What should we pay attention to when making a documentary?

What should we pay attention to when making a documentary? 1. Decide your role in the film as soon as possible: Is it invisible? Peeping tom? , will still really appear in the film.

Although you may be tempted to manipulate real events, a real documentary director will never exert too much influence on the characters or events he shoots. However, there are exceptions: when shooting controversial, political or viewpoint documentaries for the purpose of publicity and communication, consciously choosing perspectives and materials will really blur the truth and even confuse right and wrong. This is PETA danger: people who treat animals humanely, Michael? Michael moore, Andrew? Breitbart, Lenny? Rivesta, veteran of the flying boat of truth? These people and organizations have attracted countless anger and hostility because of their highly controversial works. Therefore, in the field of documentary, the views and perspectives of the creators are particularly important. Please listen to your morality and conscience (or simply have no shame).

3. The preparation of documentary should include a shooting outline, determine the basic narrative context and list the minimum audio-visual materials. With this list, filmmakers will be able to determine which video materials can be found through libraries or archives and which new content must be obtained through shooting.

4. Don't underestimate the IQ of the audience. There is no need to explain too much about what is obvious in the picture. The audience is smarter than you think.

5. Don't pin all the narrative responsibility on the realization of voice-over or annotation. If the truth you describe in the picture is not obvious enough, then no matter how you repeat it and write it, you can't convince the audience. For a pacifist, the picture is full of bloody, sacrificed and injured soldiers and civilians, which is enough to make him turn a deaf ear to any war carols and passionate words.

"God said let there be light" poster

Let there be light (1946), written by John? Near Houston? World War II? A documentary that was banned by the military for 40 years because it showed that the shadow of war caused the soldiers to be insane? Not only because of the way it was filmed, but also because of its real cruel and disturbing content. The film tells the audience that even for those soldiers who have no physical disability, the war will make them suffer from severe mental disability for life. This is exactly the same as the later movie about Al? Al Gore's documentary about fighting global warming has the same name? This is an inconvenient fact (2006).

6. When interviewing people, try to make the interviewee feel comfortable and relaxed. If the atmosphere of the interview becomes antagonistic, then you should know that no matter what their actions and postures are, the information they convey is not true intention, because they are deeply involved in what they have to say.

Stills of An Inconvenient Truth

7. If you can't hide the camera, please hide your intention? Because you want to minimize the impact of your existence on what is happening.

8. Never underestimate the importance of accurately recording all materials. Quote Johnny? Joni Mitchell's words? You never know what you've got until it's all gone.

9. You need to know some laws and regulations on privacy, trademark use rights and copyright protection. If you plan to show it in public, please make sure that you can find a legal adviser or get legal advice to confirm that the relevant forms, licenses and distribution documents are accurate. Many movies also prepare a copy? Negligence and fault? (mistakes and misunderstandings) to compensate producers. In the budget table, the contract is usually abbreviated as? E & ampo insurance? . Please execute this document before shooting.

10, even if shooting the real world, you still have to clear the scene and maintain the shooting order. Please try to control your own shooting environment? You don't want to miss an invaluable and irreplaceable moment because passers-by block the camera, unpredictable noise and official intervention.

1 1. Sometimes, out-of-control situations are inevitable, for example, when you take a candid photo, or obtaining the necessary permission to shoot will hinder the integrity of the work and even make you completely lose the opportunity to shoot. Insurance will not protect you from criminal or civil lawsuits caused by your misconduct, although sometimes insurance contracts can make up for some of your losses (at the expense of high deductibles! )。 However, on the other hand, the high exposure brought by litigation or imprisonment will also increase the commercial value of your film. In this way, you can let publishers, investors and exhibitors know about your project without spending a penny on marketing and publicity. The most extreme examples are those documentaries that secretly shoot adventure events (such as skydiving from bridges and climbing skyscrapers with bare hands). In these projects, the participants themselves have violated the law and went to the scene to film the whole process of the incident without permission (sometimes even without insurance).

12, the behavior will produce corresponding results; Please be prepared for unpredictable events. If you are about to be arrested, deported or beaten, please protect the film material first, then the camera and finally yourself. You know, a carefully hidden camera can often provide interesting pictures, and sometimes even become evidence of self-defense in subsequent criminal or civil proceedings.

13. All people who appear on the screen must sign an authorization agreement with you, allowing you to use their portraits or names in the film. If you ignore this requirement, you will take great risks. There is no authorization agreement for each subject in the film, especially those subjects portrayed in a more explicit way in the film, which is criticized and your film will be fatal in sales and commercial screening. Many filmmakers will ask attractive staff to lobby and lure people into signing agreements. Even those who appeared to resist the camera, were arrested and taken to prison on TV's police reality show signed their own authorization agreements (such as TV program [Cops]). They may do this under certain conditions: the film crew promises to help them inform their families, donate bail or help them seek legal advice? Through these inducement conditions, those precious signatures can be obtained. What about the rest who don't sign the agreement? Usually, their faces are mosaiced, and their voices are processed or covered with beeps, making them illegible.

"Jaws" Writer, Secret Theater, Art of War, and the geek teacher at UCLA privately taught the director tips.