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Chapter 9

Chapter 9. Planning. A pitch is the core statement of your film's story, stated clearly and succinctly . It confirms to you and to others that you not only have a good subject, but you have a good story, one that you can tell in a way that will interest others. Pitching.

beverly-morse
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Chapter 9

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  1. Chapter 9 Planning

  2. A pitch is the core statement of your film's story, stated clearly and succinctly . • It confirms to you and to others that you not only have a good subject, but you have a good story, one that you can tell in a way that will interest others. Pitching

  3. To whom do you pitch your story? • An effective pitch introduces the topic and the story. • A pitch works if it compels the listener to ask follow-up questions • ‘Pitching out loud.’ Pitching

  4. As you try to explain to someone else what you want to do, you’ll start to see how the sequences or acts fit together thematically. • In relation, Chapter 9 also helps you understand the outline. • You begin to flesh out your train, by anticipating and sketching out the sequences and the order in which they'll appear. Pitching & story content

  5. An outline is both a planning tool and a diagnostic tool. • You’ll revise the outline (or start over entirely) before, during, and after you shoot and well into editing. The outline

  6. A sequence in a documentary is akin to a chapter in a book. • not ‘shot sequences’ • The single best way to understand sequences is to watch a number of documentaries and look closely at how filmmakers break stories into distinct chapters. • Intent of first scripts… Seeing your sequences

  7. Each sequence is a chapter. Each has a beginning, middle, and end. • Each connects to the other thematically. • If a film is 20 minutes long and your sequences run between three and six minutes each, that's maybe five sequences. • Each of ours is 2:30 – 3:00 long Sequences

  8. Not all documentary filmmakers would call it “casting.” • All would agree that the people you see on screen— interacting with each other, sound bites or narrator /host—need to be researched, contacted, and brought onto the project with care. • Decisions about who will be in and what they're expected to contribute to the storytelling are important. What about ‘casting’?

  9. The chapter: when to cast, whom to cast, doing your homework, casting non-experts, on-the-fly casting, casting opposing voices, casting for balance, genuine casting (approach and intent issues – point of view and voice), expanding the perspective, and paying your cast. • Also gives you more perspective on your Narrator. Casting

  10. Selling Chapter 10

  11. Many projects, if not most, progress from an outline to some form of treatment. • A prose version (chapter by chapter description) of your film, playing out on paper as it will play out on screen. • Good producer / director ‘visualizes’ full production – how do you help others ‘see your vision’? Treatments

  12. A treatment for an hour-long film might be five pages or 25, depending on what you need. • See some examplesat the end of Chapter 10. Treatments

  13. Often creating a treatment for outside review. • Your focus is on story, not photography, which means that you don't want to spend time describing creative shots, etc. • There's a difference between writing to describe what you know you can see, versus inventing it as if you were writing the treatment for a dramatic feature. Connected to pitching

  14. A shooting treatment, if you create one, is the culmination of your work prior to shooting. • Scripts, as noted, help guide our work and have to be adjusted in a documentary as you progress. • Shooting scripts (2-column), interview scripts, shot sheets. • After establishing clear vision Shooting treatment / scripts

  15. Shooting and editing Next chapters…

  16. Be prepared for those surprises that are likely to make a good documentary even better. • Be prepared for ‘fleeting video’ • Who shoots, how, and with what, depends on a lot of variables. Shooting

  17. Cut-ins and cutaways • Shot sequences / master scene shooting method • ‘Matched action sequences’ • ‘Motivated moving / follow shot’ • Framing, transitions • Lighting matters every time, all technical issues matter every time B-roll

  18. Objective POV • Shot framing & composition • Change the shot during the interview • No verbal responses during answers • Lighting matters every time, sound and all other technical issues matter every time Interviews

  19. Read the Shooting and Editing chapters and use them in combination with what we discuss • Not ‘one style’ • A variety of ways can work • ‘Professional’ versus ‘amateur’ quality Other issues

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