To reflect on our final documentary project, I search ‘How to make a documentary?’ online to check it step by step and find out our problems in detail.
- Story Structure
- As Jesse mentioned that filmmakers are supposed to structure their story before the filming process. We did divide our documentary into different parts roughly. However, we didn’t follow the structure completely. We were led by our interviewee at that time. It could be risky for us when we come to the editing process. There could be missing footage. As a result, we are supposed to come up with a perfect structure and follow it as possible as we can.
- A-Roll
- The position of the interviewee in the frame is supposed to follow the rule of third. Besides, the filmmaker should notice the distance between the camera, the interviewer and the interviewee.
- Lighting
- Because we shoot the interview outside and the weather is always changing, the light and color of footages are so different. It requires more work in the post-production process. Thus, filming the interview scene inside would be a better choice, especially for a long time interview.
- B-Roll
- From my perspective, the lack of B-Rolls is the most serious problem of our documentary. From the previous study of film, I believe that there is an order to present shots to make the transition more natural. For example, when we want to introduce Jan’s farm, we could present the establishing shot of the farm environment first. As a result, we have to use sounds and music to achieve this effect. In addition, we could film the same shot from various angles and distances, such as wide shot, mid-shot, close-up and etc. Thus, we can have multiple choices in the editing process.
- Movement
- In my opinion, good movements could make the film achieves a high level of quality, as long as those shots are smooth. Thus, I may start to learn to use a stabilizer to try to film some movement shot next time.
- Reference:
Jesse Cervantes 2017, 7 Fundamental Steps to Film a Short Documentary, Youtube 11 December, Jesse Cervantes, United States, viewed 22 May 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN8dIQ6vptc&pbjreload=10>.