Shooting a documentary next weekend

[thetvirus513]

I got hired to shoot a short doc (4-5) minutes to eventually be used to help raise more money for development in Rwanda. The company is flying in two people involved in the genocide to complete a two person ropes course which has been used to help emotional healing as well as to help with more physical disabilities.

I have shot a couple documentaries in the past but lately I have been shooting more short films sooooo......

Any advice?

I know its a pretty broad question without many details but I figured I would throw it out there. see if anyone reminds me of something.

Thanks!

 

[Moojangles]

I assume you're shooting on a DSLR, bring a good second audio system (as simple as an H4N) and some good mics (lavs preferably) slate each new shot and notify your subjects that you'll have to take a brief pause every 12 min. Use a timer to know you're approaching the 12 min deadline.

These breaks are good to get your thoughts together in terms of what questions to ask (if you're the interviewer) and offer the interviewee water etc...

Try to make sure your locations are as controlled as possible, i've torn apart hotel rooms to make a pseudo studio in the past and it really helps, otherwise find an out of the way corner with low foot traffic to conduct interviews.

Don't be a afraid to ask the person you're interviewing to re-iterate something if you feel they made a great point but perhaps didn't lead into the answer perfectly or perhaps didn't re-state the question in their answer. Be upfront with your subjects and explain to them what they can do to help make the interview go more smoothly, don't just start asking questions and hope for the best.

I've conducted numerous interviews in my 3rd language (Japanese) and you really need to make sure that you push for long answers, it gets people talking more freely eventually and it's always easier to cut out excess material than try to piece together two answers into one.


B-roll is less of a concern just find your moments like in any doc.

Hope that helps?

Get some LED lights if you can rent them or buy them, the low-heat output is great for long-form interviews.

 

[thetvirus513]

Awesome advice...I have a second audio system (h4n and some sneheisser g3 lav mic) I will probably have two Lowell omnis 200w and an on camera led 75w adjustable.

I'm sure I will have plenty of b roll of the guys doing the ropes course and hanging out an whatnot.

Sounds like we will be doing 2 interviews for each person one before and one after...one I'n somebodys house which I am unfamiliar with and one outside at the ropes course


Anyways keep the advice coming! It really helps to make sure I have my bases covered!

 

[joossiej]

Gear wise, you're all set up.

You can make the H4N record the whole time. And you can use the B-roll when you hit the 12 min limit.
But, you got to keep having track on the 12 minute limit. Preferably you want to have them not in the middle of an answer. That would be really sucky.

The next part is get some background information about the people, the situation there. And maybe use google earth to scout for good, quiet, locations?
You really want to have a broad set of questions.

And last but certainly not least. You really want to make your "subjects" feel as comfortable as possible. Get them food and water and if you can see they're getting agitated, take some rest.

Never shot a docu (or anything at all) but I hope this was useful