Need Help & Suggestions For 1st Documentary Videoshoot

A

andybiz_2005

Well-known member
Hi all,

I'll be shooting my first video documentary. It would be about a Christian conference to be held over 3 days in November & there will be important international delegates from Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand & China coming to my country for this all-important conference.

Before the first day of conference, these delegates will arrive from the International Airport, where I'm expected to shoot their arrival. On the 1st night of the conference, there will be a grand inaugural dinner to welcome all the guests. Then the 2nd day will be speeches, workshops & more speeches throughout the day. During the last day, there will be the closing ceremony. I'm also expected to interview as many of the international delegates on their views on the conference.

It would be a 30min to 45min-long documentary of significant highlights of the 3-day event & I want it to be interesting & entertaining to watch & yet tell a meaningful story, like a plot of a movie unfolding.

Equipment I'll be using is 1 cameraman (myself), DVX100A (25p, 16:9 aspect ratio), tripod, possibly monopod as well, external 3-pin XLR microphone, 100watt videolight mounted to shoe of DVX100A.

I really need help in planning for the doc shoot. For eg, should I prepare a script to guide me in what to shoot, or even draw out a storyboard? Would this help me flesh out my story for the documentary? Any articles on the Net providing useful info on documentary shooting? Much thanks in advance.

Andrew
 
andybiz_2005 said:
Hi all,

I'll be shooting my first video documentary. It would be about a Christian conference to be held over 3 days in November & there will be important international delegates from Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand & China coming to my country for this all-important conference.

Before the first day of conference, these delegates will arrive from the International Airport, where I'm expected to shoot their arrival. On the 1st night of the conference, there will be a grand inaugural dinner to welcome all the guests. Then the 2nd day will be speeches, workshops & more speeches throughout the day. During the last day, there will be the closing ceremony. I'm also expected to interview as many of the international delegates on their views on the conference.

It would be a 30min to 45min-long documentary of significant highlights of the 3-day event & I want it to be interesting & entertaining to watch & yet tell a meaningful story, like a plot of a movie unfolding.

Equipment I'll be using is 1 cameraman (myself), DVX100A (25p, 16:9 aspect ratio), tripod, possibly monopod as well, external 3-pin XLR microphone, 100watt videolight mounted to shoe of DVX100A.

I really need help in planning for the doc shoot. For eg, should I prepare a script to guide me in what to shoot, or even draw out a storyboard? Would this help me flesh out my story for the documentary? Any articles on the Net providing useful info on documentary shooting? Much thanks in advance.

Andrew
Click to expand...

For something with this compressed of a timeline (ie you're not going to be shooting for YEARS) you MUST know what shots you are looking for, and get them as they happen. Certainly draw up an outline and shotlist, and shoot footage from dawn to dusk. Shoot so much footage that you feel like you've exhausted EVERY possiblity for a shot, and then some. For an event like this, where the shooting timeframe is so compressed, you may want to consider getting another cameraman on board as well - you'll be glad you did when you go to edit.
 
Thank you much Duct Tape Films for providing me we useful advice. Actually, my shooting equipment is quite limited due to budget constraints. Here are the equipment used :

Panasonic AG-DVX100A
Panasonic AG-MC100G XLR external stereo microphone (mount on DVX)
Viten 100watt halogen video light (mount on shoe of DVX)
Sturdy & light-weight tripod
Sufficient miniDV tapes & batteries to last the 3 days.
I'll be shooting 25p in 16:9 aspect ratio for that movie look.

Conference date is from 23-25 November 2006 & the Theme is "God's Tsunami In The Marketplace". Here's a somewhat detailed program :

23 Nov 2006
9:00am - 7:00pm : Arrival of Conventin delegates @ Kuala Lumpur International Airport
7:00pm - 10:00pm : Celebration Banquet @ Convention Hotel

24 Nov 2006
8:30am - 9:00am : Praise & Worship
9:00am - 4:30pm : Sessions 1 to 4
7:00pm - 8:00pm : Dinner
8:00pm - 10:00pm : Session 5

25 Nov 2006
8:30am - 9:00am : Praise & Worship
9:00am - 12:30pm : Sessions 6 to 7
7:00pm - 10:00pm : Evangelistic Banquet

I will be the only cameraman shooting the 3 day conference & hope to shoot some interviews of key people (a couple international quests speakers & National President of the Malaysian Chapter). For the interviews, I plan to hold it in a small, quiet room (air-con turned off to illiminate ambient noise) & hang a sign outside the door informing people that an interview is in progress.

For the sessions, it is not neccesary to tape continuously from beginning to end. I just need to capture highlights of each speaker at each session & some close-ups of audiences at sessions.

But I think what I need to do is first prepare a simple script to aid me in what to shoot & how these footage can be woven into an interesting story. The purpose of this video is to produce a documentary video between 30-45mins long that will tell a compelling story with interviews included.

In your experience, do you see a monopod as invaluable when following subjects while shooting? I may consider getting a monopod (will be following international guests as they arrive at international airport). Also, what kinds of questions should I ask for the interviews? How should I craft/plan my shooting script for the edit?

Thank you for taking the time to help me. I may even post the completed doc on the Net for you to see, if it's good ;)
 
I spent time in KL shooting for YWAM in 2005. Great city (very hot).

I would say make a plan on how you are approaching everything. Is this a film about the conference or what the speakers have to say in interviews or is it about faith in the marketplace? The more you can think through the goals of the film the better focus you will have about the direction and you do want to have direction. This thing will eat your lunch if you don't. If you get time with the speakers and you don't have a good idea where you are going with questions, they will spend 30 minutes talking about what they want (not a bad thing, but that thing needs to be what your looking for).

Think it through from the end viewer, what are they to get out of it? Motivation, education, inspiration? Just spend time thinking through it and make some plans on how you can accomplish your goals. Like, finding the background and strength of each speaker and make a list of questions to ask them. Stuff like this.

If you interview speakers, get b-roll of them interacting with people from the conference. You will probably need some shots to edit with for cutting up their intv.

Have fun with it. Go handheld, follow people around, create some conversations for camera, ask about countries, what is happening today and in the future? Ppoeple are interested in what happens around the world, especially when you can relate it to them. Connection points. Japenesse business men are like this because... someone hear's it and thinks "they are just like me." So the personel stories connect people because they can relate (as opposed to just making it about "Japan"). Hope these things help. Just some ideas.

Here is a link to some stuff I have worked on (including Malaysia). I also have some stuff on revostock.com.

http://homepage.mac.com/mediaserveintl


Blessings on your work!

John


Monopods
 
Hi FatDaddy,

After watching most of your film samples on http://homepage.mac.com/mediaserveintl I'm quite amazed at your photography. In all your samples, esp "Youth to Mexico", your pictures are so delibarate & song choice appropriate. All your pictures & camera angles are gorgeous, cause they are so well exposed. I realised after watching most of your samples, you don't just shoot for the sake of acquiring footage, but the pictures tell a meanginful story & the interviews make the message in each video all the more impactful. Watching your "YWAM Music Montage", it can be seen that you have traveled widely & captured some very beautiful images of cultures & people & woven them into a great montage. Do you shoot for National Geographic channel, b.c. I your docs are quite as good as docs made for NatGeo?

When you plan to shoot a documentary, do you spend months drafting a rough shooting script so that on the day of shooting, you know exactly what are the footage to acquire for your final edit? Or do you capture as much footage as you can & then only duirng the editing stage decide on a story & select some of your shots & weave that into a story?

For my documentary shoot, the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship (FGBMF) are orgnasing this 3 day conference. FGBMF's mission is to reach businessmen for Christ all over the world. So the fact that Malaysia is a multi-cultural country & international delegates are converging in Malaysia tells a message of unity, of diverse peoples gathering in one place to focus on praying down God's Tsunami in the "marketplace". It's a marketplace ministry, that's what the FGBMF is.

The leaders of FGBMF want me to compile a highlights documentary DVD of the 3 day event, so I guess it would be the message of the speakers, the interviewers & also about the conference as a whole. It's also centered on the theme "God's Tsunami In The Marketplace".
 
Erm Fatdaddy,

I may also need to invest in a good-quality wired lavalier that I can tape to the main mike on the podium in front where the conference speaker is speaking. Because the external mic attached to my DVX will pick up ambient sounds around. Any brands of wired lavalier mics that you can recommend that has good-quality sound & yet not too expensive on my wallet? Thanks.
 
Thanks for the kind words. For the record, the YWAM montage was done completely with stock footage from digital juice. I use that as an example for people to budget stock footage (of course I used it for that project). My background for a lot of years has been editing. I think the camera needs to move. One benefit for me is years editing and having a vision for things as a finished piece when I start to shoot. Interesting about Malaysia, my friends are getting kicked out after 9 years there...

As far as mics go, a wireless set-up is always something to try to have. My last trip to Europe and Africa, I traveled with two shotguns, 1 wired and 1 wireless. I used them all at different times. Hard wired lapels I have a Sony-77 and 55. You can also rent audio stuff cheap (Malaysia?) My audio is pretty standard stuff. You might also want to see about getting a board feed from house sound, that would be easier to come and go if it is in the right spot. If there are copies of the talks, see if you can pull some powerful quotes from there (especially is you miss it), if they have a photographer try to get some stills (you never know).

Think through the talent release forms. Are they posting it that your image could get recorded? Lots to talk about that... They could announce that they are making a video and that is who you are.

I usually have an idea of the story to be told and try to capture everything - everything! Just keep thinking through it. Personal stories - find some mentors, find some coming to faith stories through business outreach, what excites people. I also have a short shotgun I run on the camera instead of using the onboard mic. You could do some man on the streets style interview. Have someone come with you and ask questions (off camera). The other thing is to have an interview room or area. You like the lighting and audio is ready to go and just bring people over and set them down.

Just some thoughts. Keep checking www.mediaserveinternational.org It is a non-profit I am starting that deals with faith based filmmaking, training and connecting the community. Will launch soon.

Blessings on your work!
John
 
Thank you FatDaddy for providing me such good advice on my doc shoot. Here is a pdf of the conference brochure : http://www.fgb.com.my/download/home_main_ac2006.pdf

I hope to interview all the speakers profiled on page two as these are the leaders. So I could plan out some strategic questions to ask them.

Yes, I definitely try to get a board feed from house sound, but if that's not possible, I'm not sure if this is a good or valid idea. I have a uni-directional mic that accepts the 3-pin XLR connector. If I can get a 10 or 20meter mic cable, I could place my uni-directional mic on the podium (where the speaker is), connect the mic with the mic cable on one end & plug the other end of the cable directly into my DVX100A's XLR connector. That way, the audio is coming directly from the speaker himself. I currently don't have budget for wireless mic units. So someone else suggested this way. May have to tape down the cable to prevent people tripping over it though.
 
Looks like fun.

The website is on hold, so it will be up soon (or part of it). How are you handling language?

John
 
OK, will wait patiently for your website. Language? All the important speakers' English will be quite good I presume, even the Japanese, Mr Peter Tsukahira because he stays in the US. English should not be a major problem.

I'm still working out the shooting script for this conference. Will post some details on the shooting script when I've kinda finalized it. Thanks FatDaddy for hanging out at this thread & for your valuable advice. Appreciate it very much. Meanwhile, I've recently produced a montage concert performance & posted it on GoogleVideo. Here's the link : http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...40304898&hl=en

Cheers!

Andrew
 
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Hi Andrew.

Can't seem to get the link to work. If you can stay in english that is always nice. I just finished some stuff from Africa and they wanted it all subtitled (even the Africans who speak english). When I went to Malaysia in 2005, I was just coming from a trip in India and we hit a TGIF in KL and had burgers!

Have fun.

John
 
Cool!

I'm gonna type in a draft shooting script. Just the beginning part of the shooting scrpit in a while time. In a couple mins time. Thanks for staying tuned to my thread. You're doing a great work on those documentary videos. Love watching it.

Andrew
 
Hi all, these is a draft shooting script for just the beginning :

ACT 1
SCENE 1

23 Nov 06

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) – Arrival of International Delegates (all tripod shots)
• Est. wide shot of KLIA in far distance (approx 2-3KM away)
• Est. wide shot of airplane flying overhead (low approach, approx 150feet up) & landing on tarmac
• Est. close-up tight shot on “ARRIVAL” sign at airport terminal building
• Est. wide shot of passengers exiting from arrival area into road where taxis & cars are waiting (approx 10meters away).
• Note:- at least 3-4 mins need to be shot – speeded up later in post, cam mounted on tripod, left cold).

Actual Arrival Of International Delegates (all handheld shots-cam mounted on monopod)
• Full wide shot of delegates coming out of arrival terminal building (approx 6meters). Shoot Malaysian delegates warmly welcoming Int. delegates (shake hands, hugs, bows, exchange greetings).
• Move in for extreme tight close-up shot of handshakes, happy faces greeting each other.
• Medium shots of delegates hugging (approx few feet). Capture sounds & emotions as they happen.
• Medium wide shot of Int. delegates with luggage, walking towards charter bus (handheld on monopod, following & shooting as they walk, some sort like a dolly shot).
• Wide shot (pan horizontally on tripod) of bus departing airport (bus approx 8m distance then cut).

SCENE 2
Inside Bus - Handheld on monopod
• Wide shot-start from front of bus & start walking & shooting with camera through aisle to back of bus, while delegates wave & say “Hi” to camera as I pass them.

Informal Interviews In Bus – camera on tripod
• Ask 2 or 3 delegates about their personal expectations on the convention. What they hope to benefit from – around 1-2mins/interviewee.

B-roll Of Scenery – tripod shots
• From side of bus window, wide shot of scenery moving by fast.
• From front windscreen of bus, shoot main road sign on highway “Welcome To Kuala Lumpur”, “Keranamu Malaysia”. Tilt camera up until sign disappears from view.

SCENE 3 – tripod shots
• Still from inside bus : as bus nears hotel, do wide shot of bus approaching “Palace Of Golden Horses” hotel with hotel name seen clearly (through bus’s front windscreen).
• From outside bus : shoot bus entering POGH grounds & making it’s way to hotel lobby (approx 10feet).

SCENE 4 – handheld on monopod
• Wideshot : walk backwards showing International delegates walking to their hotel rooms (approx a few feet from subjects).
• Show them opening hotel room door & closing door shut followed by continuous close-up shot of hotel room door with number on it. Then cut.



Thanks for your comments for improvements.

Regards,

Andrew
 
That's what I call detail. Hopefully following a script will not get in the way of actually shooting the event. The more you hang around the more they will get use to you and being on camera. Just try to stay out of the way some so they don't get upset about the camera, etc.
A for effort. This will help to think through it, but in the end, it's you and the camera. Pace yourself. Make sure you are putting the effort into the things that will matter most to the project. Shooting everything, does not mean shooting it all, just capture some of everything.

Have fun.
John
 
A few thoughts from 30,000 feet

A few thoughts from 30,000 feet

Hi Andy,

Looks like you're asking the right questions and off to a great start - keep the Spirit! I'm glad to see you will be paying serious attention to the sound - you'll do very well to use/rent a wireless lav. transceiver/mic.

Regarding your script, while jumping into the act/scene chronology is useful, don't loose sight of the big picture - the mega-theme. Be clear on your protagonist and mega-theme. Certainly the documentary can have a greater purpose than simply a historic reference. Is it your intention that the audience simply becomes inspired? Or is there a greater message as redemption (salvation, self-atonment), or perhaps even advocating a degree of existentialism or post-modernism? (I left out repentance - popular theme in movies but unlikely for your audience)


While you don't need to get too deep into all this for a half-hour video, you'll still be surprised the power you as the producer have on factors such as the interview questions you have, mood music selected, camera work (lighting, angles, shot progression, etc), sequencing, editing, etc.

If you're going to be inserting voice narration after the shoot, you may want to study documentary script work by others.


BTW - before the airport scene, you'll certainly want an intro and probably a nice cresendo at the end with credits, where to obtain a copy of the video, etc. So be sure to budget some time for these segments. And be sure to do a few dry runs to check out and get comfortable with additions to your gear - be sure to make a checklist of everything so you don't forget that critical cable on the day of the shoot, and consider various worst-case scenarios (maybe bringing a portable MP3 recorder as a backup)


Someday if you get a chance, read "Hollywood Worldviews" and I guarantee you'll never see a movie in the same light regarding mega-themes and multitude of underlying religious/spiritual messages.

Anyway, don't let any of this overwhelm you - I agree with other posters: enjoy your creative talents and have fun!


Blessings, Michael
 
Hi - back again after having had an opportunity to reread your original post. Your stated objective is:

"I want it to be interesting & entertaining to watch & yet tell a meaningful story, like a plot of a movie unfolding"

Fair enough, but back to the theme and protagonist, after reading your into I might guess the theme might be one of these:

1. The 3 day Christian conference was an excellent forum where our delegates collaborated, shared, and learned together; resulting outputs were... and open items are...

2. Our members have a diverse cultural background from 8 countries. Challenges go beyond communication barriers, including factors such as ... [politics, economy, theology, demographics, church hierarchy] Jesus and his Apostles faced parallel issues in his day and together we can ...

Certainly the protagonist and theme is quite different above, but in both cases the implied audience is oriented for the delegates and Church leaders.

3. Your delegates represented your country, both learning best-in-class methods from the 8 represented countries and sought support for our local [issues, opportunities]. Some of the successes at the conference included ...

Here the audience addressed is more for the congregation church-goers themselves and the protagonist focuses more on the needs of the individual country rather than the collective.

No doubt, if you were to talk with the conference leaders and representative delegates, you'd have a good sense of the expected outcome from the conference and how the process helps to facilitate the desired goals and outputs. Perhaps this is already clear, looking at the agenda for the speeches and workshops.

The point is, aside from the technical aspects of the documentary, your insights in the target viewing audience and the emotional influences of your film are key. This understanding will provide a guiding light to support or perhaps challenge the audiences beliefs will ultimately determine your success.

Your time will be well served to come up with one or more scenarios and share them with those commissioning you for the film (hopefully getting consensus and approval). Then when you work/rework your Act/Scene scripts, you'll have a clear understanding of the mega-theme, how and what to focus on the film and interviews, and how to edit the documentary into a powerful media to positively influence the desired emotional responses.

Okay? Michael
 
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Thanks moonlitnight & Fatdaddy for all your really helpful pointers on developing my story.

Actually, the whole of the 2nd & 3rd day sessions will be dry speeches related to God's Tsunami In The Marketplace. I plan to only shoot extracts of each speech session. My question is how can I begin to formulate a story right now in my mind to weave boring, dry speeches into a meaningful, compelling & interesting story (complete with interviews with international delegates) so that viewers watching my documentary will find it good?

Right now, I'm not exactly sure what are the exact topics that will be covered in the sessions. Should I shoot as much footage as I can & later during the editing stage weave a story out of the footage I've shot? Or should I pre-plan a story now & shoot for the edit during the convention?

Much thanks for all your help.

Blessings,

Andrew
 
Hi Andrew.

I think you can do both. I shoot everything (or some of everything as said before). What you want to find, are the things that will interest the viewer. If someone is really interested in the content then the boring speeches will not be boring to them. What you are missing is real life footage and examples of what they are talking about. So your going to have a lot of talking heads. I really believe we make projects to long. We try to fit everything in and we think by making it longer we make it better. I disagree.

I would think people want to hear what is happening in a country and culture. What impact and effect are they having in their world. That is the kind of stuff someone watching might be interested in. Just think through that kind of stuff so when you ask some questions you have a direction to go with.

Just some thoughts.
John
 
Dear Andy,

I see - if you feel your the source content won't have much pizzazz, then be sure to take LOTS of B roll stuff and during the speeches, keep the camera moving (pans and lots of audience shots). With judicious background music and post-production editing, you should be able to generate an interesting/entertaining production. This type of content also sounds ideal for J and L cuts and maybe some split screen work (speaker/audience). And since God's Tsunami will be a key topic, hopefully you can get some video footage or at least stills that you could do a "fly over", pan, etc.

While I'm not advocating overdoing the effects, with some carefully places edits and mood music you can still produce a real hit - keep your focus on the theme and the emotional impact.

Warm Regards, Michael
 
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