Handbook
Documentary Film Maker’s
CONTENTS
Documentary Making--- 4
The 4 Stages of Production--- 5
Concept Development--- 5
Pre Production--- 6
Production Roles--- 6
Writing--- 7
Visual style--- 8
Contributors--- 8
Locations--- 8
Production--- 10
Tips for the Producer--- 11
Tips for the Director--- 11
Filming to Edit--- 12
Conductiong an Interview--- 12
Tips for the DOP--- 13
Tips for the Sound Recordist--- 15
Post Production--- 16
Tips for the Editor--- 17
Shot Sizes--- 18
Advanced Shooting Techniques--- 19
Setting the White Balance--- 19
Manual Exposure--- 20
Manual Focus--- 20
Framing Angles--- 21
DOCumENTary makiNg
Film-making is arguably the most exciting, creative and challenging of all art forms. It combines the
traditional artistic expressions of writing, music, visual art and drama into one dynamic medium that
has the power to move and inform an audience like nothing else.
Documentaries are generally considered to be a ‘slice of life’ filmmaking. They are nonfiction and factual. Ever since the first movie camera was invented in 1888, people have been documenting real life and presenting it as film. The first recorded documentary was called ‘Nanook of the North’. It focused on the lifestyles of the Inuit people in Northern Canada. This look at real-life helps create historical documents, informs us about other places, cultures and events.
With this type of film making, there is often a story that exposes us to larger themes. These themes can range from a local to a global perspective. Global themes may include subjects like: art, politics, social issues or the environment. Local issues are often based on similar themes but focus on the personal to explore these larger issues.
We are surrounded by this type of storytelling in all forms of media including radio, tv, web and film. All of these mediums use a similar system to take a story from its beginning as an idea to
its outcome as a finished story. The system is known as the four stages of production...
ThE FOur STagES OF PrODuCTiON
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
The most crucial stage of creating a great documentary is concept development. Coming up with a great concept is only the beginning. Creativity and innovation are required to generate ideas that will carry your concept visually and engage emotionally with your target audience.
PRE-PRODUCTION
The success of your ‘shoot days’ and ultimately the success of your documentary depend upon thorough pre-production. During this stage you will figure out exactly what needs to be filmed as well as when, how and by whom it shall be filmed.
PRODUCTION
This is the really fun bit. You and your crew get out and about with a camera and microphone and shoot what will become your documentary. The success of your production phase depends heavily on the quality of your pre-production.
POST-PRODUCTION
Now to put it all together. Edit your footage, add music and effects and craft your story into an engaging, thought provoking documentary.
Lets look at each stage a little more closely...
CONCEPT DEVELOPmENT
Coming up with a concept for a documentary takes a bit of work. A great place to start is to do some
brainstorming around ideas that interest you.
What are you interested in at the moment?
Who are you interested in?
What really bothers you that you think someone needs to do something about?
Look for people or situations in transition. Is their life or situation changing? Are they on a journey?
Look to those around you that may have an interesting story to tell. Do you have a fascinating or
unique family, friend or neighbour?
Once you have come up with a topic you need to really explore it and think through all its possibilities.
A great documentary may address an age old topic but will explore it with a fresh, interesting
approach. Research the idea and ask yourself as many questions about it as you can.
Is there much known about your topic?
Has someone else made a documentary about it?
How can you explore the idea in an interesting way?
Why will your topic be interesting to other people?
Will your concept translate well visually?
How will you tell the story?
PRODUCTION ROLES
Amongst your group, decide who will take on each role.
Producer
Responsible for the organisation of all aspects of the documentary and the management of the whole
team. Needs to have strong communication skills. Responsible for paperwork, permissions,
co-ordination.
Director
Responsible for the creative direction of the documentary. Should attend and direct all shoots and
also work closely with the editor in post-production.
Writer
Responsible for writing the narration, treatment and the interview questions. Should be prepared for
multiple re-writes in consultation with director.
Director of Photography (DOP)
Responsible for the filming of the documentary. They need to be skilled in all operations of the camera
to ensure the documentary is looking its best. (They may also be responsible for lighting and sound
on small crews.)
Sound recordist
Responsible for the recording of sound at shoots to ensure that all audio can be heard clearly. Will be
responsible for recording extra sound (foley) and voice-overs (VO)
Editor
Responsible for editing together the documentary at the post-production stage. Works closely with
the director. (When in groups of three, we suggest that the editor is also the sound recordist to ensure
everyone has input throughout the entire process)
PrE-PrODuCTiON
Once you have figured out what your documentary is going to be about, you will need
to figure out how you are going to make it. This stage involves quite a bit of preparation
(and paperwork) but the more thorough you are the less stressful your shoot will be and
the better your documentary will be.
You will need to complete the following tasks to be ready to start filming. All relevant
forms and their instructions are available to download on the YDP web site.
- Allocate production roles
- Write a treatment and interview questions
- Figure out a visual style
- Find contributors (people to interview or whose story you will tell)
- Find talent (Voice over artist or re-enactment actors)
- Complete contributor/talent release forms.
- Find locations
- Complete location release forms
- Make a shot list
- Create a shooting schedule
- Create call sheets
- Make an equipment list
PrE-PrODuCTiON
Youth
DocumentaryWRITING
All good films, be it documentary or otherwise, begin with a pen on paper. A good writer will be an asset to your production team and will have a big impact on the outcome of your film. Before putting pen to paper, the writer and Director should spend time discussing the Director’s vision for the film. Your entire group may wish to have input into this phase (after all film making is a collaborative process) but the writer should then be allowed time to synthesise the ideas and produce the written material.
The first thing the writer will need to do is write a SYNOPSIS. This is a brief, one paragraph description of your film. You may also like to write a TAG LINE to accompany any written material associated with your film. A TAG LINE is a catchy, interest piquing sentence that gives an audience a sense of your film without too much detail.
Next, you will need to write a TREATMENT which is a detailed explanation of the story. It is a document used to communicate to all the crew members (as well as your teacher and facilitator) what will happen, what they will be seeing and what they will be aiming to achieve. It also serves as a reminder, during production as to what you initially set out to do and may be helpful to keep you on track. But perhaps most importantly, it is the translation of your idea from your head onto a page. Going through the process of writing about your film will help point out any areas of weakness and also give your idea some structure. This will be extremely helpful during production and post production. A treatment is used in documentary as the preliminary document, like a script is used in drama. We don’t write a script for a doco as we usually do not precisely know what we will find as we shoot the story. This is part of the excitement of doco film making, the story unfolds before your eyes. You do however, need to be able to convey what it is your Doco will be about, who will be in it and what approach visually, stylistically and emotionally, you will take. This is where a treatment becomes important.
Although the treatment takes the place of a script in the overall documentary, a script is necessary for the narration or voice over. Writing the narration or VO is a serious, creative job and depending on the documentary can become the backbone of the film. Think about David Attenborough’s films. Without his voice they would be a disjointed collection of animal shots. What he says and the way he says it is what makes his films so interesting. (Well that and some amazing cinematography). Not all documentaries need or use a VO however, and the narrative often comes from the people who have been interviewed or even the visuals or action that has been filmed. There are a number of ways of approaching how to tell your story. Think carefully about the best approach for your topic.
The first draft of a VO or narration can be sketched in pre-production but it often has to be re-drafted once interviews and footage are collected. The scriptwriter will work with the editor to figure out the timing and length each piece of VO will be.
The writer will also need to write INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. They should be drafted in such a way as to help you get clear information from your subjects. Think about what it is you would like the interviewee to say and then craft your questions to get the response you are after. Sometimes answers are unexpected and it is then up to the Director to pursue a line of questioning that may be previously unwritten but with some solid research, you should be able to write questions that cover all bases. The list of questions should encourage the contributor to use their own words. Give them to the subject before hand if it helps. Don’t forget to do your research beforehand- this may mean an email or conversation prior to the actual interview. You need to be sure the person is the right one to interview, that they want to talk about the subject and that they understand what your story is about. 7
VISUAL STYLE
Working as a team you should discuss what visuals will help tell the story. Video is a visual medium and relying on words or ‘talking heads’ only, to drive your story will take away from the impact of your film (and possibly get boring to watch). By using images you create mood, create a sense of location, give breathing space between ideas, give depth to your ideas and create a more immersive experience for the viewer. Through metaphor, pace in editing and juxtaposition you can explore the full visual language of your story. Watch some docos and films and take notice of what visual styles you find interesting. Think about camera angles, colour, pace, shot types, use of graphics and what emotion or message each shot can convey. Just because you are making a doco it doesn’t mean that you should neglect the aesthetics. A good story, well told will make a good doco but a good story, well told that is visually engaging will make a great doco.
CONTRIBUTORS
The people you find to be in your film are know as contributors. Finding good contributors is one of the most difficult parts of making a documentary. Make sure the people you choose to interview or follow, are comfortable being filmed and are happy to be involved in your project. You may need to spend some time with your contributors prior to filming to find out more about them and to make sure they are comfortable and relaxed talking to you. There is a real art to relating to a contributor in a way that makes them relaxed and helps them trust you. Trust between the Director and the contributor are key in getting the contributor to open up and really give you an emotional ‘performance’. Your contributor is the most important person on set. After all, there would be no story without them, so try to make sure they are happy during filming. Keep them informed as to the goings on of the crew. There will be a fair bit of waiting around for the crew to set up but generally people are happy enough to wait if they know why they are waiting.
LOCATIONS
A Location is more than just a place to film in. It can give a whole different feeling or sub-text to a scene. Choose a location that says something about the topic you are covering. It is wise to thoroughly check out or ‘recce’ a location before filming there.
Take note of the light. Does it change a lot? When is it best for filming? How much ambient noise is there? Too much noise can ruin your scene. Is it accessible for the whole crew? Does it have any power points? Most locations will require permission to use them. Many places you think are public, like a shopping centre will expect you to get permission before you can film.
Go to the YDP web site to download a location check-list and release form.
SHOT LISTS, SCHEDULES, CALL SHEETS
Check out the YDP website to download SHOT LISTS, SHOOTING SCHEDULES and CALL SHEETS as well as RELEASE FORMS
and LOCATION RELEASE FORMS.
There are also instructions on the web site as to how to fill each form in.
PrODuCTiON
Now you’ve done all the planning, it’s time to get out there and shoot some content.
Armed with your shot list, shoot schedule and call sheets you should now know what you are going to film, where you are going to film it and what ‘sequence’ you want to get out of each ‘set up’.
BE PREPARED. Like the Boy Scouts, the number one motto for film-makers is ‘Be Prepared’. It is no good being out on location with talent and crew waiting, only to discover that you’ve forgotten the battery for the camera or forgotten to charge it the night before. Keep checklists. Plan everything.
When ‘on location’ there are many, many things to consider. It is imperative that each crew member knows what they need to do and that the whole crew can work together as a team. Each role on a shoot day is equally important, (there’s no point having a great looking interview if the sound is no good) so each crew member should be well informed as to what is required of them and should take responsibility for their area. There is also far too much to do for one person to try and take control of more than their own area of production. This process is all about collaboration.
TIPS for the PRODUCER
When everyone else are confused, stressed, late or in the midst of a creative collapse, it is the Producer that holds the project together. You know where everyone should be, when they should be there and with what equipment. You have calmly organised all transport arrangements, contributors, release forms, lunch and tied the shoe-laces of the Director. Well not quite but you get the idea.
A Producer should be someone with great organisational skills and
a ‘go get ‘em’ attitude. You will need to be assertive without being bossy and will have to have a good working relationship with all members of the crew, contributors and location owners.
Get started early and keep a well organised folder with all your relevant documents within easy reach.
You are the backbone of the film. Without your thorough planning and organisation, there will be nothing to direct, shoot or edit.
TIPS for the DIRECTOR
The main responsibility of the Director is to come up with the overall vision for the documentary. This should largely be decided at the pre-production stage. You are then required to translate this vision into actual shot material. It is your job to ensure that the material you and your team shoot is technically and creatively of a high standard, is truthful, fair, entertaining and interesting. Quite a task isn’t it?
During Pre-production you will need to:
• Explore potential subjects, concepts or ideas for your documentary • Develop and further research the strongest ideas with your team • Select and develop one great documentary idea
• Share your creative vision with the production team
• Discuss and explore your proposed documentary style in terms of recorded visuals, audio and editing • Communicate effectively with everyone and also listen to their ideas and input
During Production You will need to:
• Co-ordinate and your camera and sound crew to make sure that they all work towards your creative vision to be realised
• Work closely with the DOP and take on board any suggestions they may have • Facilitate any interviews and all other recording
• Listen and watch for unplanned recording opportunities, making sure you and the team are constantly alert to what is happening around you
• Seize the unexpected opportunities for recording additional material and follow up potential leads if feasible
• Always record with editing in mind • Communicate effectively with everyone
Conducting an Interview
Here are some tips on how to conduct a successful interview…
Try to make the person you are interviewing as relaxed as possible. Spend time chatting with them before the camera is rolling and try to get them to maintain the same conversational style while being interviewed.
Research and prepare your questions. Have them written down on a piece of paper.
Maintain strong eye contact with your subject. Be interested. Nod in response to their answers.
Do not punctuate the subject’s answer with muttered responses (eg. “I see” or “Uh-huh”) because you will then have to cut them out during the edit.
Do not overlap questions and answers (called crossover). Ask your subject to wait just a second after the question is finished before beginning their response. This gives the editor clean audio in post production. Ask the subject to respond in complete answers or to incorporate the question in their response. This is particularly important if you plan to edit out the interviewer’s questions in the final movie.
For example
Question: “Where were you born?” Incorrect response: “In Wagga.”
Correct response: “I was born in Wagga.”
Avoid closed questions that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Incorrect: “Should the coal-miners be on strike?”
Correct: “What is your opinion on the coal-miner’s strike?”
Avoid using words such as ‘firstly’ or ‘finally’ because you may edit your questions in a different order in the final film. Also discourage interviewees from saying “As I said before”.
Avoid using words such as ‘yesterday’ or ‘last week’ as they create problems when your film is viewed at a later date.
Consider this.... Does your Documentary actually NEED an interview?
Filming to Edit
A good Director and crew should always be consciously planning for the edit while they film. So, for example, an interview with a war veteran will be greatly enhanced through the use of cutaways and inserts which will help to tell the story. Some may be able to be shot at the location, especially if this is his or her house - a close up of their medals, a photograph on the mantelpiece of them in uniform, a close up of their hands as they turn their wedding ring, a faded newspaper cutting retained by them – while other may be obtained after the interview; for example, archive footage or a shot of the local war memorial. Cutting to such footage during an interview will afford you the opportunity to cut around a poor edit or jump cut.
TIPS for the DOP
The DOP is an integral part of the production team and works alongside the Director, taking instruction from them as well as offering solutions to help the achieve the Director’s vision. It is your job to consider framing, camera movement and lighting.
During Pre-Production you will need to:
• Work with the Director in order to fully understand their intentions and vision for the proposed documentary
• Understand the overall style of the documentary and the resultant camera work required • Shoot a test piece with the Director if required
• Ensure that you have arranged for the appropriate equipment and stock (memory cards or tapes) for filming
During Production you will need to:
• Care for and set up and operate all the camera equipment
• Understand and if possible predict your Director’s needs in terms of camera and shot composition • Creatively and technically advise or support the Director when appropriate
• Ensure that set up for the camera and the style for shooting is maintained throughout
There is a widespread perception that the majority of documentaries rely on a hand-held, jerky camera style but even a cursory examination of them will show that this is a fallacy. Your camera should always be mounted on a tripod with a good fluid head unless your style of documentary calls for hand-held or shoulder mounted shots. If you do choose such shots, it should be the result of careful consideration early on in pre-production, based on your research around a wide range of documentaries and finally, appropriate to your idea. For example, if the majority of the camera shots are shoulder mounted, loose and constantly on the move, you would really need to justify why you chose to film that way, for what purpose and how this affects the viewer and the dynamic of the overall documentary.
Lighting
Another key role for the DOP in a small crew is lighting. Given that documentary is about representing ‘the real’, your audience will tolerate a range and discontinuity of lighting that they would not accept in other types of video. So, in lighting your documentary, you will normally be using ambient light as your main source of light.
From your pre-production planning, you will have an idea of whether any additional lighting might be needed. The main place that this is likely to be needed is when conducting interviews. The normal set-up for these is to use three-point lighting but it will also depend on what equipment your school has access to. Controllability of lighting can be somewhat limited for documentary, but should not be ignored.
More for the DOP to consider...
• Check white balance, exposure and focus. (see advanced camera operation section for
details)
• Check that the lens of the camera is clean.
• Be wary you don’t film yourself in reflective surfaces such as windows.
• Make sure you don’t record the Date and Time.
• Try to have the light source (the sun if you’re outside) approximately sideways or just
marginally behind your main subject matter. If the light is directly in front of the subject, the
effect is harsh (and talent will be forced to squint.)
• Use a tripod if possible to get smooth shots.
• Try to avoid zooming in an out during a shot.
• Make sure you roll the camera for a good couple of seconds both before and after your shot.
This will make editing your shots much easier.
• Pay attention to the background of the shot. Often we concentrate so much on the foreground
subject that we miss things in the background which may prove to be an annoying distraction
when our shots are viewed at full size.
TIPS for the SOUND RECORDIST
Sound recording is often given less credence than it deserves. If it is done well, sound recording is not noticed but if it is done badly it can ruin your film.
A Documentary with poor camera work and good sound is still watchable (providing the story is engaging) but a Documentary with great camera work can be unwatchable if the sound is poor.
Recording sound for documentary can be very different to other types of recording. Documentary rep-resents one of the few situations where the crew may well have to record whilst on the move. They may have no real control over what is happening and must react to the circumstances around them. A busy or moving subject may not necessarily wish to stop and afford the crew the opportunity to set up an interview and may need to be interviewed on the move. This involves the Sound Recordist and Camera Operators working together so that neither is in the other’s way and so that the microphone remains constantly out of shot whilst being as close to the interviewee as possible in order to obtain the best quality sound. This type of choreography between sound, camera, Director and interviewee is not easy and takes practice to successfully achieve as the Sound Recordist must be aware of and anticipate the movements of both the Camera Operator and the subject.
Before recording, always check sound levels first: they should peak at -20dB. If the background noise is too loud, adjust the recording level on the camera or sound mixer, move the microphone closer to the speaker or ask them to talk louder. If all this fails, accept defeat and move to another location or visually demonstrate why it is so noisy by having your presenter stand in front of the offending busy road or cut to passing traffic as an explanation.
It is a good idea to collect two to three minutes worth of wildtrack or atmos, for each location that you shoot in. This ambient sound from each location can later be looped and used in the edit. For example, if you record interviews in an office building with office workers in the background, it is important that the sounds and general acoustics of that space are recorded as it can be added at the post-production stage to fill in any gaps in the interviews but also to provide a more general feeling of the ambience of the office. Make sure that you get all the sound that you need and keep your ears open for sound that you did not consider earlier in the process. Consider what types of sound, not just in terms of the spoken word, would support the documentary and how it would affect the audience.
PrODuCTiON
Now you’ve done all the planning, shooting and sound recording, its time to bring it all together.
Post Production is the most time-consuming step in the film-making process. Allow as much time as you think it will take, double it and add on a week. Most films are rushed at the final stage to make a deadline so give yourself plenty of time ‘in post’ to avoid unnecessary stress. Remember to leave time for exporting, encoding and uploading too.
One tricky element of post production is to view your material with ‘fresh eyes’.
You’ve spent many hours with your subject matter. Your audience only has 5 minutes. They’ll never
know the nuanced story you know, they will only ever see the 5 minutes you present. Take out any
attempts to encompass all the things you know about the story and make sure your film works as
a concise 5 mins. Many parts of your story may end up ‘on the cutting room floor’ in order to make
your film easier to understand or more engaging to watch. A little simplification can go a long way.
This is a really difficult step as you may really love the look of a scene or even the message. But if it
doesn’t add to the overall story and you have to cut it, don’t worry, no one else will even know it ever
existed!
Speaking of coherency, remember when you had to write an essay about “Julius Cesar” and your
teacher insisted you write a thesis sentence at the end of your first paragraph? Well that can be
incredibly useful in a film, too. If you start off clearly articulating a thesis or theme, you can save
yourself the painful revisions and cuts where you completely throw out segments of your story after
realizing, in an editing session that one part of your film really has nothing to do with anything else.
This isn’t to say that you can’t make a great doco that does not follow conventional structure, but if
you start off with a clear thesis, you will never unintentionally go astray.
POST PrODuCTiON
TIPS for the EDITOR
Logging and Organizing¬
Much of the job will include inputting footage into your editing system and organizing it in such a way that you can find and access it quickly. This is particularly important with documentaries since there are often large amounts of footage to deal with. The footage is usually provided to you by the producer or director on a hard drive. Upon connecting the hard drive to your system, you can begin the process of logging the footage, which consists of watching and labelling it according to the content and coming up with a description of the scene.
Telling the Story
Your most fundamental role in the process is helping the director tell the story. You’ll have to search through all of the footage in order to determine which parts are essential to conveying the message or narrative intended. Trimming lots of video and constructing it into a coherent film takes patience, discipline and an inherent understanding of what makes for a compelling story. You may also be tasked with locating stock or archival footage and still photographs that can be inserted between the filmmaker’s footage to aid in the storytelling. Any preexisting material you find should be thoroughly checked to ensure you have the proper clearances to use it. Any film that breeches copyright cannot be shown at the Film Festival!
The Finishing Process
Because budget limitations are common, (or in your case nonexistent) you may have to perform a number of additional functions that contribute to the polished look of the film. This includes sound editing, colour grading, and format conversion. Sound editing entails cutting, connecting, blending and overlapping different tracks so that it all sounds like a unified whole. Colour grading centers on adjusting hues, shades and colour temperatures to achieve a desired look or effect and format conversion is exporting the finished film as various media types, such as Quicktime, MPEG or AVI files. To upload your finished film you will need to convert it to a HD H264 Quicktime, but more about that later.
Beginning the ‘Cut’
Generally there are three main steps to editing a documentary. Firstly, it is advisable to make an ‘assembly’ whereby you place all the sequences of footage that you might want to use, in one long timeline. You can then begin to trim the sequences and arrange them in a different order. This is the ‘rough cut’, the most time consuming part of the edit. You should try various different approaches before you are happy with the flow of the story. Once you have the edit in more or less the order and pace you want it, you can begin the fine cutting. This is taking a bit here and there to tighten up the pace of the film and get rid of anything that is unnecessary. By watching your edit over and over again, you will begin to get a sense of what is working and anywhere that may be a bit boring or irrelevant. Once you have finished the editing process you have a final cut. (sound familiar?)
When you have definitely finished editing you are at a stage called ‘picture lock’. You can now begin colour grading and sound mixing.
ShOT SiZES - ThE grammar OF FiLmiNg
‘Shots’ form the building blocks of your production.
Below is an overview of the types of shots that can be used in your production. As a rule the closer the shot, the more personal it feels. The further away gener-ally informs of us of location and gives us a sense of where we are.
WIDE SHOT (WS)
This sized shot is usually used for establishing a scene or location.
It lets the viewer know where they are as each scene begins.
MEDIUM SHOT (MS)
This is the most common shot size in cinema. It replicates how we
would normally look at someone. One aesthetic rule of thumb is to
make sure you don’t chop off the limbs of the person being filmed.
The medium shot also encompasses two other famous shot types:
The two-shot, with two actors/presenters facing the same screen
di-rection, and the over-the-shoulder, showing a conversation in which
the actors/presenters sit or stand across from each other.
CLOSE-UP (CU)
In close-up shots, the subject dominates most of the frame,
allow-ing very little view as to the locale of the scene. Close-ups are much
more dramatic than long or medium shots. They are preferred when
conveying someone’s emotion.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP (ECU)
Often labelled as a detail shot, extreme close-ups do exactly that:
show a small detail of certain relevance that would otherwise be
missed in a longer shot.
Other Things to Consider...
SOuNDTraCk
Think about how sound can enhance your production. A good soundtrack can be used for action sequences, to build tension, to add emotion and to give pace and tempo.
COPyrighT ©
Be careful where you get your music and images from. Copyright exists to protect artists, and to provide them with an income. Piracy of their work is illegal and damages the ability for the artist to make an income. A film that breeches copyright cannot be entered into the YDP!
ADVANCED SHOOTING TECHNIQUES
This section is for those who have had a bit of experience behind the camera.
Here are some techniques that will give you more control over how your footage looks...
SETTING THE WHITE BALANCE
Before filming, you can check that the colour (white balance) is correct. Most cameras have a white balance button which allows you to tell the camera what colour white is. Zoom in on a white surface (a clean sheet of paper will do). Push the white balance button and wait for the viewfinder icon to stop flashing. The camera now registers this colour as white and then adjusts all other colours accordingly for a correct colour scheme.
Incorrect colour balance
Zoom in on a white sheet of paper and press the white balance button
Colour balance now correct
uSiNg maNuaL EXPOSurE
Most cameras (except DSLRs) have an auto-exposure function. If this is enabled, the camera
automatically exposes for the brightest light source in the frame – which may not be the subject. Also, any changes in the frame composition (character movement, pans across a scene) will cause the exposure to bounce around and produce ugly flashes.
With auto-exposure, the camera exposes for the sky rather than the face
Use the menu to switch your camera to manual exposure. Then simply set up your frame and adjust your exposure to the desired look for the primary subject. This exposure will now stay constant during the shot.
uSiNg maNuaL FOCuS
Like exposure, your camera will have an automatic focus function. For professional looking footage this is not recommended, as the camera will automatically focus on the object closest to the lens or that fills most of the frame (which may not be your subject) and will jump in and out of focus on various objects if you pan the camera across a scene.
Auto-focus focuses on the leaves instead of the face
Pull back out to your desired framing.
Use the menu to switch your camera to manual focus. When you are ready to film a shot, zoom right in on your subject and focus accordingly. When you zoom back out, your subject will stay in perfect focus. Some cameras have an ‘expand focus’ button which will allow you to zoom in and focus without using the zoom function. Nifty!
The same shot with correct manual exposure
Zoom all the way into your subject to set focus. (Make sure the eyes are ‘sharp’)
By placing the camera higher or lower, you change the dynamics of the frame.
Overhead angle provides a god’s eye or map point of view.
High angle makes the subject appear shorter and more vulnerable.
Eye level presents a standard real life view.
Low angle makes the subject appear taller and more dominant.
Ultra low angle can give a feeling of extreme danger or power.
Basic Lighting
If possible, you should always light your subject to separate it from the background and enhance the look of your film. This can be achieved through the use of the sun for exterior shots and artificial lights for interior shots.
EXTEriOr:
Back-lighting can also be used to very good effect when shooting machinery or inanimate objects. Note how a back light gives this model ship texture and glow.
Subject lit from behind. This produc-es a more silhouette look and can be particularly effective if you are trying to make your subject appear secretive or sinister.
Subject lit just forward of side-on with a single light. Notice how the foreground now has separa-tion from the background.
Subject lit only by overhead room lights. Image is flat and lifeless.
Sun directly in front of the subject produces
an unattractive, harsh look.
Sun just forward of side-on to the subject
is the ideal light.
Sun at 45 degrees behind subject (back-light) is a
fantastic look, but is best achieved in the
morn-ing or late afternoon when the sun is low in the
sky and not as bright. Note how the camera is
manually exposed for the face and not the sun or
sky.
You are now armed with the skills you need to make an awesome Documentary! The more you practise these skills, the better you will get at them.
Ask your teacher and facilitator as many questions as you can and push yourself and your team to achieve the highest quality ‘Doco’ you can make, but remember... HAVE FUN.
