) and I'd like the rights to cover a Talking Heads song, not
one of their big hits. (I've already got a band working on it.)

Does anybody have any experience doing this? I've read that it's
very diffucult to do, and it's easier to go through a music
clearance company. Does anybody have any advice on how to go about
this? Any music clearance company recommendations? Any guess at
how much this will cost me? I've got an extremely small budget.

Thanks guys.

ross, it's tricky stuff and i'd consult an entertainment lawyer. most
do a free consult with the first call. a d-word member, denise ohio,
wrote a good article about music clearances:
http://www.holytoledo.com/clear_music.htm

Thanks Doug, this was the sort of site I've been looking for but
have been unable to find. And now that I've read it, man... what a
pain in the ass.

you mean you thought making docs was EASY???

Never thought it was easy. But I enjoy the creative part of it.
This legal stuff makes my mind go numb. It's something I'm doing
completely on my own. So I'm just taking it kind of slow, learning
as I go, making sure I get it right the first time. Next time
around it'll be easier cause I'll have much better idea of what I'm
doing. And hopefully I'll have some partners to help me out.

Ross: From the website of entertainment lawyer Mark Litwak:
http://www.marklitwak.com/faq/music.html. Do a search on his home
page for "music" and you might get some other answers. Good luck!

Hi,

Can any Pros help point me into the right direction?

I'm planning out (writing script, gathering resources, etc.) a
documentary/drama and am interested in finding resources on what you
can / can't include in documentaries from existing works, and how to
go about purchasing licenses for copyrighted works. For example: How
do you include a news clip about current news? How do you get the
rights to include a clip from an old John Wayne movie, etc.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Cliff

Cliff: It's a tricky area. You're wise to tread carefully. There's a
concept of "fair use" which says you can use *limited* copyrighted
material, if certain conditions are met, in a new work. Those
conditions include how big a percentage the copyrighted stuff will
be in the new project, how the use will affect the market for the
material you include and whether you're likely to make any money off
of the new work (as a doc maker, the answer to that last question is
probably "no").

It is a grey area. Your best bet is to hire an attorney who's
familiar with the subject. Lawyers for the Creative Arts does pro-
bono work, I believe. Other than that, check the U.S. Copyright
Office's page on fair use (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html),
the Cornell Law School page
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107
----000-.html) or see if entertainment lawyer Mark Litwak has
information on his site (http://www.marklitwak.com/resources/). As
the Copyright Office says, your safest bet is to get the OK from the
copyright owner, which generally isn't hard if it's a local station.
A John Wayne movie would be tougher.

Thanks. I'll check down those avenues and see how much public
domain / original stuff I can use.

Any resources for licensing music that you would recommend? I would
like to use a Louis Armstrong song in the opening credits. Is there a
central company that can get this license or do I have to go directly
to whoever currently owns the rights to it?

Cliff

BMI and ASCAP are the biggies. I'll bet they have websites.

Hello, I`m planning on starting a wildlife documentaries producing
company, have several ideas quite advanced, and I am now facing the
more costly (in money terms) part of the project which is buying the
initial camera and sound equipment. I`m on a tight budget, looking
for a reasonably priced camera which is "professional" enough to
achieve high quality images. My inmediate target is local TV, which
is not that quality-demanding (I`m from Uruguay, SAM), but I don`t
want to throw away my chances of going international through
cable/satellite TV just because I use lower end equipment.

I been going through the Canon XL1S and the Sony PD 150 and VX2000
models. Do you think they are enough? Do you think I could be fine
with less than that? Which camera equipment do the big ones (BBC,
Discovery Channel, NatGeo) use?

Any guidelines will be greatly appreciated, cheers

ok i should post here i guess..
im working on my thesis on Pennebakers Monterey Pop(1968) anyone
any advice??any links, books on direct cinema or even the film
itself(im too optimistic i know..) thx in advance!!
maria

Maria, there's this thing called Google...