A discussion of creating documentaries.

1. Advanced Final Cut Non-fiction Workshop

2. Why this workshop? For your next project, you have been charged with creating a non-fiction piece centered around the interview. Non-fiction pieces can take a wide variety of forms: News Stories Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) Commercials Documentaries Corporate Videos

3. Which format will work best for your audience? The format of your project is largely dependent upon the message that you are trying to convey as well as the intended audience for the project News stories – Made in a specific format. Creator usually appears on the screen. Large Audience. PSA – Larger, broader audiences. Can be costly to produce and difficult to air. They must be short in length. Commercials – Larger audiences. Expensive to buy air time, but you will ensure that you are reaching a large group. Also short. You may need to edit content Documentaries – Longer in length. Allows you time to explore topics in more depth. Harder to reach a larger audience. Corporate Videos – Typically smaller audiences as distributed by the company. Very specific message.

4. Format Case Study Which format do you think will work best in the following scenario: A friend wants to do a piece about the homeless problem in Seattle. He wants your feedback about what type of format the project should be in. What additional information would you ask him before making a decision? What would you recommend? A company wants to tell tell people about a new promotion they have going on. What is the best format for them to share their message?

5. Some Examples In these examples, I want you to pay attention to the way that they set up the interview and also the type of B-Roll Footage that they shoot. News: From King 5 PSA: Celebrities Help Haiti, Players for Haiti Commercials: BECU Corporate Video: Visual Media Group Documentaries The Cruise Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story Student Examples

6. Shooting Your Footage When you shoot the interview, you want to do as much as you can to make the shot look as visually appealing as possible Obeying the rule of thirds Use natural light to set up your subject When possible, use a lavalier or boom microphone to ensure the best sound possible In a formal interview, sit to the side of the camera and have the interviewee refer all their questions to you. Interviewing suggestions Make the answer to the question self-contained Camera Demo

7. Capturing B-Roll Most documentaries require some sort of additional footage to go along with the interview footage, this is called B-roll. B-roll is useful in covering up edits in the interview B-roll can take many different forms: Footage of the interviewee working / doing something Photographs Archival Film The B-roll should be logically connected to the topic of the Voice-over/Interview