Help with opening scene

[ToTheBack]

I've been making this short movie lately, a mock PSA on the Darfur genocide. The opening scene is below and after it, the formula is gonna be a montage of people describing how they help the crisis; some actually help, others do ludicrous things that don't help at all, just their own ends.

Where I need help is this: I had always planned on opening the movie with chaotic archival footage and intercut with the main person in the movie. However, the clips I wanted to use are too expensive to use and need to either use different footage or think of something else. I tried looking on archive.org for public domain stuff but the website is way too confusing and the only free stuff I could find wasn't relevant.

So I need your guys help with ways to emphasize the same points. I need to highlight the chaos visually but don't have access to the clips used in the opening. Also, I know I won't be able to use the background song, I put that in as a temp track.

http://www.vimeo.com/1646042

 

[Kess]

Sounds like you are going to have to shoot the opening violence and chaos yourself. Why not copy those clips that you would like to purchase, but can't afford to purchase? With fast cutting and close-ups you can imitate much of that relatively easy. Watch any battle scenes from movies like Braveheart, Gladiator, etc. Watch Hotel Rwanda and see how they filmed them. Slow them down so you can visually follow the action/shooting technique. You can pull it off if you plan it out. Go for it!