If you’re lucky enough to come upon a totally fresh subject—a UFO landing in your backyard—your documentary will likely be interesting. But how can you grab viewers if—as usually happens—your subject is familiar?  One answer is to borrow a technique discovered long ago by Hollywood moviemakers: “Start with something familiar but give it a twist.” Robb Montgomery illustrates this approach in his mini-doc “Ice Swimming.” The twist in Montgomery’s 90-second movie is having a first-time ice swimmer serve as the narrator. Featuring the novice’s perspective makes the subject feel new.

In the interview (below), the director gives some behind-the-scenes information about the making of “Ice Swimmer.”

Interview

MMM: How long did the shoot take?

Montgomery: Four mornings because the batteries in the iPhone and Osmo2 mobile gimbal only lasted a few minutes for each sunrise shoot. I shot using the FiLMiC Pro camera app.

MMM: The narration is particularly effective. Can you share your method for making it happen?

Montgomery: It was taken from an  interview I made with the subject, and also featured a twist. Instead of me (the journalist) asking the questions, I made a rough cut of the visual sequence on my iPad and asked the subject to free-associate with what she was seeing as the scene played. I recorded two takes of her voiceover using a Sennheiser Handmic digital microphone. I then comped it to form the narration track.

MMM: What software did you use for editing.

Montgomery: All the editing was all done with the Lumafusion video app for iOS.

MMM: What kind of reception has “Ice Swimming” received.

Montgomery: It won the award for the Best Smartphone Film at the Sunlight International Film Festival, which shows all sorts of movies, not just those made on smartphones. That’s significant because it’s proof that mobile journalism stories can make it to the big screen and find new audiences.

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Montgomery not only works as a mobile journalist, but also offers training. You can find out more about him and his work at robbmontomgery.com.

If you’d like to read more about the art of making something old seem new, take a look at an article that presents the concept in the world of food.

“Ice Swimming” was chosen as a Mobile Movie of the Week by the editors of MobileMovieMaking.com