One man doc's

I

indigo

Well-known member
Is anyone aware of any documentaries shot by a single person i.e. one person does all the camera and sound work themselves?

I'd be interested in any links/references!
Cheers

Indy....
 
i have one that i'm shooting ... i started shooting in 2001 .. have shot same person twice a year ...so far it's been shot natural light ... mostly interior ... one interview green scene ... i've tried different mic's over the years and for one person crew find hard wire lav works best for interviews .. wireless lav if on the go ... dropped over head/boom mic ( on stand) after 2nd interview ...
the person has lived in a few states over the years -so i travel light - hand size camera, 2 wireless set ups , boundary mic , mono pod ... i use boundary mic whenever possible as 2nd mic ...
sorry no links to any clips ...
 
Check out the docs by Ross McElwee (Sherman's March, Time Indefinite, etc.)

Also Iraq in Fragments, which wasn't entirely one person, there was a second camera, but shot primarily by James Longley (with a DVX100); http://iraqinfragments.com/
 
Thanks for the info and technical low down.... very useful!

I've had my HVX200 now for about 6 months and really wanted to start using it in anger but was having problems pulling it all together in a convincing way. Getting decent sound was/is a particular problem.

I'm currently in Rome, Italy (for a wander around) and have got some real good footage but need to work on the audio aspect of things.

Anyway thanks one and all!
Cheers

Indy... in Rome, Italy
 
indigo said:
Is anyone aware of any documentaries shot by a single person i.e. one person does all the camera and sound work themselves?

I'd be interested in any links/references!
Cheers

Indy....
Click to expand...

I did one. It's not easy. Here it is. It's on Methamphetamine.

http://tinyurl.com/y85lju

It was supposed to be simple camera rental. Turned out the guy knew nothing, had no idea what he wanted, and was generally clueless.

Plenty of problems with it. Lighting, camera work, the fact I'm NOT an editor. I'm still happy with the final product though. i
 
Sorry, can't post anything, as I am doing 5 films on child life in kindergarten through high school, and we can't show anything 'till it's finished. I've started doing everything alone, because of minimal funding. Am working on getting it sold, because working alone is really, really hard, and you risk missing the important stuff that you so need to make it captivating. This forum is ripe with info, and I've built my approach around advice from here, plus testing.

Filming is a HVX sometimes with MPIC 35mm adapter and Nikkors, plus weird lenses, loupes and old scratched glass. 1080i/25, sometimes 720p VFR and some DV stuff. Steadicam Flyer and crappy tripods, Manfrotto monopod and HEAVY heandheld. 2 8 GB cards and a Firestore FS-100, PC laptop, G5's, FCP, Logic Audio, Shake. Retrospect, LaCie 1 tb drives, LTO2 backup (most important part after the camera!!).
I also set up lighting, anything from available, plus some china lanterns, to 8 1kw fresnels. A lot of changing fluorescents to ones with higher cri and tungsten color. Audio is 2 Sennheiser wireless in combination with Senheiser MKH 416 and some B&K 4006. Soon I'll hack the two internal mics to allow for 4 external inputs.

Search the forum, and get someone to help you in the field, be it only grip and logging, if you possibly can, it is arduous. -But FUN:cheesy: Enjoy!
 
AshG said:
My doc was a one man show with on camera mic and natural light... www.strongenoughtobreak.com
ash)
Click to expand...

Ashley,

Extremely impressive. Material seems interesting and the trailer has dynamic pacing. I'm surprised by the revelation that this was a one person on camera mike, no light situation.

I've watched it a couple of times looking for flaws and I can't find any that take me out of the story. What camera and mode was this shot in and what on camera mike did you use?

What's happening with the film now?
 
Sound problems.....

Sound problems.....

soren k jensen said:
Sorry, can't post anything, as I am doing 5 films on child life in kindergarten through high school, and we can't show anything 'till it's finished.
Click to expand...

Sounds extremely interesting!

Basically the problem I have is...... sound.

I was in Athens (Greece) last weekend and part of what I'm working on requires me to 'film' working market traders selling food. I'm happy with the footage I've got BUT the on-board sound is just way way off. Its always going to be hard in such a noisy environment but being on my own means I can't operate the camera and hold a boom/microphone at the same time. I have asked members of the public in the past to hold a handheld mic but its a bit hit and miss. I capture ambient sound fine on a Korg H4 but I need to also get good quality sound of the trader dealing with customers.

Thoughts on this dilemma greatly appreciated.... I'm off to Tokyo (Japan) to film in the Tswukiji fish market.... the worlds largest! in a few weeks and would love to have got a decent strategy worked out.
Cheers

Indy.....
 
Kelly Olsen said:
Ashley,

Extremely impressive. Material seems interesting and the trailer has dynamic pacing. I'm surprised by the revelation that this was a one person on camera mike, no light situation.

I've watched it a couple of times looking for flaws and I can't find any that take me out of the story. What camera and mode was this shot in and what on camera mike did you use?

What's happening with the film now?
Click to expand...


Thanks, the trailer is actually raw footage, no grading, color correction, sound tweaks, nothing. It was actually done before the movie was finished. The doc currently is available thru a podcast, www.takingthewalk.com and will be showing at the AFI Film Festival in Dallas at the end of the month.


ash =o)
 
indigo said:
but I need to also get good quality sound of the trader dealing with customers.
Click to expand...
What about planting a wireless with an omni mic on the trader or near where he/she is working? Alternatively, you could put a pzm mic on the counter and connect it to a small recorder, or even your camera or a wireless depending on the situation.

By the way, I shot this film (Desert Gold) on my own (http://parkfilms.com/season_new_2006.html).
http://www.parkfilms.com
 
I've looked into doing that but feel that by the time I 'wire' somebody up I'd lose the spontaneity of the situation also I'm not sure how people would react to the disruption

Indy....
 
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