Approaching a subject

M

MemphisMourns

Active member
Greetings friends,

Recently, I've come up with a great idea for a documentary on a personality - that I find so hilariously unique that a film has to be made about him. And I'm probably the only one who feels this way. I was thinking one along the lines of "Grey Gardens-ish or The Devil And Daniel Johnston" style. However, this guy is like 60 years old and probably pretty unfamiliar with these things.

He's a MINOR celebrity (PBS Type), and certainly doesn't need to let some "kid" follow him around with a camera for awhile.

I've just had this vision that I cannot let go.

What is the best way to approach a subject? Are there documents that I should made up explaining my target audience, marketing plan and etc for him? This would pretty much be my first film (after a short) if it happened, and don't have much on my resume yet to show him.

I own an XHA1 and some equipment, and want to just follow him for a while and interview friends and family.

He seems like a great guy, but I really don't know how I'd get him to do it...
 
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Just get in touch with him, let him know what your intentions are and be straight forward, if he's interested then definitely start doing more research on your subject etc. If he says no, then you've lost nothing and you can move on.

It would also help if you have professional intentions with your project, aim for television or something, if it's just a "project" for experience then you might be SOL.

I'd advise hanging out with him for a while, really get to know him and develop your story from there, nothing is worse than just following somebody around with a camera and expecting magic to happen in front of the lens. Relationships are key when it comes down to a film like this or any film for that matter, become his friend, develop a trust because if he doesn't trust you then how will you get him to open up to you?


So just ask him, tell him about your experience as limited as it may be and see if he is interested, the worse that he could say is no.
 
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