Notes for documentary photographers

Documentary photographer's notes 1, the whole story structure and film rhythm are well grasped. Will the film crew do some guidance and communication in advance?

The most important thing of documentary is to establish communication. If the other person is not open to you and there is no communication, you can hardly shoot it. There are some story points and plot points in the exercise, which we didn't push, but we knew first. For example, a typical boxer wants to give up amateur boxing and enter the field of professional boxing. Before that, one of our producers established very good communication with everyone, and every time he had any ideas, he would tell us in advance. The protagonist wants to play professional boxing, which is a very important point and a very important clue to promote the plot. In the future, a very important story may happen, and sure enough, many subsequent trends follow this point. You need to know what they are thinking and what they will do next. That's all that matters. Making a documentary and establishing communication and trust with the subject are the core of making a good documentary.

Return train

2. How did the film crew film Spring Festival travel rush's rush home in such a crowded and difficult situation?

There are many skills in practice. If you want to come up with various methods, you must have this ability to deal with these things in various occasions. When filming "The Train on the Way Home", the whole railway station was blocked, and we had to have police and armed police to get in and out freely, so we took the identity of * * TV station. In fact, I used to be an employee of * * TV station, and this film was also shot for * * TV station.

Return train

We have a * * * knowledge with the director, that is, the more noisy and chaotic the scene is, the more you should keep calm and observe carefully so that others can see the details of the scene more carefully. At the scene, we took a lot of photos, some of them were carefully and leisurely displayed far away, and some of them went to the scene violently. There was a stampede at the railway station. At that time, we were in the whole crowd, and the camera followed. As a photographer, you have an intuition that the picture is the most important, so we have been trying to keep shooting.

When making a documentary, the general film crew is just a group. Will two groups shoot in two places at the same time?

It depends on what kind of documentary it is. We have met three or four groups to shoot together. I once filmed an American documentary, because something happened all over the world at the same time, which required different groups to shoot. For example, a big event that required different angles might require different groups.

Temper. Temper.

For example, we used several photographers in the boxing ring when filming A Tempering, because the most important thing in boxing is K.O.' s punch, which brought decisive moments to the other side. If there is no such moment, the plot can't be explained, so we arranged a lot of seats in it. Sometimes it depends on the plot. If the plot needs it, there may be more seats and more groups to shoot. In most cases, one group is enough.

Temper. Temper.

4. Some things in A Tempering are sudden. Are they guided and promoted?

In fact, "tempering" has undergone many changes. At first, we focused on two children. We hope they can enter the boxing ring, take part in competitions and show different lives. But boxing and even all sports are cruel things. Maybe a thousand people or a hundred people do things, and finally only one person can really stand on the stage. Our shooting cycle is more than two years. For boxing, it is difficult to determine whether they will stand out or be eliminated after two years. It's a long process, so we turn our attention to the coach. The coach is a confident person with strong personality charm. He carries more things and is more interesting. Then the coach wanted to play the last professional game. This is not our push, but his own dream. I think we are lucky to have realized it, instead of being pushed by us.

5. "Return Train" The girl chatted some private topics with her friends in the dormitory of the factory. It is not easy to shoot these scenes. How do photographers coordinate communication and shoot what they want?

There is actually a skill in this, that is, the relationship between the subject and the camera. When shooting the return train, the director told me clearly from the beginning that we should establish a good relationship with the subject. We don't build a trust relationship with a girl, but we need to build a relationship with this working group to familiarize them with the camera and overcome their strangeness. In the first year of shooting, it took us a long time to familiarize them with the camera. Most of the time, we took the camera to the scene and didn't turn it on, just let them know that we exist and let them know about us. Take some unimportant photos first, such as some photos of them at work. You should be patient. Keep taking pictures, and you'll get used to it eventually.

Return train

6. Are you forced to stop shooting because of something, or do you want to give up shooting?

What I remember most is shooting the train on the way home. Just after the first shot, there was a sound behind it? Get out? We filmed migrant workers eating in the factory. As soon as the first scene started, others kicked us out. In the first month of filming, we were in great anxiety and anxiety. We will never enter the factory. The factory owner won't let you in. He doesn't know what you want. In the later filming, our subjects kept asking questions. Confused by all kinds of gossip, they often say to me: Forget it, shall we stop filming? Stop filming us, you're affecting our lives. ?

Return train

So in the process of making documentaries for so many years, insecurity has always been with us, and sometimes there is a lot of anxiety in it, but you have to know that this is your job. If you are prone to give up, compromise and cowardice, then you are really not suitable for the documentary industry. This industry is like this. Insecurity and all kinds of uncontrollable factors are always with you. You must overcome these things.

7. How to balance the priority of picture and sound in the shooting scene? How to shoot and record pictures and sounds flexibly?

Sound is very important. Many times, quarrels and plot advancement are achieved through dialogue. You guarantee that the sound is inside, you can pad other pictures with other pictures, and then make up some pictures on the spot. Many times, we judge on the spot where the picture is the priority and where the sound is the priority. If sound is a priority, for example, a very important conversation, if your camera is involved, it may be imaged. For example, they don't know the photographer exists, they are talking, and this is the existence of your camera. They may stop talking, or the conversation will change. At this time, we will ask the sound engineer to find a suitable angle to record, for example, he will record the content by wireless first, and the camera will shoot the content in a remote and hidden location. But in this dialogue, we can guarantee that under similar circumstances, we will try to take these pictures closer and see if we can shoot more things. These are some skills of spot shooting.