October Sun Films

How to Fund Your First Documentary

admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

When I started thinking about putting together my first documentary movie, the largest issue I had was where to get the money for it! This is a common problem among unknown documentarians. Breaking into the industry is difficult enough, but finding someone to fund an unknown director / writer / producer can be a real headache.

The best advice I can give is to keep it simple. For your first documentary, don’t try to out-do National Geographic. Start small. Find something local which is interesting and not over-saturated with available information. By starting local you’ll help keep initial costs of production (like travel expenses) at a minimum. You’ll also be able to find local talent, which again, will slim down your budget.

After you have decided upon a “do-able” subject matter, start looking for organizations or individuals who are interested, would benefit from, or could use a documentary on your chosen subject matter. If you approach your hopeful backers with a reasonable expense quote, quick turn around estimate (remember, this will be a simple first documentary) and convince them that the documentary is not only needed, but beneficial to them personally, you’re much more likely to land an enthusiastic backer for your first documentary. Good luck!

Choosing a Subject for Your Documentary

admin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Choosing a subject for your documentary can get a little tricky. There are just so many ways you can go when choosing a subject that it can get a little confusing at times. Do you want to be controversial? Maybe you would prefer to present a more straightforward documentary. There is also the chance you may want to do a documentary on something you are an expert in.

Political documentaries can be controversial. You may present some facts that people do not want to hear. The good thing about controversy is that it sells. The bad thing about controversy is that you can make enemies. Some people may not want to work with you in the future because they disagree with something your documentary presented. So be careful if you are thinking about doing a political documentary.

A documentary on wildlife is always an option. These documentaries are not controversial and only require that you have access to the wildlife you are doing the documentary on. This may require travel, but you can always choose local wildlife to do the documentary on.

History is another great subject for a documentary. You can pick a person or event from history and do a documentary on the event or person.

The Top Five Documentaries You’ve Probably Never Seen

admin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Crumb 1994

Crumb is a documentary about the artist Robert Crumb and his eccentric family. The film is a fantastic example of the genres ability to profile a subject and make it compelling. Even if you have never heard of Robert Crumb or seen his work you will be fascinated by his unorthodox behavior and the subject matter of his art. It has been called one of the most compelling and finest documentaries of the last few decades.

Grey Gardens 1975

This documentary is about the relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It focuses on an elderly woman and her adult daughter. The two women live in a dilapidated mansion in Long Island.Is this new to you? Catch up here The home is in complete disarray. Both women are from the aristocratic class but have been reduced to living like squatters in their home. The documentary was later remade as a movie staring Drew Barrymore.

Dark Days 2000

This documentary focuses on a collection of homeless people who have taken up residence underneath the city. The director spent time in the tunnels under the subways in NYC and documented the shantytown that was built there. The homeless people he interviewed felt it was not safe to stay in the shelters or on the street, so they moved underground and built small shacks in the dark caverns.

Gimme Shelter 1970

This film chronicles the Rolling Stones 1969 tour and the riot that occurred. The Rolling Stones hired Hells Angels to work security and the result was a catastrophe.

Man on Wire 2008

This documents Philippe Petit, a French high wire artist. He managed to string a wire between the World Trade Center buildings and walk between the two.

Documentary Films Offer Inspiration To Future Filmmakers

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Documentary films tend to engage the audience more than traditional films. Another thing documentaries do is to inspire. A number of editing software packages are available or can be downloading from online sources. This can serve as an excellent starting point for future filmmakers.

A documentary is a good place for aspiring filmmakers to start since they are often based in real world settings and often require no more than an interesting subject and some good editing skills. When looking for a good documentary you check out the offerings of television providers like http://www.netflix.com for you streaming fans who don’t want to switch tv providers. Three are many other options for locating good documentaries. I would start by checking to see if they have a few documentaries that might provide some inspiration:

“Earth” (2007) – Sure, this is a large scale documentary that follows the migration of four animal families. The settings are breath-taking and the editing is near perfection. Obviously amateur filmmakers are not going to be able to duplicate something of this magnitude with the backing of somebody like Disney (who happen to behind this particular film, taken from the documentary television series “Planet Earth.”) It does offer plenty of ideas though about how compelling the animal world can be. Directors: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield

“Super Size Me” (2004) – This is a better example of how to put together a documentary film that must beginners can easily do themselves. Like most documentaries, this one starts off with one single idea and follows it through. In this case, the idea is to see what a diet of nothing but McDonald’s food for a month will do to the human body. It’s a concept that can be adapted to a number of situations and documented at a relatively low cost to create a compelling story. Director: Morgan Spurlock

I hope you found this information helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

Telling stories without words

www.octobersunfilms.com — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:42:15 +0000

Cinema began as a series of moving pictures, at some point coalescing into a story. Occasionally, title cards would convey information or dialogue that was seemingly necessary to the story. With the advent of sound, many filmmakers took it for granted that it was now necessary to embrace this new feature. Charlie Chaplin was a notable exception, refusing to ever let his Tramp character speak in order to hang on to the mystique.Starting in the 1980s, some documentary filmmakers decided to try their hand at conveying truth without words. The Qatsi (Hopi for “life”) trilogy, produced by Godfrey Reggio, is the most notable example. These films are not entirely silentthey feature compositions by the minimalist musician Philip Glass. But language is noticeably absent. When the first film, Koyaanisqatsi, was released in 1982, Reggio remarked that language “no long describes the world in which we live.”So what do these films depict? They feature shots of different cities, landscapes, and technological sites (like a Saturn V rocket or an automobile assembly line). Many of these shots are in slow-motion and time-lapse, slowing down the rapid pace of modern life. Reggio employed similar techniques for 1988′s Powaqqatsi and 2002′s Naqoyqatsi, although the themes shift with each on.Ron Fricke, who did the cinematography for Koyaanisqatsi, created a similar project called Baraka in 1992, and plans a sequel called Samsara for 2011. We suggest checking out one of these earlier films to see if the mysterious and subtle forms of wordless documentaries appeal to youthey can be quite unnerving at times. Still, they provide a unique alternative to “traditional” documentary filmmaking.

Shedding light on “Invisible Children”

www.octobersunfilms.com — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:10:57 +0000

In 2003, three filmmakers from Southern California travelled to Africa and discovered something that they had to share with the world. In the documentary Invisible Children, they do just that, but it’s not an easy thing to watch. The film tells the story of children in Uganda who have been abducted and enlisted into the Lord’s Resistance Armya rebel group trying to bring down the Ugandan government. To avoid the soldiers, the children would travel long distances at night, unaccompanied by any guardians.Only 52 minutes long, the film has a power that overshadows its length and has inspired high-schoolers and college students across America to raise money for the children. These funds go toward rebuilding schools and offering scholarships to affected African youth. This charity work is overseen by the non-profit organization Invisible Children, Inc. To learn more about the struggle in Uganda, or to see how you can help, visit the organization’s website. You can also see which public screenings of the film are coming up near you.

Documentaries at the Oscars

www.octobersunfilms.com — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:59:59 +0000

The Academy Awards instituted a Documentary category in 1942, and then divided it into two categories the next year (Feature and Short Film). If you’ve never watched a documentary before, you could do much worse than to start with these. On the other hand, if you have always enjoyed nonfiction film, here’s a chance to see how the genre got its start. Here we highlight a film from each decade that wowed the committee with its honesty, beauty, and power.1943 Desert Victory: The first film to win the new Documentary Feature award captured the violence of the war which was now engulfing America. Produced by the British Ministry of Information, it chronicles the North African campaign against Erwin Rommel.1953 The Living Desert: Ten years later, a desert film of a different sort took the trophy. Living Desert took a close look at the wildlife of the American Southwest. Disney approved the film after seeing footage of a battle between a wasp and tarantula.1963 Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel With the World: Released the year of his death and sharing a title with his epitaph, this film combines public appearances by the poet with intimate interviews, critical studies, and images of home life.1973 The Great American Cowboy: This film, released four years after Midnight Cowboy, is about two rodeo stars (Larry Mahan and Phil Lyne) competing for a world championship.1983 He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’: Perhaps one of the lightest documentary films to win the Oscar, Dancin’ is a portrait of Jacques D’Amboise. Amboise danced in the films Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Carousel, and founded the National Dance Institute in 1976.1993 I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School: This film focuses on the serious issues of poverty and education which affect inner-city children. Principal Deanna Burney helps navigate meager resources and staff to offer these children a future they wouldn’t otherwise have.2003 The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara: Instead of doing a documentary about the conflict in Iraq, Errol Morris made a biographical film about the U.S. Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War.2013 Who knows? It could be yours!

Cinema verite: as true as true can getor is it?

www.octobersunfilms.com — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:49:05 +0000

Documentary films come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they’re constructed like a story, with a beginning, middle, and end. Other films are more fragmented, and still others simply seem to unfold naturally. The latter usually describes cinema vrit, a style of documentary film-making that emerged in the late 1960s. In addition to styles of editing and camerawork, films in this genre are also linked by the role of the filmmakerthey were usually much more present in the film than in other documentaries, sometimes even provoking or guiding the subject. Cinema vrit is often associated with the Direct Cinema movement.An early example of these genres is Michel Brault’s and Pierre Perrault’s 1963 film Pour la suite du monde. The filmmakers asked residents of a Canadian island to re-enact a whale hunt as they film it. What was seen on screen was a direct result of the filmmakers’ requestso was it fiction or reality? A common answer is that while the actual hunt is an act, the history and lineage which are revealed are true.Gimme Shelter (1970) is another acknowledged classic of the form, directed by auteurs Albert and David Maysles. The filmmakers’ decision to let things unfold naturally resulted in a strange blend of concert film and social documentary. The film suddenly turns dark when an audience member is stabbed to death at the Altamont Free Concert.The shaky camera style and editing techniques of cinema vvrit films made their way into fiction, both on the big and small screen. Some film examples include The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, and Paranormal Activity, while television shows like Arrested Development, The Office, and Curb Your Enthusiasm also incorporate elements of the genre.