Documentary

Directing a Child Narrator in a Documentary

While film is primarily a visual medium, the sound track’s contribution can be immense. Think of the haunting themes in movies such as “The Godfather” and “Chariots of Fire.” Or—as an experiment—watch the “Psycho” shower scene with the sound turned off. If you prefer a more current example, here is “Flying With Nature,” which won the top prize…

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Avoiding the Talking-head Problem

In two minutes, Irish mobile journalist Philip Bromwell uses b-roll to overcome the talking-head problem.

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The Spontaneous Documentary

The smartphone makes possible the spontaneous documentary, on-the-fly filmmaking that can result in specular productions.

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The Mirrored Selfie: “Here’s Looking at You”

Artist Paul Taylor uses a mirrored costume–a “selfiesurt”–to explore human interaction in the digital era.

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Shooting a Bio Documentary

A short documentary—”Space Van Man”—can serve as a model for creating your own bio documentaries.

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Using a Smartphone to Cover the News

An accident led BBC video journalist Dougal Shaw into shooting his features on a smartphone. One day, when he arrived at a café to produce a program about free wifi, he discovered that his traditional camera’s battery had been drained. Rather than go home without the story, he decided to record using his iPhone. Pleased…

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